It's blessed with a spectacular view of the beach, and on clear days you can see right around the bay to the city and even the West Gate Bridge. It has been a fitting location for many artists to gain inspiration, including Frederick McCubbin.
Properties in this vicinity are often highly sought after, and notable people who have lived in the area include Walter Burley Griffin (architect of the nation's capital Canberra), Sir John Madden (former 19th century Chief Justice of Victoria and Lieutenant Governor) and descendants of the Henty family (early Victorian pioneers who originally settled in Portland) who built the iconic Round House at the foot of the hill. TV legend Graham Kennedy had a house here too.
There are several stories as to how the hill acquired it's name, but it appears that Oliver's Hill was originally known as 'Old man Davey's Hill' after William Davey who lived in a wattle and daub hut on the summit of the hill. A small settlement was established at the foot of the hill in the shelter of the cove and at the mouth of Sweetwater Creek. One of the residents of this small settlement was James Oliver. He moored his fishing boat in the shelter of the cove and lived in a hut nearby.
As a fisherman he spent many hours on the hillside watching for shoals of fish and was a familiar figure to everyone who ventured up 'Old man Davey's Hill'. As the years passed, the name 'Old Man Davey's Hill' was gradually replaced with 'Oliver's Hill'.
The gradient of Point Nepean Road up Oliver's Hill was fearsome to many motorists. After heavy rain, stretches of the road were almost impassable. There are stories of motorists negotiating the hill in reverse as the cars would not make it up the slippery grade in forward gear. Farmers in the area were often using their horses to pull bogged cars up the muddy hill.
Enjoy the view for yourself, and welcome to my first cache!
To find the Cache:
At the given coordinates you will find a compass-like marker. Use the information on this marker to work out the final location.
The final coordinates are:
S 38° 09.ABC'
E 145° 06.DEF'
where ABC equals the sum of all the distances minus the You Yangs, and DEF equals the sum of all the distances.
This area could benefit greatly from the practise of CITO. The cache is a 1 litre plastic container. As always, please replace it carefully as you found it.
For a bit of fun, I added this Flag Counter to monitor visitors to this cache page on 02/03/2012
