Avon River (Gippsland, Victoria)

The Avon River is a perennial river in the West Gippsland area of Victoria, Australia. When rain falls on the south eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range, the water flows down the river to form the Gippsland Lakes.

Location and features
The Avon River begins on the south eastern slopes of Mount Wellington, part of the Great Dividing Range. The river meanders to the south, then east, then south by southeast, before reaching its mouth to form Lake Wellington.  The Avon has ten tributaries including the Turton River and the Perry River. The Latrobe River also flows into Lake Wellington. This lake empties into Bass Strait through the Mitchell River south of Lakes Entrance. The Avon River drops  over its  course.

The upper parts of the river are inside the rugged, forested and largely inaccessible Avon Wilderness Park. The river then passes through hills covered in forest, and then through cleared farm land. Around Stratford the river is up to  across, flowing through sand and pebble banks. Along the edge of the river is the Macallister Irrigation District. The water from this irrigation area flows into the river along Nuntin Creek which joins  downstream of Stratford. 

The Avon does not have any large dams, and its water is mostly unused. Nearby, the Latrobe and Thomson Rivers supply Melbourne's drinking water, Australia's largest pulp and paper mill, the power industry in the Latrobe Valley, and irrigation, 

The Avon River was important to the indigenous Gunai/Kurnai people. At Knob Reserve,  south of Stratford, is the Gunai/Kurnai Bataluk Cultural Trail. This trail follows the paths used by the indigenous people of East Gippsland for 30,000 years.
Names
In the Australian Aboriginal Brataualung language the river has two names, the first, Dooyeedang, has no known meaning. The second name, Kutbuntaura-wurk, means "fire carriers" and wurk, meaning "land" or "country".

The river was named the Avoca River by the explorer Thomas Mitchell. It was named the Avon by Angus McMillan in about 1840.

Related pages
List of rivers of Victoria

References

Category:Rivers of Victoria (Australia)