The Vasse River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The headwaters of the river are in the

Whicher Range Whicher Range, also known as Whicher Scarp, is a range in the South West region of Western Australia. The range has an average elevation of above sea level. Bounded by the Swan Coastal Plain to the west and the south, the Darling Scarp to th ...

below Chapman Hill and it flows in a northerly direction through the City of

Busselton Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton ...

until discharging into the Vasse Estuary and then the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

via Wonnerup Inlet and

Geographe Bay Geographe Bay is in the south-west of Western Australia around 220 km southwest of Perth. The bay was named in May 1801 by French explorer Nicolas Baudin, after his ship, ''Géographe''. The bay is a wide curve of coastline extending from ...

. The river is named after French seaman Thomas (Timothée) Vasse, who disappeared in the area in June 1801 during

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. Biography Early career Born a comm ...

's expedition. It is estimated that 81.5% of the Vasse River catchment has been cleared.

References

Rivers of the South West region Busselton {{WesternAustralia-river-stub

See also

References