The Jardwadjali people are thought to have occupied this area before white settlement. The first Europeans were the party of surveyor Thomas Mitchell, who passed through the area during the Australia Felix expedition of 1836. Mitchell then headed south and encountered the Henty brothers at Portland. His reports of good pasturage encouraged them to move inland in 1837, marking the start of European settlement in the Western district. They took up 28 000 ha of land to the west of present-day Coleraine and an original homestead, 'Muntham', still stands between Coleraine and Casterton.
The first white squatter on the land was James Bryan, a brother-in-law of the Hentys. He arrived in 1839 and built a home near the present showgrounds. In 1840 the Whyte brothers took over the run, which was broken up into smaller estates in the 1840s. The first serious conflict in Victoria between Europeans and Aborigines, leading to the deaths of 30 Aborigines, occurred at one of these stations.
Coleraine became famous as a venue for horseracing, particularly as the home of the Great Western Steeplechase which was first run in 1857. The race followed a circuit through the town, over gardens and paddock fences. Noted poet Adam Lindsay Gordon was a regular and distinguished rider in the event before his suicide in 1870. Two of his poems, 'The Fields of Coleraine' and 'Banker's Dream', are based around the steeplechase.
Beautician Helena Rubinstein, who later founded a remarkable cosmetics empire, was a Polish immigrant who arrived in Australia at the age of 18 in the late 1880s. She initially lived with and worked for her uncle at his grocery shop in Coleraine. She moved on to Melbourne after three years where she opened her first beauty salon. The building in which she worked is still standing near the bridge in the main street.
The Points Reserve and Arboretum is recognised as the registered Eucalyptus Collection of Australia. Its Banksia and Grevillea collections are also notable. The Reserve is situated on 37 hectares of Crown Land, formerly a quarry and rubbish dump, and before that, the town’s Common and its first water catchment. The Arboretum contains more than 16000 plants of 1200 different species, including 500 different Eucalypt species and 63 rare and endangered native species. The transformation from rubbish dump to a world-acclaimed conservation site has taken less than 40 years.
Take time to explore this historic and picturesque town. Visit the Eucalypus Discovery Centre in the main street, or the Coleraine Tourism Exhibition Centre in the old railway station (1882) in Pilleau St. If you have a sweet tooth, you can’t go past Glenelg Fine Confectionery, which is open daily and located at the western end of the main street.
You do not have to walk up the hill to the cache. You can drive very close. The parking waypoint is only about 45m from the cache.
As usual, please ensure the cache is not visible to others before you leave.
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