Victoria River (Northern Territory)
" The Vic " and his Escarpment at Victoria River Crossing
Template: Infobox River / Obsolete
The Victoria River is a river in the northwest of the Australian Territory Northern Territory. With a run of 780 km of the river, also known as The Vic is the longest there. The source of the Victoria River, just outside the Tanamiwüste southeast of the Kimberley region. It flows about 250 km southwest of the city of Darwin in the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and thus into the Timor Sea.
Geography
River
The river rises in low sand hills at an altitude of 364 m about 70 km southwest of Kalkarindji. It flows first through a transition zone from arid to tropical climate, surrounded by hilly bushland, to the north. In the dry season the upper reaches via no or only partially water. He crosses the Buntine Highway and at the cattle farm Victoria Downs Buchanan Highway ( the rainy season, these crossings become impassable ).
At the Victoria River Roadhouse in the eastern part of the Gregory National Park it crosses the Victoria Highway on a low bridge (Victoria River Crossing ), which may be under water during the rainy season also. There, the river bends sharply to the west. At Timber Creek he touched again the Victoria Highway. Through flowing between the sandstone mountain ranges of the Pinkerton Range and the Yambarran Range, reaching the Queens Channel, a 25 -km-long estuary in front of the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf in the Timor Sea.
Tributaries with muzzle heights
- Revolver Creek - 326 m
- Camel Creek - 315 m
- Gum Creek - 300 m
- Hat 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 ( Wattie ) Creek - 157 m
- Five Mile Creek - 154 m
- 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
- 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
- Pack Saddle Creek - 1 m
- Boundary Creek - 1 m
- Bull Creek - 1 m
- Bullo River - 0 m
- Paperback Creek - 0 m
Flushed lakes
The Victoria River flows through some water holes, which are usually also then filled with water when the river is dry yourself:
- Catfish Waterhole - 252 m
- Four Mile Waterhole - 152 m
- Ten Mile Waterhole - 149 m
- Rifle Waterhole - 145 m
- Longreach Waterhole - 119 m
History
Before Augustus Charles Gregory no Europeans at the Victoria River is documented. The Aboriginal tribe of Ngaringman the area was, however, have long been known.
1854 Gregory was commissioned by the British government with the exploration of the North Australian inland. Under his leadership, the expedition ship was broken on August 12, 1855 his brother Henry Churcham, the German botanist Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, 18 men, 50 horses and 200 sheep from the Moreton Bay near Brisbane in northern waters and had the end of September in the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf reached the estuary of the river named by the Victoria River. Here, the group Joshua divided: while the Gregory led a section on the pasture lands, drove the others with a schooner up the river. It was only on 20 October, the group reunited and established a camp on the river about 20 km west of today's Timber Creek. While the team remained until July 1956 at the base camp, Gregory took a few companions for 8 months expeditions into the interior. They drove in the rainy season the Victoria River upwards, reached the ' Sturt Creek '', which only carries water during the summer, and followed this up to the edge of the Tanamiwüste.
On a Boab Gregory has given an indication of the location of the base camp by a incised inscription on 2 July 1856. This tree is called Gregory 's Tree and is now a tourist prepared documentation center, to the equipment and everyday life in Gregory's Camp and the various expeditions are clearly explained. Gregory had the inscription as well as a reference to a letter filed as an aid for alleged search parties intended, if the expedition team is lost. At the end of such help was not needed, because the group reached after it was early July pried away from the base camp to the east and progressed parallel to the coast over several rivers, unharmed on December 16, 1856 their origin Brisbane.
Infrastructure and tourism
It cause no roads and paths along the Victoria River. Apart from the aforesaid highway crosses its banks are not accessible.
Are developed for tourists - except the documentation on Gregory 's Tree - only small areas around Timber Creek and the east of the Gregory National Park to Victoria River Crossing. From Timber Creek boat trips are organized to observe saltwater crocodiles, which, though more occasionally show up in the salt water in the lower reaches of the river at home, even in the interior. Towards the end of the rainy season ( March to May) is the peak season for barramundi fishing trips.
The Roadhouse Victoria River Crossing (power station and campsite) there are trails with views of the river from the rugged red sandstone formations ( escarpments ), through which the river has carved its way into the area. The Red Valley Gorge is a popular picnic spot.
An access to an asphalt road ( Victoria River Access; branch to the Victoria Highway) leads to further fishing and picnic areas along the riverside.