Backstairs Passage | |
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Location of Backstairs Passage between the eastern end of Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula | |
Location in South Australia | |
Location | South Australia |
Coordinates | 35°41′1″S138°4′23″E / 35.68361°S 138.07306°E Coordinates: 35°41′1″S138°4′23″E / 35.68361°S 138.07306°E |
Type | strait |
Basin countries | Australia |
Max. depth | 73 metres (240 ft) [1] |
Islands | The Pages |
Settlements | Cape Jervis, Penneshaw |
The Backstairs Passage is a strait in South Australia lying between Fleurieu Peninsula on the Australian mainland and Dudley Peninsula on the eastern end of Kangaroo Island. The western edge of the passage is a line from Cape Jervis on Fleurieu Peninsula to Kangaroo Head (west of Penneshaw) on Kangaroo Island. [2] The Pages, a group of islets, lie in the eastern entrance to the strait. About 14 km wide at its narrowest, it was formed by the rising sea around 13,000 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene era, when it submerged the land connecting what is now Kangaroo Island with the Fleurieu Peninsula. Backstairs Passage was named by Matthew Flinders whilst he and his crew on HMS Investigator were exploring and mapping the coastline of South Australia in 1802.
Backstairs Passage was named by Matthew Flinders on 7 April 1802 whilst he and his crew on HMS Investigator were exploring and mapping the coastline of South Australia. Flinders noted that this body of water is separate from Investigator Strait and that "it forms a private entrance, as it were, to the two gulphs; and I named it Back-stairs Passage." [3]
On 6 June 1995, South Australian marathon swimmer Andrew Martin completed the first recorded solo crossing of Backstairs Passage, covering the 14.25 km distance in 4 hours 31 minutes 30 seconds. [4] Like most Oceanic parts of South Australia, Backstairs passage is named after a part of a courtroom.[ citation needed ]
The coastal processes occurring in Gulf St Vincent and along the southern coastline of Fleurieu Peninsula are complex. Due to the relatively shallow Gulf St Vincent joining the Southern Ocean through the deeper Backstairs Passage, this narrow and dangerous channel is subjected to strong currents, heavy tidal swells and steep breaking seas. [5]
In the early years following European colonisation many of the nearly fifty vessels wrecked in the hazardous waters around Kangaroo Island were lost while crossing Backstairs Passage to and from the mainland. This led to South Australia's first lighthouse, the Sturt Light, being built in 1851 at Cape Willoughby on the eastern tip of Kangaroo Island. [6] In addition to vessels navigating the treacherous crossing to and from the mainland, sailing ships (commonly wooden barques) making use of the Roaring Forties trade winds on voyaging to South Australia could be propelled by the prevailing winds into Backstairs Passage, or as far Bass Strait. [7]
On 30 July 2005, two inexperienced sea kayakers drowned in Backstairs Passage. [16]
Protected areas located within and adjoining the strait’s extent include:
The Heysen Trail is a long distance walking trail in South Australia. It runs from Parachilna Gorge, in the Flinders Ranges via the Adelaide Hills to Cape Jervis on the Fleurieu Peninsula and is approximately 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) in length.
Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta pintingga, is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, 112 km (70 mi) southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Point in Backstairs Passage, which is 13.5 km (8.4 mi) from the Fleurieu Peninsula.
Gulf St Vincent, sometimes referred to as St Vincent Gulf, St Vincent's Gulf or Gulf of St Vincent, is the eastern of two large inlets of water on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, the other being the larger Spencer Gulf, from which it is separated by Yorke Peninsula. On its eastern side the gulf is bordered by the Adelaide Plains and the Fleurieu Peninsula. To the south it is defined by a line from Troubridge Point on Yorke Peninsula to Cape Jervis on Fleurieu Peninsula. Its entrances from the southwest are from Investigator Strait, and to the southeast from Backstairs Passage, which separate Kangaroo Island from the mainland. Adelaide, the South Australian capital, lies midway along the gulf's east shore. Other towns located on the gulf, from west to east include Edithburgh, Port Vincent, Ardrossan and Port Wakefield and Normanville.
Deep Creek Conservation Park, formerly the Deep Creek National Park, is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located on the southern coast of Fleurieu Peninsula in the gazetted localities of Deep Creek and Delamere about 11 kilometres east of Cape Jervis.
Cape Jervis is a town in the Australian state of South Australia located near the western tip of Fleurieu Peninsula on the southern end of the Main South Road approximately 88 kilometres (55 mi) south of the state capital of Adelaide.
For Pennshaw in the UK, see Penshaw
Investigator Strait is a body of water in South Australia lying between the Yorke Peninsula, on the Australian mainland, and Kangaroo Island. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his ship, HMS Investigator, on his voyage of 1801–1802. It is bordered by the Gulf St Vincent in the northeast.
SS Clan Ranald was a two decked, turret deck ship, which sank on 31 January 1909 in the Australian state of South Australia off the coast of Yorke Peninsula near the town of Edithburgh. It is the only turret ship to have been lost in Australian waters, and therefore represents a unique part of Australia's maritime history. The bulk of crew were Asian sailors (lascars). Clan Ranald is considered one of the worst shipwrecks in South Australia (SA) where only 24 survived out of the 64 crew members.
Troubridge Island is an island located in the south west corner of Gulf St Vincent in South Australia near the eastern edge of the Troubridge Shoals off the east coast of Yorke Peninsula about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) southeast by east of the town of Edithburgh It is notable for being a site of an operating lighthouse from 1856 until 2002 and as a site for a sea bird rookery. Since 1982, the island has been part of the Troubridge Island Conservation Park.
The Pages is an island group in the Australian state of South Australia consisting of two small islands and a reef located in Backstairs Passage, a strait separating Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula. The island group has been located with the protected area known as The Pages Conservation Park since 1972.
Cape Catastrophe is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located at the south east tip of Jussieu Peninsula on Eyre Peninsula. It is one of the natural features named by the British navigator Matthew Flinders in memory of the eight crew who were lost from a cutter that capsized sometime after being launched from HM Sloop Investigator to search for water on 21 February 1802. Flinders also nominated the headland as being the western point of the mouth of Spencer Gulf. It is currently located within the gazetted locality of Lincoln National Park and the protected area known as the Memory Cove Wilderness Protection Area.
Kangaroo Head is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located at the north-west tip of Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island. It was named by the British explorer, Matthew Flinders, on 23 March 1802.
Lashmar Conservation Park is a protected area located on the north coast of Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island in South Australia about 40 kilometres south east of Penneshaw. It was proclaimed under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 in 1993. The Lashmar Lagoon which is considered to be a significant wetland is located within the boundaries of the conservation park. The conservation park is classified as an IUCN Category III protected area.
Cape Jervis is a headland located at the most westerly part of the Fleurieu Peninsula on the east coast of Gulf St Vincent in South Australia about 0.7 kilometres west of the town of the same name, Cape Jervis. It is the eastern end of the opening to Gulf St Vincent.
Dudley Peninsula is the peninsula forming the eastern end of Kangaroo Island in the Australian state of South Australia. It was occupied by Aboriginal Australians as recently as 3,100 years BP but was found to be unoccupied by the first European explorers to visit it in the early 19th century. It was first settled by Europeans as early as the 1830s. As of 2011, it had a population of 595 people.
Cape Borda is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on Kangaroo Island about 192 kilometres south-west of the state capital of Adelaide.
Flinders Chase is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on the south-western coast of Kangaroo Island overlooking the body of water known in Australia as the Southern Ocean and by international authorities as the Great Australian Bight. It is located about 210 kilometres south-west of the state capital of Adelaide.
Ironstone is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on the north coast of Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island overlooking Backstairs Passage about 107 kilometres south of the state capital of Adelaide and about 3 kilometres east of Penneshaw.
Antechamber Bay is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on the north coast of Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island overlooking Backstairs Passage about 108 kilometres south of the state capital of Adelaide and about 15 kilometres east of Penneshaw.
Willoughby is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located at the eastern end of Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island overlooking Backstairs Passage to the north and overlooking the body of water known in Australia as the Southern Ocean and by international authorities as the Great Australian Bight to the south. It is located about 111 kilometres south of the state capital of Adelaide and about 18 kilometres east of Penneshaw.