Bairnsdale is a small city in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. With an urban area population at the 2011 census of 11,820, it is a major regional centre of eastern Victoria along with Traralgon and Sale.
Bairnsdale is the commercial centre for the East Gippsland region and the seat of local government for the Shire of East Gippsland.
The origin of the city's name is uncertain. It would have almost have certainly been Bernisdale, with "Bernis-dale" originating from "Bjorn’s dale", or glen which indicates the Viking origins of the Skye Village. Legend has it that Macleod was impressed by the number of Children on the run, the children of his stockmen, that he called it Bairns-dale, or "valley of the children".
Geography
Bairnsdale is sited on a bend of the Mitchell river, with the river flowing from the west along the northern edge of the town, before turning south to flow along the eastern edge, although suburbs are now found across the river to both north and east, e.g. Wy Yung, Eastwood and Lucknow. The river floods at frequent intervals to a minor level with major flooding experienced approximately every 10 years, inundating areas of the town close to the banks and closing major transport routes including the Princes Highway during significant flood events.
The Mitchell River flows into Lake King and Jones Bay at Eagle Point Bluff. Extending beyond Eagle Point Bluff are the Mitchell River silt jetties (a type of digitate River Delta), second only in length to those formed at the mouth of the Mississippi River in the United States, although now the longest in the world since Hurricane Katrina reduced the length of the Mississippi River delta.
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