The first European visitors to the district were Governor Phillip and an exploration party from Parramatta which reached The Hills in April 1791. They were in search of new land for settlement and farming to feed the struggling Sydney colony.
Governor King later open a farm that was operated by convicts from 1801 to 1811 to provide food and stock for the colony. Located near present-day Old Castle Hill Road and Banks Road, the farm was approximately 14,000 hectares in size.
Fruit growing from the 1860s lead the area to be known as "the orange bowl of Sydney". Large areas of land from Parramatta to Dural grew citrus fruit that was supplied to Sydney markets. During the 1890s, the Hills district was the chief supplier of citrus fruit for most of Australia.
By the early 20th century the dominance of citrus growing was being replaced with stone fruits, poultry, eggs, and milk. With the arrival of European migrants from the 1930s and after the Second World War, market gardening of vegetables, mushrooms and flowers became important.
The Hills Shire holds an annual Orange Blossom Festival to commemorate the citrus growing history of the district. This year's event was held on September 13-14.
The cache is located in Cutlack Walk, a small laneway joining Orange Grove and Terminus Street. This walkway forms the rear boundary of the Castle Hill Campus of Hills Adventist College, the school's junior campus offering Kindergarten to Year 4 classes as well as an Early Learning Centre (preschool).
The cache is a micro-sized contained which is accessible 24/7 however the best time to search is weekends or evenings. While mostly hidden from view of the school grounds, it is advisable to exercise caution on weekday morning and afternoon peak times during school term. Stealth may be required during business hours to avoid being detected by muggles in the adjacent office buildings. A pencil has been placed in the cache however it might be wise to BYO writing implement in case it has gone missing.
If you are vertically challenged, you may have some difficulty retrieving this cache!