Mountain Tales

March 2026 No.9. The push for “area schools” in Victoria found its way into the hills in the 1940s. Read all about it at p.4. The caption on this postcard from 1913 reads: `Mt. Dandenong North. Showing “Mountjoy.” 1 February…

January 2026 No.8. Sometimes what’s written on old postcards is as important as the image itself … this one is dated in March 1906, earlier than previously thought. The constant tension in the Dandenongs between human impacts and the environment…

November 2025. No.7 Two early tourist guides, p.2 This stunning image of `Kelway’ in Sassafras graphically illustrates the transformation of the landscape in the Dandenongs at the turn of the 20th century. `Kelway’ was the name of the first Storrie…

September 2025. No.6 Schools Fox’s Point Scenic Railway, a funicular system powered by a 1927 Oldsmobile engine, that ran up the hillside at Kalorama for a few years in the 1950s. Originally built to convey building materials to a house…

MOUNTAIN TALES. Old News from the Dandenong Ranges July 2025 No.5 Before Sky High, there was the Observatory Tea Rooms (and before that there was a pavilion and a rock and timber trig point). The road to the summit of…

MOUNTAIN TALES 024. Old News from the Dandenong Ranges May 2025 No.4 Showing signs of age … by the 1940s, this grand house was already starting to fray at the edges. This image of Bella Vista in Olinda is taken…

MOUNTAIN TALES 024. Old News from the Dandenong Ranges March 2025 No.3 PictTurheeC1a8p9t1iolna:nTdsolipmatkMe yoouunrtdDoacnudmeennotnlgoo(Ikmage: profSeLssVio)nally produced, Word provides header, footer, cover page, and text box designs that complement each otheFro. r a more detailed account of the landslip isrk in…

MOUNTAIN TALES 024. Old News from the Dandenong Ranges January 2025 No.2 Olinda Police Station: Old (above) and new (below). Picture Caption: To make your document look professionally produced, Word provides header, footer, cover page, and text box designs that…

MOUNTAIN TALES 024. Old News from the Dandenong Ranges November 2024 No.1 Welcome to the first issue of Mountain Tales, an occasional collection of stories tall and true from the Dandenong Ranges to the east of Melbourne. Longer versions of…