The Avon River, an inland intermittent river of the
Wimmera
The Wimmera is a region of the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located within parts of the Loddon Mallee and the Grampians regions; and covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Aust ...
catchment, located in the
Grampians
The Grampian Mountains (''Am Monadh'' in Gaelic) 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 rang ...
and Wimmera regions of the
Australian state of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
. Rising on the northern slopes of the
Great Dividing Range, the Avon River flows north-westerly to reach its
confluence with the
Richardson River. The rivers of the Wimmera catchment drain into a series of
ephemeral lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...
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: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...
catchment of the
Murray-Darling basin.
Location and features
The Avon River rises on the northern slopes of the Great Dividing Range, near Beazleys Bridge, west of . The rivers flows in a highly
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...
ing
course generally west by north, joined by one minor
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or 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 drain the surrounding drai ...
, before reaching its
mouth to flow into the Richardson River at Banyena; northwest of . The Avon River descends over its course.
[
]
Etymology
In a western Kulin Aboriginal language the river and surrounding country is named ''Wityellibar'', from ''witji'' "basket grass" ''bar'' "river";Djadjawurrung language
Djadjawurrung (also Jaara, Ngurai-illam-wurrung) is an Aboriginal Australian language spoken by the Dja Dja Wurrung people of the Kulin nation of central Victoria. Djadjawurrung was spoken by 16 clans around Murchison, the central highlands ...
, ''Kurakibiyal'', with ''kurak'' meaning "sand" and ''biyal'', meaning "red gum".[
]
See also
* List of rivers of Victoria
References
External links
*
*
*
North-Central catchment
Rivers of Grampians (region)
Wimmera
Grampians (national park)
{{VictoriaAU-river-stub