Located on the world's third largest volcanic plain, Colac is a major agricultural centre on the shores of Lake Colac. It is the largest onion growing region in Australia.
Location: 164 km south-west of Melbourne on the Princes Highway. Map
Origin of name: Of Aboriginal origin, believed to be a corruption of Coladjin, the name of the local Aboriginal tribe.
Brief history: settled by land seekers who followed the Henty Brothers from Tasmania in 1837. The first mission for Aborigines was established two years later by Rev F Tuckfield. The town was founded in 1859. The mountain forests were targeted by loggers during the timber boom of the first few years of the 20th century and trails take the bushwalker past the long-abandoned machinery and relics of some of the 29 mills that exploited the beech forests back then.
Natural features: Lake Corangamite is Australia's biggest permanent salt lake; Colac has an annual rainfall of 680 mm, one of the highest of the towns in Victoria. Otway National Park; Melba Gully State Park; Lake Colac; Lake Ondit; Lake Beeac; Lough Calvert; Lake Cundare; Mount Gellibrand
Built features: Provan's Mechanical Museum
Heritage features: St Andrew's Uniting Church (1877); former National Bark building (1877); 'Irrewarra House' and stables (1848-50)