Olinda, Victoria: Travel guide and things to do

Jan 28 2015 at 7:55 PM

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Olinda is a small and rather beautiful settlement located 44 km east of the Melbourne city centre atop Mt Dandenong. It is noted for its scenic situation and its many art, antique and handicraft galleries. The golf course on the Olinda-Monbulk Rd offers excellent views.

The Wurrundjeri people once inhabited this area, passing on to Yarra Valley where they passed their summers on the banks of the Yarra River. The first European known to set foot in the Dandenongs was botanist Daniel Bunce who was drawn from Melbourne by the image of the looming western slopes in 1839. Guided by a party of Aboriginal people he climbed Mt Corhanwarrabul (628 metres) and Mt Dandenong (633 metres) - the two highest peaks in the ranges. Bourkes Lookout (see subsequent entry) is now situated atop the former.

The first European settlers in the Olinda area were the Holden family who camped on the slopes from 1855 and felled mountain ash until the turn of the century. Official settlement began in the 1870s and fruit-growing accompanied timbergetting. Guest houses and tea rooms were established to encourage tourists when fruit prices fell.

Olinda was the only settlement in the hills to be formally laid out thanks largely to the efforts of John Dodd who opened the first shop in the main street in 1893. Distinguished Australian artist Arthur Streeton bought a house here in the 1920s. Novelist Arthur Upfield stayed at a lodge on Mount Dandenong in 1938 and used the area as the setting for two of his detective novels, The Devil's Step (1946) and An Author Bites the Dust (1948).

Markets are held at Olinda on the second Sunday of each month.

Tourist Information The Dandenong Ranges and Knox Tourism Information Centre is located at 1211 Burwood Highway atUpper Ferntree Gully, tel: (03) 9758 7522.

The National Rhododendron Gardens The National Rhododendron Gardens attract 50 000 to 60 000 visitors annually. They are set in a natural amphitheatre of mountain ash, oaks, maples and beeches which tower over 43 ha of outstanding botanic gardens which are home to 15 000 rhododendrons, 12 000 azaleas, 250 000 daffodils, cherry tree groves and laburnums, all of which blossom in spring. The 3000 camellias are best seen in winter and there are also proteas, magnolias and Japanese maples. Birdlife includes the superb lyrebird, king parrots, crimson rosellas and peacocks. Ducks and geese can be fed in the lake.

Self-guide walk signs open up the possibility of a full three-hour exploration or you can simply pursue shorter subsections. The paths offer outstanding views of the Australian Alps which form a backdrop to the east, beyond Silvan Reservoir Park (see entry onKalorama).

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Olinda, Victoria: Travel guide and things to do