Araluen is a small town near Braidwood in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, in Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council. It lies in the valley of Araluen Creek, that joins the Deua River at roughly the midpoint in its course. At the , Araluen had a population of 209 people. Etymology The area now known as Araluen lies on the traditional lands of the Walbanga people, a group of the Yuin. The name 'Araluen' meant 'water lily' or 'place of the water lilies' in the local Aboriginal language. Gold mining At the time of European settlement Araluen was described as a broad alluvial valley with many natural billabongs covered with water lilies. Unfortunately, no such billabongs exist in the Araluen valley today. The natural landscape of Araluen Creek and its valley were destroyed by rampant and extremely destructive alluvial gold mining during the 'gold rush' in the latter half of the 19th century. By 1852, gold was being mined on Araluen Creek, around what is now Araluen. There were several mining villages in the area. Araluen experienced a great population increase during the gold rush. It experienced a decline after a flash flood in 1860 virtually destroyed the town, killing 24 people. Another flash flood came in March 2012 killing one person. A 1874 account indicated the destructive impact: On approaching Araluen affairs assume a more serious air. The change commences where the Sideling Gold Mining Company has erected its great waterwheel, and is at work reefing and ground sluicing. This is at a distance of seven miles from Araluen. The company consists of eight proprietors, who are sanguine. The particulars promised respecting this claim have not yet reached me. From this claim the indications of mining increase. The timber is more interfered with, races intersected the country everywhere, and patches of upturned country impart an air of desolation inseparable from mining industry. The Araluen Creek winds through an extensive valley 1200 feet above the sea level, and surrounded by ranges of mountains about two miles apart. The ranges attain an altitude of 1000 feet, are precipitous, and sparsely wooded to the summit. In this enclosure the shallow stream which now winds about, once swelled into a lagoon, and over the whole of the rocky bed formed a deposit which is now the object of search. This layer of "wash-dirt", which varies from four to thirty feet in depth, contains