The Charles River, which is often called Charles Creek (), is an ephemeral stream in the southern

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. It is a tributary of the

Todd River The Todd River (Arrernte language, Arrernte: ''Lhere Mparntwe / Lhere Imatukua / Artepe Ulpaye'') is an Ephemeral, ephemeral river in the southern Northern Territory, central Australia. The origins of the Todd River are in the MacDonnell Ranges ...

and, like the Todd River, its naming is associated with Charles Todd; a senior civil servant involved with the Overland Telegraph Line. The Arrernte name for the river is ''Anthelke Ulpaye'' and this name is shared with a nearby Alice Springs Town Camp which is situated on its banks: this camp was once the site of the Little Flower Mission and is now commonly referred to as Charles Creek Camp. The Alice Springs Telegraph Station, which was once The Bungalow, is also situated close by. The Charles River is long and has a catchment area of and it flows into

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

from the

MacDonnell Ranges The MacDonnell Ranges, or Tjoritja in Arrernte language, Arrernte, is a mountain range located in southern Northern Territory. MacDonnell Ranges is also the name given to an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australia ...

to ANZAC Hill, where it joins with the Todd River. The area where the Charles and Todd Rivers meet is called Tyuretye (sometimes spelt Choritja) by the

Arrernte people The Arrernte () people, sometimes referred to as the Aranda, Arunta or Arrarnta, are a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the Arrernte lands, at ''Mparntwe'' (Alice Springs) and surrounding areas of the Central Australia regi ...

as the true central point of Alice Springs. Ted Strehlow noted in one of his major works, Songs of Central Australia, that Tjoritja as the "original name for Alice Springs."

References

{{coord, -23.6913, 133.8845, type:river_region:AU-NT, format=dms, display=inline,title Rivers of the Northern Territory Alice Springs Lake Eyre basin

See also

References