AS JACQUI WANDIN gazes out over the rolling paddocks and scribbles of bushland, she can visualise the scene a century and a half ago, when the landscape was dotted with timber cottages, workshops, brick-making kilns, milking sheds, a sawmill, butchery, church and schoolhouse.

This was Coranderrk Aboriginal Station, one of half-a-dozen Victorian missions and reserves, founded just outside present-day Healesville, north-east of Melbourne. Situated where the Yarra River meets Badger Creek, the community ran horses and cattle, grew fruit, vegetables and cereal crops, and produced hops that won a string of gold medals at royal agricultural shows.