Kerang

Kerang is a rural community on the Loddon River in northern Victoria in Australia.

Kerang is the economic center of an irrigated district with livestock, gardens and the cultivation of grain and alfalfa. It is located 279 km north-west of Melbourne on the Murray Valley Highway a few miles north of the junction with the Loddon Valley Highway at an altitude of 78 meters. At the 2006 census Kerang had a population of 3780 inhabitants. In the south of the town: the Kerang Airport ( IATA: KRA, ICAO: YKER ).

Kerangs symbol is a flying Ibis. The area around Kerang has many lakes and is considered one of the most populous Ibiskolonien in the world with an estimated 200,000 ibises, along with many other water birds which are absorbed every year their brood. It is also a popular recreation destination.

The name derives probably from Kerang Indigenous Australian word for cockatoo.

History

The Wemba - Wemba said to have been the original inhabitants of the area. Thomas Livingstone Mitchell was in 1836 the first Europeans. The first settlers settled down in 1845 and 1848. Richard Beyes opened a pub at a ford of the river near the future community. This was followed by a saddlery and a church. 1857 built Woodford Patchell above the town bridge, which withdrew traffic from the previous settlement. He opened a shop and a hotel in the center Kerangs future. Patchell was the first in the state of Famer, who used irrigation and experimented with oats, barley, maize, millet, tobacco, sugar, cotton and sugar cane. The post office was opened on 29 July 1858. An office of Kerang in the distance was renamed on the same day in Wedderburn.

Kerang in 1871 declared the Shire; at that time it had 109 inhabitants. The arrival of the railway from Bendigo in 1884 and the construction of a tram from Kerang Koondrook after 1888 led to a growth; in 1891 the population had risen to over a thousand. The expansion of irrigation improved productivity and swelled the place further.

In spring 2010 and summer 2010/2011 Kerang was particularly affected by severe flooding in late January and temporarily trapped completely by the water.

Burke and Wills

The expedition of Burke and Wills reached Kerang on their journey through Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria on Sunday, September 2, 1860. Expedition camped at the Booth & Holloway 's Tragowell station south of Kerang. On Tuesday, September 4, 1860 she passed through Kerang, crossed the Loddon and camped at Mr. Fenton's Reedy Creek Run, the 13th camp since they had left Melbourne.