The Richardson River, an inland intermittent river of the
Wimmera
The Victorian government's Wimmera Southern Mallee subregion is part of the Grampians region in western Victoria. It includes most of what is considered the Wimmera, and part of the southern Mallee region. The subregion is based on the social ...
catchment, located in the
Grampians
The Grampian Mountains () is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. The Grampian range extends northeast to so ...
and Wimmera regions of the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n state of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India
* Victoria (state), a state of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital
* Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
. Rising on the northern slopes of the
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...
, the Richardson River flows generally north and drains into
Lake Buloke
Lake Buloke is a eutrophic lake in the Wimmera region of north-western Victoria, Australia. The lake is fed by the Richardson River and is located adjacent to the township of . Lake Buloke is also one of the most popular duck shooting lakes in ...
, one of a series of
ephemeral lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...
s that, whilst they do not directly empty into a defined watercourse, form part of the
Murray River
The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...
catchment of the
Murray-Darling basin.
Location and features
The Richardson River rises on the northern slopes of the Great Dividing Range in the Mori Mori Nature Conservation Reserve. The river flows in a highly
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...
ing
course
Course may refer to:
Directions or navigation
* Course (navigation), the path of travel
* Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...
generally west by north and then east by north, joined by two
tributaries
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...
including the
Avon River, before reaching its
mouth
A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...
in Lake Buloke; north of . The Richardson River descends over its course.
[
]
Etymology
In the Aboriginal Djadjawurrung
The Djadjawurrung or Dja Dja Wurrung, also known as the Djaara or Jajowrong people and Loddon River tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people who are the traditional owners of lands including the water catchment areas of the Loddon and Avoca ...
and Jardwadjali
The Jardwadjali (Yartwatjali), also known as the Jaadwa, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Victoria, whose traditional lands occupy the lands in the upper Wimmera River watershed east to Gariwerd ( Grampians) and west to Lake ...
languages, the river is named ''Larning'', meaning "your camp"; ''Witjibar'', meaning "basket grass river"; and ''Wallamyer'' with no defined meaning. In the Djadjawurrung, Jardwadjali, and Wergaia
The Wergaia or Werrigia people are an Aboriginal Australian group in the Mallee (Victoria), Mallee and Wimmera regions of north-Western Victoria (Australia), Victoria, made up of a number of clans. The people were also known as the Maligundidj ( ...
languages, the river is named ''Barnunung'', meaning "smouldering away". In the Djadjawurrung language, the river is named ''Kurakibiyal'' with ''kurak'' meaning "sand"" and ''biyal'' meaning "red gum". In the Jardwadjali language
The Wemba Wemba language is an extinct Aboriginal Australian language once spoken along the Murray River and its tributaries in North Western Victoria and South Central New South Wales.
Nari Nari, a dialect of Wemba Wemba, is part of a langu ...
, the river is named ''Willaring'', with ''wille'' meaning a "common silver grey possum". And in an undefined Aboriginal language, the river is called ''Wirchilleba'' meaning "a dry watercourse".[
Named after John Matthew Richardson who fell from his horse during Thomas Mitchell's 1836 expedition.
]
See also
* List of rivers of Victoria
References
External links
*
*
*
North-Central catchment
Rivers of Grampians (region)
Rivers of Loddon Mallee (region)
Wimmera
Grampians (national park)
{{VictoriaAU-river-stub