Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Journey South-West/Old Victoria River Crossing Part II

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The Victoria River was first explored by Europeans in 1839 when Captain J. C. Wickham arrived at its mouth in the HMS Beagle. He named the river after Queen Victoria. Such was the slowness of exploration of the Territory that it wasn't until sixteen years later that Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (after whom the local hotel is named) sailed from Moreton Bay to explore the estuary of the river. With a crew of eighteen and a number of scientists, Gregory sailed up the Victoria River and then explored Sturts Creek for 500 km before it disappeared into the desert.

In 1879 Alexander Forrest crossed the Victoria River on his journey from the Western Australian coast to the Overland Telegraph Line. Four years later settlement occurred with the establishment of the huge cattle stations at Victoria Downs and Wave Hill.
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Ipomoea graminea
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Old Victoria River Crossing Camp
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Ptilotus calostachyus
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Ptilotus exaltatus
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Purple-crowned Fairy-wren Malurus coronatus Male
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Sesbania cannabina
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Spur-throated Locust Austracris guttulosa
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Streptoglossa odora
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Stringybark Eucalyptus tetrodonta
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Tribulus terrestris L. sensu lato
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Tribulus terrestris
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Trichodesma zeylanicum
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Victoria River
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Victoria River Escarpment
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Victoria River Escarpment Valley
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Early Morning Victoria River
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Journey South-West/Flora River Part I

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The Flora River is a spring fed river in Tindall and Oolloo limestone strata which gives the river its minerals and the emerald colour and creates the tufa dams. Extensive stands of the palm, Livistonia rigida, a plant with limited distribution, are found in the riverine forest. Ten clans of the Wardaman people have sacred sites associated with the river. The river merges with the Katherine River and then into the Daly River.
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Acacia valida
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Agile Wallaby Macropus agilis
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Australian Kestrel Falco cenchroides
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Black-faced Woodswallow Artamus cinereus
feeding on
Lysiphyllum cunninghamii
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Blue-faced Honeyeater Entomyzon cyanotis Juv.
feeding on
Lysiphyllum cunninghamii
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Blumea diffusa
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Brown Honeyeater Lichmera indistincta
feeding on
Fern-leaved Grevillea Grevillea pteridifolia
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Carpenter Bee Xylocopa aruana
feeding on
Coleus scutellarioides
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Cockatiel Leptolophus (Nymphicus) hollandicus Male
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Coleus scutellarioides
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Crested Pigeon Geophaps lophotes
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Double-barred Finch Taeniopygia bichenovii
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Evening Brown Butterfly Melanitis leda
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Great Bowerbird Chlamydera nuchalis
feeding on
Lysiphyllum cunninghamii
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Helmeted Friarbird Philemon buceroides
feeding on
Fern-leaved Grevillea Grevillea pteridifolia
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Hooded Parrot Psephotus dissimilis Female
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Hooded Parrot Psephotus dissimilis Male
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Hooded Parrot Psephotus dissimilis Male Juv
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Hooded Parrot Psephotus dissimilis Male
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Livistona mariae rigida
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Lysiphyllum cunninghamii
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Journey South-West/Flora River Part II

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The Daly River basin was explored early in 1877 by the Government Surveyor, Gilbert McMinn, in response to requests for pastoral leases in the area from Charles Fisher and Maurice Lyons. A.W. Sergison was in McMinns survey party as a private member and later that year, from August 30 to October 15 he explored the area between the Fitzmaurice and the Daly Rivers. During this trip he "...came on a new head of the Daly River which I have named The Flora." (extract from Sergison's letter dated November 9 1877).
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Stout Beeflies Ligyra sp..
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Northern Rosella Platycercus venustus
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Olive-backed Oriole Oriolus sagittatus
feeding on
Lysiphyllum cunninghamii
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Pachynema dilatatum
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Painted Grasshawk Neurothemis stigmatizans stigmatizans
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Peaceful Dove Geopelia placida
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Red-flowered Kurrajong Brachychiton paradoxum
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Red-winged Parrot Aprosmictus erythropterus Male
feeding on
Lysiphyllum cunninghamii
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Sacred Kingfisher Todirhampus (Halcyon) sancta
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Scarlet Percher Diplacodes haematodes
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Tufa Dams
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Tufa High Dams
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Varied Triller Lalage leucomela
feeding on
Lysiphyllum cunninghamii
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Willy Wag Tail Rhipidura leucophrys
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Yellow-throated Miner Manorina flavigula
feeding on
Fern-leaved Grevillea Grevillea pteridifolia
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Yellow-tinted Honeyeater Lichenostomus flavescens
feeding on
Lysiphyllum cunninghamii
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