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.

Avon River (Gippsland, Victoria)
Mouth	Lake Wellington
Length	122 km (76 mi)
Mouth elevation	0 m (0 ft)
River system	West Gippsland catchment

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 664 metres (2,178 ft) over its 122-kilometre (76 mi) 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 500 metres (1,600 ft) 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 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) 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, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) 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