Tongala was named by Edward Micklethwaite Curr (1820-1889) in 1841 where he managed a station owned by his father Edward Curr. It is an Aboriginal name for a local section of Murray.
Edward Micklethwaite Curr, squatter and author, was born on 25 December 1820 in Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land, eldest son of Edward Curr, merchant and landholder, and his wife Elizabeth, née Micklethwaite.
Edward Jnr was educated in Lancashire, England from 1829 – 1837. He then went for a year to northern France to learn French, being boarded out in the village of Quincy. He returned to London in November 1838 and sailed in January 1839 for Circular Head. Later that year he visited Melbourne with his father. Edward Snr purchased several properties near Heathcote, the Wolfscrag, Tongala, Lower Moira, Colbinabbin, Corop and Coragorag. These sheep runs and were managed by Edward Jnr in partnership with his brother William.
The western Goulburn Valley runs were in the tribal areas of the Bangerang, Ngooraialum and Pinpandoor Aboriginals, at that time numerous, and Curr evinced a warm sympathy for them and a keen interest in their lives. His observations on the Aboriginals, on early Melbourne and on squatting life were published in Recollections of Squatting in Victoria (Melbourne, 1883, abridged and reprinted, 1965).
Tongala is the centre of what was once called the Golden Square Mile, supposedly the richest square mile of farming country in Australia. The area surrounding Tongala is a proliferation of water channels to provide irrigation for intensive dairy farming. The density of properties in this area sees farming infrastructure from many eras represented.
The cache is placed near a monument that commemorates the site of the Tongala Run. It is along side the Goulburn River and near homestead existed in that area. If I am able to find a photo of the homestead I will post it. The cache is flood proof, but the area isn't, so check conditions before traveling. The cache is a regular size and contained a pencil. Room for swaps.