City in Victoria, Australia
Colac
[2]
is a small city
[3]
in the
Western District
of
Victoria, Australia
, approximately 150 kilometres south-west of
Melbourne
on the southern shore of
Lake Colac
.
History
[
edit
]
For thousands of years clans of the
Gulidjan
people lived the region of Colac.
[4]
British settlement
[
edit
]
The British first entered the region in March 1837, when several land-holders came upon Lake Colac while searching for the missing colonist
Joseph Gellibrand
. Another larger search party, which was acting on information that local Gulidjan had killed Gellibrand, arrived in April. This group returned to
Geelong
after two Gulidjan people were killed by Aboriginal trackers accompanying the party.
[5]
Settlement of the area began in September 1837 with the arrival of
grazier
Hugh Murray (died 1869) who selected 14,000 ha (34,000 acres) of land and established three
sheep stations
: Warrion, Elliminyt and Barongarook. According to Murray, conflict with the resident Gulidjan was limited, with one Aboriginal man being shot dead during punitive raids upon Aboriginal settlements following the taking of sheep. In 1841, around forty Gulidjan lived and worked on what was now Murray's property.
[6]
[7]
The surveying for a village began in 1841 and the township of Lake Colac was proclaimed in 1848.
The Post Office opened on 1 July 1848 as Lake Colac and was renamed Colac in 1854.
[8]
Colac Botanic Gardens
in Queen Street located on the shores of Lake Colac, were established in 1868.
Brookhouse Mystery
[
edit
]
In 1854 town founder Hugh Murray employed a couple of shepherds named Thomas Brookhouse and Patrick Geary. Brookhouse, who was looking for missing sheep disappeared without a trace. Patrick Geary and his wife soon left the district. Fifteen years later a boy out rabbiting found the skeletal remains of Thomas Brookhouse under a pile of rocks near
Lake Corangamite
. Brookhouse had his head smashed in. It took Police two years to track Patrick Geary and charge him with Brookhouse's murder. A friend of Geary told the court that Geary had killed Brookhouse with an axe to stop him from informing Murray of Geary's sheep stealing activities.
[9]
Geary was hanged in
Melbourne
in 1871.
Role in World War I
[
edit
]
A plaque on the southern side of the Memorial Square commemorates two historic speeches given on consecutive nights in Colac, beginning on 31 July 1914 with the then Federal opposition leader,
Andrew Fisher
, and followed the next night by the Prime Minister
Joseph Cook
. The two speeches declared Australia's commitment to follow Britain into
World War I
, with Fisher declaring "Should honor demand the mother country taking part in hostilities, Australians would stand beside her to the last man and shilling." and Cook's famous reiteration that "If the old country is at war, so are we." Fisher became Prime Minister for the third time on 5 September.
The War Memorial stands in the centre of Memorial Square.
[10]
Heritage listed sites
[
edit
]
Colac contains a number of heritage listed sites,
[11]
including:
Schools
[
edit
]
- Trinity College, Colac
- Colac Secondary College
- Sacred Heart Primary School, Colac
- Colac West Primary School
- Colac Primary School
- Colac South West Primary School
- St Mary's Primary School
- Colac Specialist School
- Elliminyt Primary School
Natural features
[
edit
]
The plains around Colac are the third largest volcanic plain in the world.
[14]
Australia's largest permanent salt lake and
Victoria
's largest natural lake,
Lake Corangamite
, is nearby and
Red Rock Reserve
is nearby too.
Lake Colac's water level can drop over summer dry periods to the point that it actually dried up for the first time in recorded history in 2009, but is always replenished after drought and is used for fishing, boating and water skiing.
Transport
[
edit
]
The
Princes Highway
(part of
Australia
's circumnavigational
Highway 1
) runs through the city and forms its
main street
, Murray Street. The highway runs west toward
Camperdown
and east to
Geelong
and beyond to Melbourne. Several secondary sealed roads including the C161, C155 and C154 run south toward
Apollo Bay
and the coastal tourism areas of the
Otway Ranges
Great Ocean Road
,
The Twelve Apostles
and the
Shipwreck Coast
. The Colac-Ballarat Road runs north connecting Colac to
Ballarat
via
Cressy
.
The
railway through the town
was opened in 1877,
[16]
and extended from 1883 as part of the line to the south west of the state.
The
Irrewarra-Cressy line
towards
Ballarat
also ran from Colac between 1889 and 1953
[16]
and the Alvie line opened in 1923 and closed in 1954.
A narrow gauge branch line also originated from the town, the branch line to
Beech Forest
opened in 1902 and was extended to
Crowes
in 1911, finally closing in 1962. The route of the abandoned railway has been developed as the
Old Beechy Rail Trail
.
The
local railway station
is served by
V/Line
passenger services on the
Warrnambool line
. The train stops at Camperdown and
Terang
.
Events
[
edit
]
Colac was the home of the annual "
Cliff Young Australian 6-day race
". The event, which was originally orchestrated by Stuart Walker, occurred for over 20 years until 2006 and is a running/walking event. It was held on the Memorial Square which is right in the heart of Colac and attracted entries from all over the world.
[17]
Also held at the Memorial Square is the annual Colac KANA festival taking place on the third Saturday of March. Many market stalls, children's entertainment and a song and dance stage can be found at the festival. The most popular feature of the festival is its parade through the streets of Colac's CBD. The parade showcases local primary schools and their students as well as local clubs, emergency service organisations and businesses.
[18]
On the last week-end of October, first weekend in November the Colac Otway Arts Trail takes place. Featuring artists, studios and galleries in the Colac Otway Shire the trail also feature the 'Art Walk on Murray' where local artists display their work in the windows of the shops along the Murray Street precinct.
[19]
Industry
[
edit
]
With a wealth of natural resources, such as agriculture and timber, Colac has a strong manufacturing background, with major local employers including
Bulla Dairy Foods
, Australian Lamb Company, and AKD Softwoods.
While historically the region supported numerous successful brickworks, nowadays the major primary industries are agriculture, such as the dairy, beef, lamb and fine-wool merino industries.
Sister city
[
edit
]
Colac is the sister city of
Walker, Michigan
,
USA
.
Climate
[
edit
]
Colac has a
temperate mediterranean climate
(
Csb
) with mild summers and cool damp winters, with chilly nights year round owing to its far southern location on the Australian mainland. It records only 55.3 clear days on average, with 181.0 cloudy days.
Climate data for Colac (Shire Office, 1899?1983, rainfall 1898?2021); 38.34° S, 143.58° E
|
Month
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
Jun
|
Jul
|
Aug
|
Sep
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
Year
|
Record high °C (°F)
|
42.6
(108.7)
|
41.3
(106.3)
|
38.6
(101.5)
|
32.2
(90.0)
|
26.4
(79.5)
|
21.7
(71.1)
|
21.2
(70.2)
|
25.2
(77.4)
|
28.3
(82.9)
|
33.6
(92.5)
|
36.9
(98.4)
|
41.8
(107.2)
|
42.6
(108.7)
|
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
|
25.7
(78.3)
|
26.0
(78.8)
|
23.5
(74.3)
|
19.3
(66.7)
|
15.8
(60.4)
|
13.1
(55.6)
|
12.5
(54.5)
|
13.7
(56.7)
|
15.8
(60.4)
|
18.3
(64.9)
|
20.8
(69.4)
|
23.4
(74.1)
|
19.0
(66.2)
|
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
|
10.7
(51.3)
|
11.2
(52.2)
|
10.1
(50.2)
|
8.0
(46.4)
|
6.2
(43.2)
|
4.5
(40.1)
|
3.9
(39.0)
|
4.5
(40.1)
|
5.8
(42.4)
|
6.8
(44.2)
|
8.3
(46.9)
|
9.4
(48.9)
|
7.4
(45.3)
|
Record low °C (°F)
|
0.6
(33.1)
|
1.1
(34.0)
|
0.0
(32.0)
|
?3.9
(25.0)
|
?3.3
(26.1)
|
?4.7
(23.5)
|
?5.0
(23.0)
|
?3.9
(25.0)
|
?3.9
(25.0)
|
?3.3
(26.1)
|
?2.8
(27.0)
|
?0.6
(30.9)
|
?5.0
(23.0)
|
Average
precipitation
mm (inches)
|
36.8
(1.45)
|
34.2
(1.35)
|
41.4
(1.63)
|
56.0
(2.20)
|
69.0
(2.72)
|
73.7
(2.90)
|
75.2
(2.96)
|
86.9
(3.42)
|
75.2
(2.96)
|
71.0
(2.80)
|
56.8
(2.24)
|
44.3
(1.74)
|
727.1
(28.63)
|
Average precipitation days
|
7.7
|
6.7
|
9.3
|
12.5
|
16.5
|
17.4
|
19.5
|
19.6
|
17.3
|
15.4
|
12.2
|
10.0
|
164.1
|
Average afternoon
relative humidity
(%)
|
46
|
50
|
52
|
62
|
72
|
76
|
77
|
71
|
65
|
66
|
62
|
54
|
63
|
Source:
[20]
|
Media
[
edit
]
Colac has its own newspaper,
The Colac Herald
, published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
[21]
Colac is serviced by a number of local radio stations:
3CS
1134AM,
[22]
MIXX FM 106.3 MHz,
[23]
and
OCR FM
Community Radio Station 98.3 MHz and 88.7 MHz in
Apollo Bay
and surrounds.
[24]
Most digital terrestrial television services are received via UHF from Ballarat Lookout Hill. In addition to the Ballarat service, a local repeater on nearby
Warrion
Hill provides an alternative source of television reception. As of August 2022, Television channels available include
Southern Cross 10
,
10HD
,
10 Bold
,
10 Peach
,
10 Shake
and
Sky News Regional
.
[25]
These stations are now broadcast by
Southern Cross Austereo
after affiliate changes occurred in July 2021.
[26]
This change included
9Gem
,
9Go!
and
9Life
which are owned by
Nine Network
except
TVSN
which is owned by Network 10 but is now broadcast by
WIN Television
who also transmit
WIN HD
channel
9HD
and
GOLD
. The city also receives
Seven
,
7two
,
7mate
,
ishop tv
,
Racing.com
,
7Bravo
and
7flix
(sub-licensees of the
Seven Network
) which were unaffected by July's change.
In addition to commercial television services, Colac receives Government
ABC Television
which includes
ABC TV
,
ABC HD
,
ABC TV Plus
(Daily from 7.30pm to 2am, Station Close daily from 2am to 5am),
ABC Kids
(Daily from 5am to 7.30pm),
ABC Me
(Daily from 6am to 11pm approximately) and
ABC News
as well as the
SBS
's owned channels of
SBS
,
SBS HD
,
SBS Viceland
,
National Indigenous Television
,
SBS Food
,
SBS World Movies
and
SBS WorldWatch
. Analog Television transmissions ceased on Thursday 5 May 2011 as part of the Federal Government's nationwide plan for
Digital terrestrial television in Australia
, which involves switching over all television broadcast services from analog systems to digital
DVB-T
systems.
FM radio services direct from Melbourne can be received in Colac but signal levels are low. Television services direct from Melbourne can be received in Colac but large antenna arrays must be used with mixed results.
Colac is serviced by
Foxtel
delivered by DTH satellite transmission, via
Optus
C1 Ku Band Satellite located at 156E.
Sport
[
edit
]
Colac is home to a number of teams in the
Colac & District Football and Netball League
combining both Australian Rules football clubs and netball clubs from around the district.
The
Colac Football Club
, formerly of the CDFNL, compete in the
Geelong Football League
. Colac is also the hometown of
Luke Hodge
, from 2002 a player with
Hawthorn Football Club
(captain 2011 to 2016) and player with
Brisbane Football Club
in the
Australian Football League
since October 2017.
Colac has a
horse racing club
, the Colac Turf Club, which schedules around four race meetings a year including the Colac Cup meeting in February.
[27]
It also has a
picnic horse racing club
, Colac St Patrick Picnic, which holds its one race meeting a year in March.
[28]
Golfers play at the Colac Golf Club on Colac?Lavers Hill Road, Elliminyt.
[29]
Colac has a swimming club which trains swimmers and has athletes competing at Region, State and national competitions.
Colac has a baseball club, the Colac Braves, a team which competes in the Geelong Baseball Association winter competition and the Pan-Pacific Masters Games on the Gold Coast. The Colac Braves also cater for players aged 5 to 15. The Braves have claimed recent premiership success in the Geelong Baseball Association with wins in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
[30]
The Colac Otway Rovers AFC is the region's only
football (soccer)
club established in 2010. The club entered the
Football Federation Victoria
?Geelong Region in 2011?fielding a team in the Men's Division 3 Competition. The Colac Otway Rovers conducts a Small Sided Football Program for juniors and an
indoor soccer
competition.
The Colac Basketball Association hosts summer and winter competitions at Colac's Bluewater stadium. The clubs are Saints, Hawks, Demons and Rebels. The association also has representative teams known as the Kookas. The juniors compete in tournaments, while the senior teams compete in Basketball Victoria Country's Country Basketball League.
Notable people
[
edit
]
- Keith Doig
MC
? footballer, doctor, 1891?1949.
- Aaron Finch
? cricketer, b. 1986.
- Athol Guy AO
? musician, b. 1940.
- Alison Harcourt
AO
(nee Doig) ? b. 1929.
- Andrew Perkins
- Economist ? b. 1967.
- Luke Hodge
? footballer, b. 1984.
- R. M. Murray
? mine manager, 1877?1945.
- Craig Spence
? golfer, b. 1974.
- Stephen Walker
? sculptor, 1927?2014.
- H. A. Willis
? writer, b. 1948.
- Wil Traval
? actor, b. 1980.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Australian Bureau of Statistics
(28 June 2022).
"Colac (Suburbs and Localities)"
.
2021 Census QuickStats
. Retrieved
16 January
2024
.
- ^
Butler, S., ed. (2009).
"Colac"
.
Macquarie Dictionary
(5th ed.). Sydney: Macquarie Dictionary Publishers Pty Ltd.
ISBN
978-1-876429-66-9
.
- ^
"Colac"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
. 27 February 2008.
- ^
Ian D. Clark, pp 135?139,
Scars on the Landscape. A Register of Massacre sites in Western Victoria 1803?1859
, Aboriginal Studies Press, 1995
ISBN
0-85575-281-5
- ^
Russell, George; Brown, P.L. (1935).
The Narrative of George Russell of Golf Hill with Russellania and selected papers
. London: Oxford University Press.
- ^
Bride, Thomas Francis (1898).
Letters from Victorian Pioneers
. Melbourne: Government Press.
- ^
Robinson, George Augustus; Clark, Ian D (2014).
Travels of George Augustus Robinson, Chief Protector, Port Phillip Aboriginal Protectorate
.
- ^
Premier Postal History,
Post Office List
, retrieved
11 April
2008
- ^
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=WI18711208.2.13
[
bare URL
]
- ^
"Colac War Memorial | Monument Australia"
.
monumentaustralia.org.au
. Retrieved
28 February
2018
.
- ^
"Colac, Victoria, Australia: Notable buildings"
.
- ^
"Former Adam Rea's Store (H0433)"
.
Victorian Heritage Register
.
Heritage Victoria
. Retrieved
4 July
2014
.
- ^
"Colac Botanic Gardens (H2259)"
.
Victorian Heritage Register
.
Heritage Victoria
. Retrieved
4 July
2014
.
- ^
Colac - Destinations - Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia
, Tourism Victoria
, retrieved
21 July
2011
- ^
Colquhoun, Fiona; McCooke, Alexander; Aitkin, Vince; Peace, Ray (2003),
Rail Trails of Victoria and South Australia
, Victoria, Australia: Railtrails Australia Inc., pp. 84?89,
ISBN
0-9579759-0-2
- ^
a
b
Sid Brown (March 1990), "Tracks Across the State",
Newsrail
, Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division), pp. 71?76
- ^
Cliff Young Australian 6-day race
Archived
16 May 2008 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Colac KANA Festival 2017"
.
Colac Otway Shire
. Retrieved
2 April
2017
.
- ^
Colac Otway Arts Trail website
- ^
"Climate statistics for Colac"
. Bureau of Meteorology
. Retrieved
6 October
2021
.
- ^
The Colac Herald
- ^
3CS 1134AM
- ^
MIXX FM 106.3MHz
- ^
OCR FM (Community Radio Service) 98.3MHz, 88.7MHz
- ^
"Advertise with Us | Southern Cross Austereo"
.
- ^
"Nine / WIN TV, 10 / Southern Cross affiliate switch: guide | TV Tonight"
. 3 July 2021.
- ^
Country Racing Victoria,
Colac Turf Club
, archived from
the original
on 28 July 2008
, retrieved
7 May
2009
- ^
Country Racing Victoria,
Colac St Patrick Picnic
, archived from
the original
on 4 August 2008
, retrieved
7 May
2009
- ^
Golf Select,
Colac
, retrieved
11 May
2009
- ^
"Colac Braves Baseball Club on Facebook"
,
Facebook
, retrieved
28 October
2016
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Colac, Victoria
at Wikimedia Commons
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Territory divided with another
LGA
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