Victoria River (Joseph Bonaparte Gulf)
| Victoria River | ||
 "The Vic" and its escarpments at Victoria River Crossing |
||
| Data | ||
| location | Northern Territory ( Australia ) | |
| River system | Victoria River | |
| source | southwest of Kalkarinji (northern edge of the Tanami Desert ) 17 ° 50 ′ 0 ″ S , 130 ° 12 ′ 58 ″ E |
|
| Source height | 364 m | |
| muzzle |
Joseph Bonaparte Gulf ( Timor Sea ) southwest of Darwin Coordinates: 14 ° 56 ′ 50 " S , 129 ° 33 ′ 15" E 14 ° 56 ′ 50 " S , 129 ° 33 ′ 15" E |
|
| Mouth height | 0 m | |
| Height difference | 364 m | |
| Bottom slope | 0.47 ‰ | |
| length | 780 km | |
| Catchment area | 87,900 km² | |
| Drain |
MQ |
162 m³ / s |
| Left tributaries | Gum Creek, McDonald Creek, Neave Creek, Edgar Creek, Hughie Creek, Giles (Wattie) Creek, Gidyea Creek, Billy Creek, Mud Springs Creek, Pannikin Creek, Spring Creek, Stockyard Creek, Gordon Creek, Wickham River , Crawford Creek, Lesson Creek, Jasper Creek, Sandy Creek, Skull Creek, Timber Creek, Little Horse Creek, Big Horse Creek, Baines River , Fancy Creek, Stony Creek, Peter Creek, Packsaddle Creek, Boundary Creek, Bull Creek, Bullo River , Paperback Creek | |
| Right tributaries | Revolver Creek, Camel Creek, Hut Creek, Horse Creek, Stony Creek, Sambo Creek, Webb Creek, Gordy Creek, Five Mile Creek, Croker Creek, Kelly Creek, Rennie Creek, Ram Creek, Camfield River , Armstrong River , Fisher Creek, Middle Creek, Battle Creek, George Creek, Cow Creek, Gregory Creek, Sullivan Creek, Matt Wilson Creek, Ryan Creek, Angalarri River , Lobby Creek | |
| Flowing lakes | 6 water holes | |
| Medium-sized cities | Kalkarindji, Victoria River, Timber Creek | |
| Small towns | Pigeon Hole | |
| Communities | Victoria River Downs, Coolibah, Fitzroy, Bradshaw | |
The Victoria River is a river in the northwest of the Australian Territory Northern Territory . With a run of 780 km, the river also known as The Vic is the longest there. The source of the Victoria River lies on the edge of the Tanami Desert southeast of the Kimberley region . It flows into the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and thus into the Timor Sea about 250 km southwest of the city of Darwin .
geography
River course
The river has its source in low sand hills at a height of 364 m about 70 km southwest of Kalkarindji . At first it flows through a transition zone from arid to tropical climate, surrounded by hilly bushland, to the north. In the dry season , the upper course has no water at all or only in places. It crosses the Buntine Highway and the Buchanan Highway at the Victoria Downs cattle farm ( these junctions can be impassable during the rainy season ).
At the Victoria River Roadhouse in the eastern part of Gregory National Park, he crosses the Victoria Highway on a low bridge ( Victoria River Crossing ), which can also be under water during the rainy season. There the river bends sharply to the west. At Timber Creek he touches the Victoria Highway again. Flowing between the sandstone mountain ranges of the Pinkerton Range and the Yambarran Range , it reaches the Queens Channel , a 25 km long estuary off the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf in the Timor Sea.
Tributaries with mouth heights
- Revolver Creek - 326 m
- Camel Creek - 315 m
- Gum Creek - 300 meters
- Hut Creek - 288 m
- Horse Creek - 283 m
- Stony Creek - 267 m
- Spring Creek - 240 m
- Sambo Creek - 228 m
- McDonald Creek - 207 m
- Neave Creek - 200 m
- Webb Creek - 189 m
- Edgar Creek - 182 m
- Hughie Creek - 176 m
- Gordy Creek - 163 m
- Giles Creek (Wattie Creek) - 157 m
- Five Mile Creek - 154 meters
- Gidyea Creek - 154 m
- Croker Creek - 146 m
- Billy Creek - 142 m
- Kelly Creek - 136 m
- Rennie Creek - 131 m
- Mud Springs Creek - 123 m
- Pannikin Creek - 118 m
- Ram Creek - 117 m
- Camfield River - 110 m
- Spring Creek - 106 m
- Armstrong River - 104 m
- Stockyard Creek - 95 m
- Gordon Creek - 89 m
- Wickham River - 78 m
- Fisher Creek - 77 m
- Crawford Creek - 76 m
- Lesson Creek - 73 m
- Middle Creek - 71 m
- Jasper Creek - 57 m
- Battle Creek - 57 m
- George Creek - 57 m
- Cow Creek - 50 m
- Gregory Creek - 46 m
- Sullivan Creek - 39 m
- Matt Wilson Creek - 36 m
- Ryan Creek - 35 m
- Sandy Creek - 25 m
- Skull Creek - 16 m
- Timber Creek - 7 m
- Little Horse Creek - 6 m
- Big Horse Creek - 6 m
- Angalarri River - 5 m
- Baines River - 3 m
- Lobby Creek - 2 m
- Fancy Creek - 2 m
- Stony Creek - 2 m
- Peter Creek - 1 m
- Packsaddle Creek - 1 m
- Boundary Creek - 1 m
- Bull Creek - 1 m
- Bullo River - 0 m
- Paperback Creek - 0 m
Flowing lakes
The Victoria River flows through some water holes, which are usually filled with water even when the river itself is dry:
- Catfish Waterhole - 252 m
- Four Mile Waterhole - 150 yards
- Ten Mile Waterhole - 149 meters
- Rifle Waterhole - 145 m
- Longreach Waterhole - 119 m
history
No European is documented on the Victoria River before Augustus Charles Gregory . The area was known to the Aboriginal tribe of the Ngaringman for a long time.
In 1854, Gregory was commissioned by the British government to research the interior of northern Australia. Under his direction, the expedition ship set out for northern waters on August 12, 1855 with his brother Henry Churcham, the German botanist Baron Ferdinand von Mueller , 18 men, 50 horses and 200 sheep from Moreton Bay near Brisbane and at the end of September at Joseph Bonaparte Gulf reaches the estuary of the river he named Victoria River . Here the group split up: While Gregory led one part over the pasture lands, the others drove up the river in a schooner . The group only reunited on October 20 and set up camp by the river about 20 km west of today's Timber Creek. While the team stayed at the base camp until July 1956, Gregory went on expeditions inland for 8 months with a few companions. They drove up the Victoria River in the rainy season , reached the '' Sturt Creek '', which only has water in summer, and followed it to the edge of the Tanami Desert .
On July 2, 1856, Gregory gave an incised inscription on a boab indicating the location of the base camp. This tree is called Gregory's Tree and is now a tourist documentation point, where equipment and everyday life in Gregory's camp as well as the individual expeditions are clearly explained. Gregory had intended the inscription and a reference to a deposited letter to help alleged search parties in the event that the expedition team should be lost. In the end, such help was not necessary because the group reached their starting point Brisbane unharmed on December 16, 1856, after they had set off from the base camp in an easterly direction in early July and advanced parallel to the coast across various rivers.
Infrastructure and tourism
There are no roads or paths along the Victoria River. Apart from the aforementioned highway junctions, its banks are not accessible.
Apart from the documentation at Gregory's Tree, only small areas around Timber Creek and in the east of Gregory National Park around Victoria River Crossing are accessible for tourism . Boat trips are organized from Timber Creek to observe saltwater crocodiles , which, although more at home in the salt water on the lower reaches of the river, occasionally show up inland. The end of the rainy season (March to May) is the high season for barramundi fishing trips.
The Roadhouse Victoria River Crossing (supply station and camping area), there are hiking trails with views of the river from the rugged red sandstone formations ( Escarpment ), through which the river has carved its way in this area. The Red Valley Gorge is a popular picnic spot.
A paved road access ( Victoria River Access ; junction to Victoria Highway) leads to further fishing and picnic areas on the riverbank.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d e Map of Victoria River, NT . Bonzle.com
- ↑ a b Overview of the Victoria River Catchment . Government of Northern Territory ( Memento of the original from March 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Longest Rivers . Geoscience Australia. Australian Government ( Memento of the original from July 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
