The Murray-Darling River, Australia

The Murray-Darling River, Australia
Australia’s Murray River and the Darling River start inland. They join at the border of New South Wales and Victoria and flow across South Australia into the Southern Ocean. Together they are called the Murray-Darling, with a length of 3717 km, making it the world’s 16^th longest river.

The river was first explored by William Hovell and Hamilton Hume in 1824. Five years later Charles Sturt travelled along both rivers and discovered that they are both part of the same river system.

In 1887 George Chaffey, a Canadian, introduced an irrigation system, which led to farming and trading settlements becoming established along the river.

The waters of the Murray-Darling are quite salty so are used mostly for irrigation and production of hydroelectric power. However, today river water flows into many manmade dams and reservoirs which affects the river’s flow.

Echuca is located on the Murray River, just across the river from the New South Wales town of Moama.

The town was settled in 1854 and became one of Australia's busiest inland ports, with paddle steamers transporting goods throughout Australia's river network. Eventually rail and then road transport developed and transport of cargo along the river ended in the early 1900s. Agriculture, and now tourism based on the historic paddle steamers and river cargo trade, are the main industries. A redgum pier begun in 1865 was built in stages to three levels to allow for the rise and fall of the river. It was 1200 metres long, but just a section remains. It forms part of the Port of Echuca tourist attraction, which includes a museum, old buildings and river cruises on historic paddle steamers.

Echuca’s location and warm climate make it a popular place to holiday, with its parks and forests, and excellent fishing and boating on the Murray. Houseboats provide places to stay on holiday, in addition to other more usual forms of accommodation.

Wodonga on the Victorian side of the Murray, and Albury on the New South Wales side have merged to form a ‘twin city’ called Albury-Wodonga. Over 90,000 people live there. As well as straddling the Murray River, it is located on the Hume Highway, the major inland road connecting Melbourne and Sydney. Rail and air transport also service Albury-Wodonga so that it combines city and country living .

Swan Hill is situated on the Murray River, between Robinvale and Kerang.In the early 1850s, it was one of the major river trading ports. Once the railways expanded, river transport began to decline. However, with the river used for irrigation, farming remains a major industry, in particular citrus and grapevines.

A narrow bridge across the Murray was built in 1896, with a central span that could be raised to allow paddle steamers to pass through.

A Moreton Bay fig tree was planted in 1860 to commemorate the visit of famous explorers Burke and Wills as they passed through on their ill-fated expedition. Known as The Burke & Wills Tree, it is believed to be the largest tree of its kind in Australia.

The Pioneer Settlement is a popular tourist attraction, recreating the river port town as it was at the height of the river trade. A historic paddle steamer built in 1896, the P.S. Pyap, has been restored and takes visitors on cruises on the Murray.

Mildura is located on the Murray, about 550 km from Melbourne and 400 km from Adelaide. Because of its warm and stable weather, as well as the development of irrigation from the river in the 1800s, the area became a rich farming region.

It is a popular tourist spot, with many activities centred around the Murray River, such as paddle steamer cruises, swimming, boating and excellent fishing. Houseboats are available for hire in which to cruise the river. There are historic buildings to explore as well.

The town of Wentworth was named after the explorer William Charles Wentworth, and is located about 34km from Mildura at the junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers.

Named after the famous explorer and politician William Charles Wentworth, the town is 34 km to the west (via the Calder Highway) of the Victorian regional city of Mildura.

During the late 1800s it was an important river port. Like many similar river towns, the development of the railways contributed to the decline in its importance.

The town is subject to floods from both rivers. The worst was in 1956, when both rivers flooded together.

The oldest settlement along the Murray River is the town of Renmark. It is the centre of a large orchard area where a variety of fruits are grown. Before European settlement of the area, the indigenous Naralte people lived there. The river supplied plentiful food as well as their hunting of kangaroos, emus, wombats, goannas, lizards and ducks. The word 'renmark' possibly comes from the local Aboriginal words meaning 'red mud'.

Explorer Charles Sturt was the first European to travel through the area. He wanted to find out if Australia had a giant inland sea and part of that question was to find why so many rivers flowed west from the Great Dividing Range. He rowed a whaling boat down the Murrumbidgee River in 1829 and reached the place where it met with the Murray River in early 1830. He continued down Murray, passing what is now Renmark and reached Lake Alexandrina, at the mouth of the river some weeks later.

In 1887 development of irrigation systems made the Renmark area very productive farming land, particularly orchards.

Murray Bridge is South Australia’s largest river town. It was settled in 1850, and was the place where the first South Australian bridge across the Murray was built.

Read about Murray Bridge here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Bridge,_South_Australia

If you use any of this information in your own work acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this:
Sydenham, S. & Thomas, R. Murray-Darling River, Australia [Online]www.kidcyber.com.au (2009)