Dandenong Creek
Dandenong (Narra Narrawong,[1] Dandinnong[2]) | |
Dand-y-non, Tanjenong[1] | |
Creek[3] | |
Dandenong Creek channeled as an urban stream in Dandenong | |
Name origin: Aboriginal Bunwurrung: "high" or "lofty"[1] | |
Country | Australia |
---|---|
State | Victoria |
Regions | South East Coastal Plain (IBRA), Greater Melbourne |
Local government area | City of Monash |
Part of | Port Phillip catchment |
Tributaries | |
- left | Corhanwarrabul Creek |
Primary source | Dandenong Ranges |
Secondary source | Bungalook Creek |
- location | near Heathmont |
- elevation | 96 m (315 ft) |
- coordinates | 37°50′8″S 145°15′25″E / 37.83556°S 145.25694°E |
Mouth | confluence with the Eumemmerring Creek to form the Patterson River |
- location | southwest of Bangholme |
- elevation | 6 m (20 ft) |
- coordinates | 38°2′37″S 145°10′29″E / 38.04361°S 145.17472°ECoordinates: 38°2′37″S 145°10′29″E / 38.04361°S 145.17472°E |
Length | 34 km (21 mi) |
[3][4] | |
The Dandenong Creek (Aboriginal Bunwurrung: Narra Narrawong[1] or Dandinnong[2]) is an urban creek[3] of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the eastern and south-eastern Greater Melbourne region of the Australian state of Victoria.
Location and features
With its headwaters in the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges at Olinda, within the Dandenong Ranges National Park and sourced by downstream flows from the Bungalook Creek, the Dandenong Creek rises in urban parkland that divides the Melbourne suburbs of Heathmont and Boronia. The creek flows generally south by southwest, joined by the Corhanwarrabul Creek, before reaching its confluence with the Eumemmerring Creek to form the man-made Patterson River southwest of Bangholme. The creek descends 87 metres (285 ft) over its course that is estimated to range from 34 kilometres (21 mi)[4] to 53 kilometres (33 mi).[1]
The health of the creek in these urban areas ranges from moderate to very poor and has been the focus of a number of clean-up campaigns in recent years.[5]
The creek is also the home of one of the largest remaining populations of Yarra Gum.[6]
A bike path known as the Dandenong Creek Trail runs alongside for a significant distance. It also has an industrial wastewater course joining onto it in Bayswater known as Old Joe's Creek, where a bad smell occurs.
Etymology
The traditional custodians of the land surrounding what is now known as the Dandenong Creek were the indigenous Bunurong people of the Kulin nation who referred to the creek as Narra Narrawong; while others gave the creek the name Dandenong, sometimes spelled as Dand-y-non or Tanjenong by early settlers, believed to mean "high" or "lofty".[1]
History
The first European to see the creek near its source was in 1839 and is believed to be Daniel Bunce, a botanist.[1]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Snapshot of Dandenong Creek" (PDF). Fact sheet. Melbourne Water. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- 1 2 "Dandenong Creek: 13888: Historical information". Vicnames. Government of Victoria. 12 August 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- 1 2 3 "Dandenong Creek: 13888". Vicnames. Government of Victoria. 2 May 1966. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- 1 2 "Map of Dandenong Creek, VIC". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- ↑ "Dandenong Creek". Rivers and Creeks. Melbourne Water. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
- ↑ "Flora and Fauna: Significant Plant Species". Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
External links
- Returning Dandenong Creek project
- First Friends of Dandenong Creek website
- "Info sourced on place names in the area". Knox Historical Society. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012.