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Victorian Alps
The Victorian Alps, also known locally as the High Country, is a large mountain system in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria. Occupying the majority of eastern Victoria, it is the southwestern half of the Australian Alps (the other half being the Snowy Mountains), the tallest portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Yarra and Dandenong Ranges, both sources of rivers and drinking waters for Melbourne (Victoria's capital, largest city and home to three quarters of the state's population), are branches of the Victorian Alps. The promise of gold in the mid-1800s, during the Victorian Gold rush led to the European settlement of the area. The region's rich natural resources brought a second wave of agricultural settlers; the foothills around the Victorian Alps today has a large agrarian sector, with significant cattle stations being sold recently for over thirty million dollars. The Victorian Alps is also the source of many of Victoria's water ways, including Murray ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Plains (Australia)
The High Plains of south-eastern Australia are a sub-region, or more strictly a string of adjacent areas, in and adjacent to the Australian Alps, part of the Great Dividing Range. They were long used for summer grazing, in some cases since the 1830s. Much of the sub-region are now national parks. Location and features Consisting of a weathered plateau divided by deep gorges, the High Plains region provided natural paddocks. The higher areas were natural grassed pastures, and lower areas were cleared of the native forest by settlers, some of whom had grazing licenses while others were merely squatters. Fences were necessary only for stockyards, as during summer the cattle had no incentive to wander into the forests or down the steep gorges. However it was essential to muster the cattle in autumn before colder weather, and even snowfalls, drove them down into the gorges. If this happened because of unseasonably early snow, or other factors, the cattle might be lost or might go feral. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
