Valley Of Lagoons is a rural

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Charters Towers Region The Charters Towers Region is a local government area in North Queensland, Australia southwest of, and inland from the city of Townsville, based in Charters Towers. Established in 2008, it was preceded by two previous local government areas whic ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , Valley Of Lagoons had a population of 39 people.

Geography

The north-eastern slopes of Boulder Mountain are the origin of the

Burdekin River The Burdekin River is a river in North and Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the northern slopes of Boulder Mountain at Valley of Lagoons, part of the western slope of the Seaview Range, and flows into the Coral Sea at Upsta ...

. Downstream the river forms part of the eastern and southern boundary in four separate sections. Douglas Creek, a tributary of the Burdekin, also rises in the area. There is a area of wetlands is on a

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

ic plateau covered by an inland

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

that hosts several large off-channel lakes that provide a permanent aquatic habitat. The area is DIWA listed and is a valuable habitat for fish and waterbirds. The area contains a major basalt feature - the 7000 year old Kinrara lava flow - with many springs emanating from a number of locations which in turn drives permanent water flow through the area, the condition of the wetland is good. Valley Of Lagoons has the following mountains (from north to south): * Boulder Mountain (), risiing to above sea level * Noname Hill () * Basalt Hill () * Black Mountain () * Mount Claro () * Mount Jimmy () * Mount Grey () * Mount Dora () * The Bluff () * Mount Lyall () * Mount Dudley () Part of

Girringun National Park Girringun National Park is a national park in Queensland, Australia, approximately southwest of Ingham, north of Townsville and northwest of Brisbane. The park is one of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area series of national parks, and is ...

is in the north of the locality, extending into neighbouring Wairuna, Garrawalt, and Wallaman. The land use is

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

on native vegetation.

History

''Gugu Badhun'' is an

Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...

. The language region includes areas within the local government area of

, particularly the localities of Greenvale and the Valley of Lagoons, and in the

Upper Burdekin River The Burdekin River is a river in North and Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the northern slopes of Boulder Mountain at Valley of Lagoons, part of the western slope of the Seaview Range, and flows into the Coral Sea at Upstart ...

area and in Abergowrie.

Ludwig Leichhardt Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt (; 23 October 1813 – ), known as Ludwig Leichhardt, was a German explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.Ken Eastwood,'Cold case: Leichhardt's disappearanc ...

and his team were the first Europeans to explore the area on 4 May 1845 on his expedition from

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

to Port Essington (now Darwin). Leichhardt was very impressed with the area saying:

''"About five miles north-west by west from our camp, we discovered an en extensive valley with large lagoons and lakes, and a most luxuriant vegetation, bounded by blue distant ranges, and forming the most picturesque landscape we had yet met with. A chain of lagoons connected by a reedy brook followed the outlines of the table land, along the foot of its steep slopes. ... Water, grass, hills, mountains, plains, forest land; all the elements of a fine pasturing country, were here united."''

Leichhardt uses the term "valley of lagoons" several times in his book, presumably the origin of the name. Based on Leichhardt's favourable reports,

George Elphinstone Dalrymple George Augustus Frederick Elphinstone Dalrymple (6 May 1826 – 22 January 1876) was a colonist, explorer, public servant and politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. He founded the towns of Bowen and Cardwell, and pionee ...

explored the area in 1859. Dalrymple was part of the company that established the Valley of Lagoons Station in 1862 after the area was opened up by the government. A partnership formed between Walter Jervoise Scott, his brother Arthur, Dalrymple and

Robert Herbert Sir Robert George Wyndham Herbert, (12 June 1831 – 6 May 1905), was the first Premiers of Queensland, Premier of Queensland, Australia. At 28 years and 181 days of age, he was the youngest person ever to become premier of an Australian state ...

(then

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

) financed the acquisition of the leasehold. The partnership became Scott Bros, Dalrymple & Company with Dalrymple acting as manager.

Demographics

In the , Valley Of Lagoons had a population of 48 people. In the , Valley Of Lagoons had a population of 39 people.

Education

There are no schools in Valley Of Lagoons. The nearest government primary schools are Mount Fox State School in neighbouring Mount Fox to the east and Greenvale State School in neighbouring Greenvale to the south-west, but some students may be too distant to attend these schools. There are no secondary schools nearby either; the alternatives are

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

and boarding school.

References

External links

* (covers history of Valley of Lagoons) * {{Charters Towers Region Charters Towers Region DIWA-listed wetlands Localities in Queensland