Kerang, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Loddon River
The Loddon River is a 392-km long tributary of the Murray River that flows through central and northern Victoria, Australia. The river rises near Trentham and flows by Glenlyon. It then flows generally northward through Guildford and Newstead, 40 km west of Bendigo through the Cairn Curran...
in northern Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It is the commercial centre to an irrigation district based on livestock, horticulture, lucerne and grain. It is located 279 kilometres (173.4 mi) north-west of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
on the Murray Valley Highway
Murray Valley Highway
The Murray Valley Highway is a popular tourist route, which follows the south side of the Murray River in Victoria, Australia. The route effectively acts as the northern-most highway in Victoria...
a few kilometres north of its intersection with the Loddon Valley Highway
Loddon Valley Highway
The Loddon Valley Highway runs roughly north-west from Bendigo to Kerang on the Murray Valley Highway. Previously assigned State Route 141, it was later designated as B260....
, elevation 78 metres (255.9 ft). At the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, Kerang had a population of 3780. Kerang is believed to be an Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
word for Cockatoo
Cockatoo
A cockatoo is any of the 21 species belonging to the bird family Cacatuidae. Along with the Psittacidae and the Strigopidae , they make up the parrot order Psittaciformes . Placement of the cockatoos as a separate family is fairly undisputed, although many aspects of the other living lineages of...
.
History
The Wemba-WembaWemba-Wemba
The Wemba-Wemba are an Indigenous Australian group in north-Western Victoria and south-western New South Wales, Australia, including in the Mallee and the Riverina regions. They are also known as the Wamba-wamba....
Aborigines are thought to have been the area's first occupants. Thomas Mitchell was the first European to visit the area, in 1836. Squatters began to settle in the area in 1845 and in 1848 Richard Beyes opened a public house at a river crossing near the future townsite. This was followed by a saddlery and a church. In 1857 Woodford Patchell built a bridge upriver from the settlement which drew traffic from the earlier settlement. He built a store, house and hotel that became the center of what was to become Kerang. Patchell was the first farmer in the state to use irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
and experimented with oats, barley, maize, millet, tobacco, beet, cotton and sugarcane. The Post Office opened on 29 July 1858. An earlier Kerang office, quite distant, was renamed Wedderburn
Wedderburn, Victoria
Wedderburn is a rural town located in Victoria, Australia on the Calder Highway north of Victoria's capital city, Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Wedderburn had a population of 704...
on the same day.
Kerang was declared a shire in 1871; at the time the settlement's population was 109. The arrival of the railway from Bendigo
Bendigo, Victoria
Bendigo is a major regional city in the state of Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne. It is the second largest inland city and fourth most populous city in the state. The estimated urban...
in 1884 and the construction of a tramway to Koondrook
Kerang-Koondrook Tramway
The Kerang-Koondrook Tramway was an Australian private railway of broad gauge, running from the state owned Victorian Railways network at Kerang to the Murray River town of Koondrook, with intermediate stations at Yeoburn, Hinksons, Teal Point and Gannawarra.The long line was opened in 1889, with...
in 1888 led to expansion; by 1891 the population had increased to over a thousand. The spread of Patchell's irrigation ideas improved local productivity and the town continued to expand.
Burke and Wills
The Burke and Wills expedition passed through Kerang on their journey to cross Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. On Sunday, 2 September 1860 the expedition camped at Booth & Holloway's Tragowell Station to the south of Kerang. On Tuesday, 4 September 1860 they passed through Kerang, crossed the Loddon and camped at Mr. Fenton's Reedy Creek Run, making Camp XIII, (their thirteenth camp since leaving Melbourne).Environment
Kerang's symbol is a flying ibisIbis
The ibises are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae....
. The area around Kerang is dotted with lagoons and lakes and is believed to have the most populous ibis rookeries in the world with an estimated 200,000 ibis using the area for breeding each year, along with many other waterbirds. It is also a popular recreational destination. Many of the wetlands have been recognised by inclusion in the North Victorian Wetlands
North Victorian Wetlands
The North Victorian Wetlands, also known as the Kerang Wetlands, comprise an extensive series of over 100 freshwater, brackish and saline lakes and swamps on the floodplain of the Loddon River where it enters the Murray valley, in the vicinity of the town of Kerang, in northern Victoria,...
Important Bird Area
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...
and as being of international significance through listing under the Ramsar Convention
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
.
Transport
Kerang is located at the junction of the Loddon ValleyLoddon Valley Highway
The Loddon Valley Highway runs roughly north-west from Bendigo to Kerang on the Murray Valley Highway. Previously assigned State Route 141, it was later designated as B260....
and Murray Valley Highway
Murray Valley Highway
The Murray Valley Highway is a popular tourist route, which follows the south side of the Murray River in Victoria, Australia. The route effectively acts as the northern-most highway in Victoria...
s. Air transport is provided by Kerang Airport
Kerang Airport
Kerang Airport is located at Kerang, Victoria, Australia....
.
The town is also on the Swan Hill railway line, served by V/Line
V/Line
V/Line is a not for profit regional passenger train and coach service in Victoria, Australia. It was created after the split-up of VicRail in 1983. V/Line is owned by the V/Line Corporation which is a Victorian State Government statutory authority...
trains from Kerang station
Kerang railway station, Victoria
Kerang is a railway station on the Swan Hill railway line in Kerang, Victoria, Australia. It is 289km from Southern Cross station. Kerang was once the junction station to the former rail lines to Koondrook and to Stony Crossing. The station contains a goods yard...
to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, as well as coach services to Balranald
Balranald, New South Wales
Balranald is a town and local government area in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census the population was 1,216....
. The Kerang-Koondrook Tramway
Kerang-Koondrook Tramway
The Kerang-Koondrook Tramway was an Australian private railway of broad gauge, running from the state owned Victorian Railways network at Kerang to the Murray River town of Koondrook, with intermediate stations at Yeoburn, Hinksons, Teal Point and Gannawarra.The long line was opened in 1889, with...
once linked the town to Koondrook
Koondrook, Victoria
Koondrook is a town situated on the Murray River, Victoria, Australia. The town is located in the Shire of Gannawarra Local government area, north west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Koondrook had a population of 802.-History:...
from 1889, being closed to passengers in 1976, and closed 1981. On 5 June 2007, a semi-trailer collided with a passenger train at a level crossing, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) north of the town, killing 11 people. This was the worst train disaster in Victoria since 1969.
Community
The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Central Murray Football LeagueCentral Murray Football League
The Central Murray Football League is a major country Australian rules football competition based in northern Victoria, Australia and southwest New South Wales, Australia.-History:...
.
Kerang has a horse racing club, the Kerang Turf Club, which schedules two race meetings a year including the Kerang Cup meeting in March.
Golfers play at the course of the Kerang Golf Club on Koondrook Road.
Kerang also has a thriving skatepark community, with freestyle BMX and skateboarding enthusiasts regularly honing their skills at the park.
External links
- Gannawarra Shire Council - Official Website
- Burke & Wills Web A comprehensive website containing many of the historical documents relating to the Burke & Wills Expedition.
- The Burke & Wills Historical Society The Burke & Wills Historical Society.