The Bynoe River, also called the Little Bynoe River, is an arm of the Flinders River delta in the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is of significant historical interest as the point where the Burke and Wills expedition, an expedition seeking to cross Australia from south to north and return, reached salt water in 1861. The mouth of the river was the explorers’ Burke and Wills Camp B/CXIX, with ‘CXIX’ being the Roman numerals for 119. [1]
The river was named for Benjamin Bynoe, a surgeon and naturalist on HMS Beagle. [2] The river’s mouth is adjacent to Normanton, Queensland. The river and mouth should not be confused with Bynoe Harbour in the Northern Territory.
The Burke and Wills expedition was organised by the Royal Society of Victoria in Australia in 1860–61. It consisted of 19 men led by Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills, with the objective of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south, to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 3,250 kilometres. At that time most of the inland of Australia had not been explored by non-Indigenous people and was largely unknown to the European settlers.
The Gulf of Carpentaria is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea. The northern boundary is generally defined as a line from Slade Point, Queensland in the northeast, to Cape Arnhem on the Gove Peninsula, Northern Territory in the west.
Normanton is an outback town and coastal locality in the Shire of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census the locality of Normanton had a population of 1,257 people, of whom 750 (60%) identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, while the town of Normanton had a population of 1,210 people, of whom 743 (62%) identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.
The Flinders River is the longest river in Queensland, Australia, at approximately 1,004 kilometres (624 mi). It was named in honour of the explorer Matthew Flinders. The catchment is sparsely populated and mostly undeveloped. The Flinders rises on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in North West Queensland and flows generally north-west through the Gulf Country, across a large, flat clay pan, before entering the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Robert O'Hara Burke was an Irish soldier and police officer who achieved fame as an Australian explorer. He was the leader of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled areas of Victoria to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The expedition party was well equipped, but Burke was not experienced in bushcraft. A Royal Commission report conducted upon the failure of the expedition was a censure of Burke's judgement.
William John Wills was a British surveyor who also trained as a surgeon. Wills achieved fame as the second-in-command of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled areas of Victoria to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
John King was an Irish born British soldier who achieved fame as an Australian explorer. He was the sole survivor of the four men from the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition who reached the Gulf of Carpentaria. The expedition was the first to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from Melbourne in Victoria to the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland.
Innamincka, formerly Hopetoun, is a township and locality in north-east South Australia with a population of 44 people as of the 2016 census. By air it is 820 kilometres north-east of the state capital, Adelaide, and 365 kilometres north-east of the closest town, Lyndhurst. It is 66 kilometres north-east of the Moomba Gas Refinery. The town lies within the Innamincka Regional Reserve and is surrounded by the Strzelecki Desert to the south and the Sturt Stony Desert to the north. It is linked by road to Lyndhurst via the Strzelecki Track, to the Birdsville Developmental Road via Cordillo Downs Road and Arrabury Road, and the Walkers Crossing Track to the Birdsville Track. The Walkers Crossing Track is closed in summer and only traversable in dry weather. The township is situated along the Cooper Creek, a part of the Lake Eyre basin.
Mia Mia is a locality of Central Victoria, Australia, 119 kilometres (74 mi) north of Melbourne and 56 kilometres (35 mi) south of Bendigo. It is largely an area of broadacre farms raising cattle and sheep. It is a part of the Heathcote wine region Wine District and a number of vineyards have been established in the area, most notably producing Shiraz grapes. Its local government areas are the City of Greater Bendigo and Shire of Mitchell, Mia Mia is part of the Federal Electorates of Bendigo and McEwen and it is in the state electorate of Euroa. In 2011, it had a population of 265.
William Landsborough was an explorer of Australia and notably he was the first explorer to complete a North-to-South crossing of Australia. He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Council.
Burketown is an isolated outback town and coastal locality in the Shire of Burke, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, the locality of Burketown had a population of 238 people.
The Burke River is an ephemeral river in Central West Queensland, Australia. The river was named in memory of Robert O'Hara Burke of the Burke and Wills expedition.
Burke and Wills Plant Camp is a heritage-listed campsite near Betoota within the locality of Birdsville, Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as Return Camp 46 and Burke and Wills Camp R46. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 11 December 2008.
Sweers Island is an island in the South Wellesley Islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia. Privately owned via a perpetual lease and with the only residents being the owners and workers at the resort, the island is within the Shire of Mornington.
Burke and Wills Camp B/CXIX is a heritage-listed campsite at Burke and Wills Access Road, Normanton, Shire of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as Walker's Camp. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 14 August 2008.
Landsborough's Blazed Tree is a heritage-listed blazed tree at Mitchell Highway, Bakers Bend, Shire of Murweh, Queensland, Australia. It was marked by William Landsborough. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 June 2009.
Landsborough's Blazed Tree is a heritage-listed tree at Mitchell Highway, Charleville, Shire of Murweh, Queensland, Australia. It was marked by William Landsborough. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 June 2009.
Dr Ludwig Becker's Grave is a heritage-listed grave at Molesworth Station, by the Bulloo River, Bulloo Downs, Shire of Bulloo, Queensland, Australia. He was buried in 1861. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 August 1994.
The Dig Tree is a heritage-listed, blazed, eucalyptus tree at Nappa Merrie Station, Durham, Shire of Bulloo, Queensland, Australia. It was blazed on 21 April 1861. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 February 2003.
The Burke, Wills, King and Yandruwandha National Heritage Place is a heritage-listed historic precinct on the Birdsville Track, Innamincka, South Australia, Australia. It was added to the Australian National Heritage List on 22 January 2016.
Burke's trees at Burke's camp 119 at the junction of Billy Creek and the Bynoe River where in 1861 his expedition discovered the salt waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland.
citing Alex George, 2009