The Charles River, which is often called Charles Creek is an

ephemeral stream A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams are ...

in the southern

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

. It is a tributary of the Todd River and, like the Todd River, its naming is associated with Charles Todd; a senior civil servant involved with the Overland Telegraph Line. The

Arrernte Arrernte (also spelt Aranda, etc.) is a descriptor related to a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples from Central Australia. It may refer to: * Arrernte (area), land controlled by the Arrernte Council (?) * Arrernte people, Aboriginal Australi ...

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 Little Flower Mission operated from 1938 to 1942 and it was a mission to Eastern Arrernte people who were living in and around the township of Alice Springs. The mission was established by Catholic missionaries, part of the Missionaries of the S ...

and is now commonly referred to as Charles Creek Camp. The Alice Springs Telegraph Station, which was once

The Bungalow The Bungalow was an institution for Aboriginal children established in 1914 in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. It existed at several locations in Alice Springs (then called Stuart), Jay Creek and the Alice Springs Telegr ...

is also situated close by. Charles River is long and has a catchment area of and it flows into

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

from the

MacDonnell Ranges The MacDonnell Ranges, or Tjoritja in Arrernte, is a mountain range located in southern Northern Territory. MacDonnell Ranges is also the name given to an interim Australian bioregion broadly encompassing the mountain range, with an area of .< ...

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 Theodor George Henry Strehlow (6 June 1908 – 3 October 1978) was an Australian anthropologist and linguist. He notably studied the Arrernte (Aranda, Arunta) Aboriginal Australians and their language in Central Australia. Life Early life ...

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