Olinda

Olinda is a town within the Dandenong Ranges in central-south Victoria, Australia, located 52 km (32 mi) east of Melbourne CBD.

Olinda is a town within the Dandenong Ranges in central-south Victoria, Australia, located 52 km (32 mi) east of Melbourne CBD.Governed by the local government area of the Shire of Yarra Ranges, the town has a population of 1,738 as of the 2016 census.It is a popular weekend destination for tourists, with a variety of restaurants and cafes.The town is home to the National Rhododendron Garden and R.J. Hamer Arboretum.

Olinda is named after Olinda Creek, which begins in the township. The creek was named in 1858 after Alice Olinda Hodgkinson, the daughter of Clement Hodgkinson, Victoria's acting Surveyor General. The town was initially a logging settlement, however as land was made available for horticulture in the early 1900s, the town began to grow substantially. The Post Office opened on 21 August 1901. Berry farming, dairying, and flower growing became prosperous industries, and tourism soon flourished as the principal industry of Olinda.

In 1919 the Australian artist Sir Arthur Streeton returned to Australia and built a house on the property called Longacres, in Olinda. Guesthouses and weekend homes became a common staple for the area, allowing for the township to enter a prosperous period of guest house tourism. The popularity of guesthouses and weekend cottages in the town lasted until World War II. After which, the rise of motor vehicle transportation saw a decline in weekend trips, and a rise in day trips by motor vehicle. In 1966 the Ashendene Boys Home was located in Olinda, until its closure in 1988.

In 1952 Olinda hosted the Olinda Film Festival (also called the Melbourne Film Festival and the convention of Australian Council of Film Societies).The Olinda Golf Club was established in 1989, and operated for 23 years before it was closed and abandoned in 2012. In 2017, the Victorian Government announced that the site of the former golf club would be converted into parklands and gardens, along with the expansion of the rhododendron gardens into the new Dandenong Ranges Botanical Gardens.