Point Marsden (also called Marsden Point) is a headland located on the north coast of Kangaroo Island in South Australia. It was named after William Marsden, Second Secretary to the Admiralty by Matthew Flinders in 1802. It is the western extremity of Nepean Bay and has been the site of a navigation aid since 1915.
Point Marsden is the most easterly point of the Kangaroo Island coast that directly adjoins Investigator Strait. It is the termination for a pair of coastlines - one extending from Cape Borda in the west and the other extending from Cape Rouge from the south in Nepean Bay. [1] It is described as being ‘a rocky headland of moderate height’ and that ‘High wooded land rises about 0.5 nautical miles (0.93 kilometres; 0.58 miles) W of it.’ [2] It is the western extremity of the opening to Nepean Bay. [2]
Point Marsden was formed when the sea reached its present level 7,500 years ago after sea levels started to rise at the start of the Holocene. [3] The cliff line which includes Point Marsden consists of a metamorphic rock belonging to the Kangaroo Island Group bedrock called Boxing Bay Formation. [4] The water adjoining Point Marsden drops to a depth of 10 metres (33 feet) at the outer edge of the wave-cut platform at the base of its cliff face. [1]
By 1999, the literature had not cited any archaeological discoveries specific to Aboriginal use of land in the immediate vicinity of Point Marsden. [5]
Point Marsden was discovered by Matthew Flinders on 21 March 1802 and named after William Marsden, Second Secretary to the Admiralty. [6]
A navigation aid consisting of a 3-metre-high (9.8 ft) tower with a single flashing light was installed in 1915. The light which is 85 m (279 ft) above sea level, assists vessels underway at night in Investigator Strait. [7] The need for a navigation aid at Point Marsden was suggested as early as 1882 and was one of four sites recommended for immediate construction of navigation aids in 1912 when the responsibility for navigation transferred from the South Australian government to the Australian government. [8] [9]
As of 2014, the land adjoining Point Marsden is used for farming. Farming activity at the locality is reported as being underway as early as 1908 with most of the land being cleared of native vegetation by 1945. [10] [11]
Ravine Des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area is a protected area located on the west end of Kangaroo Island in South Australia about 80 km (50 mi) west of Kingscote. It was established in 1993 on land previously part of the Flinders Chase National Park.
Cape du Couedic is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located on the southwest tip of Kangaroo Island in the locality of Flinders Chase. It was named after a French naval officer, Charles Louis du Couëdic de Kergoualer, by the Baudin expedition to Australia during January 1803. It is the site for the Cape du Couedic Lighthouse. It is currently located within the Flinders Chase National Park.
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.
Cape Borda is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located in the gazetted locality of Cape Borda on the north west tip of Kangaroo Island about 70 km (43 mi) west of the municipal seat of Kingscote. It was named after Jean-Charles de Borda (1733–1799), the French mathematician, physicist, naturalist and sailor, by the Baudin expedition to Australia during January 1803. It has been the site of an operating lighthouse since 1858 and is currently located within the Flinders Chase National Park.
Cape Spencer is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located on the south west tip of Yorke Peninsula in the gazetted locality of Inneston. It was named after George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer by Matthew Flinders during March 1802. It has been the site of an operating navigation aid since 1950 and has been located within the Innes National Park since 1970.
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 on Kangaroo Island. 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.
Ravine des Casoars is a gorge and an associated drainage basin in the Australian state of South Australia located on the west coast of Kangaroo Island about 95 kilometres west of Kingscote.
Cape Gantheaume is a headland located on the south coast of Kangaroo Island in South Australia. It was named after Vice admiral Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume (1755–1818) by the Baudin expedition to Australia during 1803. It is currently located within the protected area known as the Cape Gantheaume Wilderness Protection Area.
Paisley Islet is an islet located in the Great Australian Bight immediately off the west coast of Kangaroo Island in South Australia approximately 104 kilometres west south-west of Kingscote. It is currently part of the Flinders Chase National Park.
Nepean Bay is a bay located on the north-east coast of Kangaroo Island in the Australian state of South Australia about 130 kilometres south-south-west of Adelaide. It was named by the British navigator, Matthew Flinders, after Sir Evan Nepean on 21 March 1802.
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.
Troubridge Point is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located on the south coast of Yorke Peninsula about 11 kilometres south west of Edithburgh. It is the western end of the opening to Gulf St Vincent.
Chinamans Hat Island is an islet located off the south coast of Yorke Peninsula in Investigator Strait in South Australia about 2.4 kilometres south-west of Stenhouse Bay and within 350 metres of the shore. As of 2014, it is located within the Innes National Park.
Seal Island is an island located in Investigator Strait off the south coast of Yorke Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia about 7 kilometres south south-west of Stenhouse Bay. Since 1972, it has been part of the Althorpe Islands Conservation Park.
Troubridge Hill is a hill on the south coast of Yorke Peninsula in South Australia located in the locality of Honiton about 13.5 kilometres south west of Edithburgh and about 3.8 kilometres west of Troubridge Point. It was discovered, reported as being a ’hummock upon this low part ’ and named by Matthew Flinders on 24 March 1802 after Sir Thomas Troubridge, 1st Baronet. Since 1980, it has been the site of an operating lighthouse known as the Troubridge Hill Lighthouse. Its adjoining coastline borders a protected area of the same name - the Troubridge Hill Aquatic Reserve.
Point Labatt is a headland located on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia about 39 kilometres south by east of Streaky Bay. It is notable as one of the largest Australian mainland breeding sites for Australian sea lions. The land and the sea adjoining Point Labatt is part of three protected areas - the Point Labatt Conservation Park, the Point Labatt Aquatic Reserve and the West Coast Bays Marine Park.
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.
Beatrice Islets are pair of islets in the Australian state of South Australia located in Nepean Bay on the north coast of Kangaroo Island about 4 kilometres east of Kingscote. The islets and adjoining intertidal areas are notable as habitat for bird life. The islet pair has enjoyed protected area status since 1909 and since at least 1972, have been part of the Beatrice Islet Conservation Park. During either the 1960s or the 1970s, the islets were extensively damaged by an exercise to remove an infestation of South African boxthorn.
Busby Islet is an islet in the Australian state of South Australia located in Nepean Bay on the north coast of Kangaroo Island about 2 kilometres north of the municipal seat of Kingscote. The islet and adjoining areas are notable as habitat for bird life. The islet has enjoyed protected area status since 1909 and since at least 1972, have been part of the Busby Islet Conservation Park.
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.
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