On 16 November 1824 Australian explorer Hamilton Hume discovered the Murray River, Australia's second-longest river in its own right (the longest being its tributary the Darling).

The Murray River begins as a small stream in the Australian Alps (home to Australia's highest mountain; Mount Kosciusko) and travels west for a distance of over 2750kms. The river Murray and its tributaries flow through forests of eucalyptus trees towards areas of very flat and dry land. In these very dry areas, the rivers can almost stop flowing in the hot summer months because a lot of water is lost through evaporation.

Map of where the Murray River is