Cobden

Cobden farmers voted the dairy cow number 1 in these parts back in 1888 when they agreed to form Victoria's first co-operative butter factory. Milk still keeps the region afloat, backed by the town's huge Bonlac plant which processes tens of thousands of litres from hundreds of district farms.

Cobden is within a few minutes drive of the area's most highly regarded fishing lakes, Bullen Merri and the Quinnat salmon-stocked Purrumbete. The largest centre in this western Victoria district, Camperdown, lies between Bullen Merri and Purrumbete lakes.

A short drive east of Cobden takes you to Tandarook Homestead. The oldest section of the homestead was built in 1843 from volcanic tuff for the owner Dr Daniel Curdie, who settled in the district in 1840.

The Great Ocean Road and The 12 Apostles are a comfortable drive to the south. Two hundred and ten kilometres south-west of Melbourne, Cobden is close to the southern rim of the cones and crater lakes that dot the world"s third largest volcanic plain.

Find out more about the Shipwreck Coast section of the Great Ocean Road.