Rivers are the source of life for so much of mankind. In contrast, most Australian rivers are ephemeral and provide 'life' only occasionally.

The dry riverbed of a red-river-gum-lined, ephemeral Australian river is a classic Outback scene. As classic as our beautiful golden beaches. As distinct perhaps as our red desert sands. Or even Uluru.

Locating the source of a river - many in Australia are often officially undetermined to this day - is like undertaking a seminal journey. To find the birthplace of a stream is akin to pioneering  - rare in today's world.

In excess of 20,000 kilometres on Australian rivers and several thousand on rivers overseas gives an appreciation of the value of rivers.

The stories of some of these river trips and expeditions make for exciting reading and in many cases recount adventures in places never previously tackled by a powered craft of any kind and rarely visited by tourists.

The short articles linked below describe some of the rivers and creeks referred to in the articles and blogs on this website. Where possible, the origin of the name for the river is provided. It should be noted many aboriginals applied names to specific parts of a river rather than the entire stream.