Secret Rocks, South Australia

This article is about the locality in South Australia. For the associated private protected area, see Secret Rocks Nature Reserve.

Secret Rocks South Australia
Secret Rocks
Coordinates	33°15′S136°53′E / 33.25°S 136.89°E / -33.25; 136.89 Coordinates: 33°15′S136°53′E / 33.25°S 136.89°E / -33.25; 136.89
Established	2013 [1]
Postcode(s)	5600 [2]
Time zone	ACST (UTC+9:30)
• Summer (DST)	ACST (UTC+10:30)
Location	227 km (141 mi) north west of Adelaide 36 km (22 mi) east of Kimba
LGA(s)	Pastoral Unincorporated Area [1] [3]
Region	Far North [4] [1]
County	York [1]
State electorate(s)	Giles [5]
Federal Division(s)	Grey [6]
Localities around Secret Rocks: Barna Cooyerdoo Cooyerdoo Yalanda Secret Rocks Middleback Range Miltalia Minbrie Minbrie
Footnotes	Coordinates [1] Adjoining localities [7]

Secret Rocks is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on the Eyre Peninsula about 36 kilometres (22 miles) to the east of the town of Kimba and about 227 kilometres (141 miles) north west of the state capital of Adelaide. ^[7]

The locality was established on 26 April 2013 in respect to “the long established local name.” Its name is derived from the former pastoral lease of the same name. ^{[1] [8]}

The land use within Secret Rocks is concerned with the use of the former pastoral lease as a protected area known as the Secret Rocks Nature Reserve which fully occupies its extent as of 2010. ^{[7] [8]}

The Refuge Rockholes Historic Reserve (Secret Rocks) is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register. ^[9]

Secret Rocks is located within the federal Division of Grey, the state electoral district of Giles, the Pastoral Unincorporated Area of South Australia and the state’s Far North region. ^{[3] [5] [6] [4]}

History

During his crossing from Western Australia to Adelaide in 1841, explorer Edward John Eyre was very relieved to discover fresh water at a location he named "Refuge Rocks". In his Journal he wrote an account of his arrival at what is now better known as Secret Rocks:

"September 22.--Moving on the party for ten miles at a course of S. 35 degrees W., we passed through a dreadful country, composed of dense scrub and heavy sandy ridges, with some salt water channels and beds of small dry lakes at intervals. In many cases the margins bounding these were composed of a kind of decomposed lime, very light and loose, which yielded to the slightest pressure; in this our horses and drays sank deep, throwing out as they went, clouds of fine white dust on every side around them. This, added to the very fatiguing and harassing work of dragging the dray through the thick scrub and over the heavy sand ridges, almost knocked them up, and we had the sad prospect before us of encamping at night without a blade of grass for them to eat. Just at this juncture the native boy who was with me, said he saw rocks in one of the distant sand hills, but upon examining the place with a telescope I could not make out distinctly whether they were rocks or only sand. The boy however persisted that there were rocks, and to settle the point I halted the dray in camp, whilst I proceeded with him to the spot to look.

At seven miles W. 10 degrees S. of the drays we reached the ridge, and to my great delight I found the boy was right; he had seen the bare sheets of granite peeping out near the summit of a sandy elevation, and in these we found many holes with water in them. At the base of the hill too, was an opening with good grass around, and a fine spring of pure water. Hastening back to the dray, I conducted the party to the hills, which I named Refuge Rocks, for such they were to us in our difficulties, and such they may be to many future travellers who may have to cross this dreary desert." ^[10]

References

1. "Search result for " Secret Rocks (LOCB)" (Record no SA0067182)". Department of Planning Transport and Infrastructure. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
2. "Search result for Secret Rocks, SA". Australia Post. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
3. "Development Plan, Land Not Within a Council Area Eyre, Far North, Riverland and Whyalla – 18 October 2012" (PDF). Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. 2012. pp. 11, 13 & 162. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
4. "Far North SA Government region" (PDF). The Government of South Australia. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
5. "District of Giles Background Profile". ELECTORAL COMMISSION SA. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
6. "Federal electoral division of Grey, boundary gazetted 16 December 2011" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
7. Proposed Locality Boundaries for Pastoral Areas (PDF) (Map). Department for Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, Government of South Australia. 31 October 2012. Rack Plan 951. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
8. "Eastern Eyre Peninsula Parks Management Plan" (PDF). Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. 2014. pp. 8 & 10. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
9. "Refuge Rockholes Historic Reserve (Secret Rocks)". South Australian Heritage Register. Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
10. Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into Central Australia And Overland From Adelaide To King George's Sound In The Years 1840-1: Sent By The Colonists Of South Australia, With The Sanction And Support Of The Government: Including An Account Of The Manners And Customs Of The Aborigines And The State Of Their Relations With Europeans, Chapter VIII, Edward John Eyre, Adelaide, 1841 (Online: https://www.wanowandthen.com/EBooks/Edward%20John%20Eyre.pdf Retrieved 19/11/2019)