Yorke Peninsula

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Yorke Peninsula
South Australia
Ardrossan.jpg
The town of Ardrossan, located in Yorke Peninsula
Australia South Australia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Yorke Peninsula
Coordinates 34°21′0″S137°37′0″E / 34.35000°S 137.61667°E / -34.35000; 137.61667
Population25,143 (2005) [1]
Established1840s
LGA(s)
State electorate(s) Frome [2]
Narungga [3]
Federal division(s) Grey [4]
Yorke Peninsula, South Australia.png
Website Yorke Peninsula

The Yorke Peninsula, known as Guuranda by the original inhabitants, the Narungga people, is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to the south by Investigator Strait.

Contents

The most populous town in the region is Kadina; Maitland is the most central town; and the south-western tip is occupied by Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park.

History

Yorke Peninsula is the central, boot-shaped peninsula above the island and between the two inlets Australia.A2010283.0435.250m.jpg
Yorke Peninsula is the central, boot-shaped peninsula above the island and between the two inlets

Prior to European settlement of the area commencing around 1840, following the British colonisation of South Australia, Yorke Peninsula was the home to the Narungga people. This Aboriginal Australian nation are the traditional owners of the land, and comprised four clans sharing the peninsula, known as Guuranda: Kurnara in the north, Dilpa in the south, Wari in the west, and Windarra in the east. [5] [6] The Narungga people also had names for the locations of many towns on the peninsula, such as Maggiwarda for Maitland. [7] [8] Today the descendants of these people still live on Yorke Peninsula, supported by the Narungga Aboriginal Progress Association in Maitland, and in the community at Point Pearce.

It was named "Yorke's Peninsula" [9] by Captain Matthew Flinders, after Charles Philip Yorke (later Lord Hardwicke), narrowly beating French navigator Captain Nicolas Baudin, who preferred the name "Cambaceres Peninsula". [10]

Geography

Physiography

Aerial view of Yorke Peninsula, looking south from around Ardrossan. Gulf St Vincent is in the foreground, Spencer Gulf in the background. The "foot" of the "boot" can be discerned near the horizon Central-and-southern-Yorke-Peninsula-aerial-view-1228.jpg
Aerial view of Yorke Peninsula, looking south from around Ardrossan. Gulf St Vincent is in the foreground, Spencer Gulf in the background. The "foot" of the "boot" can be discerned near the horizon

The area is also known as the Yorke Horst, which is distinct physiographic section of the larger South Australian Shatter Belt province, which in turn is part of the larger West Australian Shield, a physiographic division describing a geological feature known as a shield. Along with Cape Eyre the peninsula is also part of the Eyre Yorke Block bioregion.[ citation needed ]

Topography

Most of Yorke Peninsula is prime agricultural land, with mostly small rolling hills and flat plains. The southern end of the Hummocks Range partially extends down the top of the Peninsula, flattening out near Clinton. The highest point[ quantify ] on the Peninsula is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north-east of Maitland, although there is some debate as to where the Peninsula borders the Mid-North, and part of the steep Hummocks terrain may be considered part of the Peninsula.[ citation needed ]

A series of shallow valleys line the interior of the Peninsula, with the main one called the Yorke Valley extending roughly from Sunnyvale, south of Paskeville through to Ramsey, between Minlaton and Stansbury. The predominant Yorke Valley area lies roughly in the area between Arthurton, Maitland, Ardrossan and Curramulka.[ citation needed ]

The southern tip, sometimes termed the "foot", is surrounded on three sides by the ocean, and forms a 170,000-hectare (420,000-acre) isolated "mainland island", with large tracts of excellent native vegetation. [11]

Towns

Principal towns include the Copper Coast towns of Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo; farming centres of Maitland, Minlaton and Yorketown; and the port of Ardrossan. A number of smaller coastal towns are popular destinations for fishing and holidays, particularly for people from Adelaide.

The south-western tip is occupied by Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park.

Climate

Typical of the southern coastal areas of the state and influenced by the surrounding bodies of water, Yorke Peninsula has a Mediterranean climate, (Koppen: borderline Csa/Csb), with some areas bordering a semi-arid climate, with hot, dry summer and cool, wet winter seasons. Maximum temperatures in summer average around 30°C and in winter average around 12–15°C.[ citation needed ]

Due to the surrounding bodies of water, winter temperatures are moderated and milder than most of the state, with overnight temperatures rarely falling below zero, making frost relatively uncommon in the region. Northerly winds from the desert can bring temperatures above 40°C in summer and occasionally bring very warm winter days well into the 20s. Average precipitation is 4–600 mm, most of which falls from mid-April through to September, though total and seasonal rainfall can vary greatly from year to year. Along with most of southern Australia, monsoonal lows from the north occasionally bring heavy storm events during spring and summer; rainfall is otherwise light and unreliable due to high pressure systems dominating the area.[ citation needed ]

Agriculture

Yorke Peninsula is a major producer of grain, particularly barley. Historically this has been sent out by sea because there are no rail services. Most coastal towns on the peninsula have substantial jetties. In the past these were used by ketches, schooners, and later steamships, to collect the grain in bags, and deliver fertiliser and other supplies. As roads in the region improved, and freight-handling techniques changed from bags to bulk, this became obsolete. A deep-water port was opened in 1970 near the south-eastern tip at Port Giles to export grain in bulk, and almost all the other ports ceased to be used for freight in the 1950s and 1960s. The only other ports with bulk-handling facilities are Wallaroo at the north-western side, and Ardrossan at the top of Gulf St Vincent, also used to ship dolomite from a nearby mine for OneSteel. Maitland has a grain-receiving depot operated by AWB, serviced only by road.[ citation needed ]

Wine production commenced on the Peninsula during the 1990s, taking advantage of the rich grey, limestone-based soil. [12]

Yorke Peninsula Field Days

Acknowledged as Australia's oldest Field Days, the Yorke Peninsula Field Days have been held since 1894. The Field Days site just outside Paskeville is a hive of agricultural activity every 2 years, at the end of September. [13]

Transport

Access from Adelaide is by road, and a regular bus service operates from the capital to main towns on the peninsula and between some of the towns. It takes an estimated two and a half hours to drive from end to end, and about 30–40 minutes across the peninsula. There are no traffic lights on the peninsula. [14]

In December 2006, Sea SA operated the first ferry service across the Spencer Gulf, between Wallaroo and Lucky Bay, near Cowell on Eyre Peninsula, and this service continued until at least late 2015. [15] As of 2021 a daily ferry service is operated by Spencer Gulf Searoad. [16]


Flora and fauna

A programme, "Baiting for biodiversity", involving making discounted fox baits available to landowners, in order to reduce the threat of introduced foxes to native fauna, has been running across 170,000 hectares (420,000 acres) of the peninsula since 2014. The programme has been successful in helping to protect native species, such as the western pygmy possum, tammar wallaby including threatened species such as the hooded plover, mallee fowl and fairy tern. Bush stone-curlews had returned to the peninsula after not being seen there for 40 years. [17] [18]

In 2003, the Monarto Zoo temporarily housed 85 mainland tammar wallaby from New Zealand, awaiting reintroduction to the Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park, [19] after they had been locally extinct there for some time. [18] By 2012, four releases had been made, and the population increased to 100–120 animals. [20]

Protected areas

The following statutory reserves are located within the peninsula or immediately adjoin its coastline:

Yorke Peninsula also hosts two Important Bird Areas (IBA): the Gulf St Vincent Important Bird Area and the Southern Yorke Peninsula Important Bird Area. The Gulf St Vincent IBA covers a strip of intertidal land from Ardrossan to the head of Gulf St Vincent and onto the east coast of the gulf. The Southern Yorke Peninsula IBA covers most of the southern western tip of the Peninsula and overlaps Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park and Warrenben Conservation Park. [25] [26]

Marna Banggara

Marna Banggara, formerly known as the Great Southern Ark, [27] is a grand project starting in 2019 to restore the landscape and ecology of the southern Yorke Peninsula, by reintroducing around twenty locally extinct species. The 25-kilometre (16 mi) fence across the peninsula, isolating a 170,000-hectare (420,000-acre) "mainland island", will limit predation of both native species and livestock such as lambs by feral cats and red foxes. Some work on controlling foxes had been carried out around 2006, in preparation for the return of tammar wallabies to Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park, but the fence will expand the area of control. [11] [28] [29]

The geography of the southern tip of the peninsula makes it an excellent location for species reintroduction, as it is surrounded by the ocean on three sides. The area already possesses good native vegetation, and the area is isolated. Marna Banggara is funded through the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board, the federal government’s National Landcare Program, the South Australian Department for Environment and Water, WWF-Australia and the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife, and many organisations have been actively involved in developing the project. [11]

Twenty woylies, or brush-tailed bettongs, were the first species reintroduced in the area, translocated from Wedge Island in June 2021, [30] [11] [31] with another 80 to follow over time. The woylies will be the first of about 20 locally extinct species which will be moved there by around 2040. [30] Other species to be reintroduced as part of the project include western quolls and southern brown bandicoots, as well as native predators including the barn owl, red-tailed phascogale. [18]

Notable residents

Politics
Sports
Other

See also

Copper Coast

Since the discovery of Copper on Yorke Peninsula over 150 years ago, the towns of Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo have been collectively known as the Copper Coast.

Kernewek Lowender

The world's largest Cornish Festival takes place every 2 years (in odd-numbered years) in the Copper Coast towns of Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallaroo, South Australia</span> Town in South Australia

Wallaroo is a port town on the western side of Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, 160 kilometres (100 mi) northwest of Adelaide. It is one of the three Copper Triangle towns famed for their historic shared copper mining industry, and known together as "Little Cornwall", the other two being Kadina, about 8 kilometres (5 mi) to the east, and Moonta, about 18 kilometres (11 mi) south. In 2016, Wallaroo had a population of 3,988 according to the census held.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minlaton, South Australia</span> Town in South Australia

Minlaton is a town in central Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. It is known as the "Barley capital of the world", due to the rich Barley production in the region.

Goyder was an electoral district of the South Australian House of Assembly. It was a 9,258 km² rural electorate located on the Yorke Peninsula and taking in the towns of Ardrossan, Bute, Edithburgh, Kadina, Maitland, Minlaton, Moonta, Port Wakefield, Wallaroo and Yorketown. The electorate was named after George Goyder, a former state Surveyor-General famous for developing Goyder's Line, which indicated the area of the state that had enough rainfall to be suitable for agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kadina, South Australia</span> Town in South Australia

Kadina is a town on the Yorke Peninsula of the Australian state of South Australia, approximately 144 kilometres north-northwest of the state capital of Adelaide. The largest town of the Peninsula, Kadina is one of the three Copper Triangle towns famous for their shared copper mining history. The three towns are known as "Little Cornwall" for the significant number of immigrants from Cornwall who worked at the mines in the late 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moonta, South Australia</span> Town in South Australia

Moonta is a town on the Yorke Peninsula of South Australia, 165 km (103 mi) north-northwest of the state capital of Adelaide. It is one of three towns known as the Copper Coast or "Little Cornwall" for their shared copper mining history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marion Bay, South Australia</span> Town in South Australia

Marion Bay is a small township in the Australian state of South Australia at the southern tip of the Yorke Peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paskeville, South Australia</span> Town in South Australia

Paskeville is a town on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula. It is located approximately 20 km east of Kadina on the Copper Coast Highway towards Adelaide. At the 2016 census, Paskeville had a population of 178. The town's district is administratively divided between the Copper Coast Council and the District Council of Barunga West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maitland, South Australia</span> Town in South Australia

Maitland is a town on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. By road, it is 168 km (104 mi) west of Adelaide, 164 km (102 mi) south of Port Pirie and 46 km (29 mi) north of Minlaton. The town lies in the traditional lands of the Narungga, whose name for the district is Maggiwarda.

The Yorke Peninsula Football League (YPFL) is an Australian rules football competition based in the Yorke Peninsula region of South Australia, Australia. It is an affiliated member of the South Australian National Football League. The league was known as the Yorke Valley Football League until 1996, having previously absorbed the Yorke Peninsula Football Association in 1961, and the Southern Yorke Peninsula Football League in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copper Coast</span> Region of South Australia

Copper Coast is a region of South Australia situated in Northern Yorke Peninsula and comprising the towns of Wallaroo, Kadina, Moonta, Paskeville and Port Hughes. The area approximately bounded by Wallaroo, Kadina and Moonta is also known as the Copper Triangle. The area is so named because copper was mined from there in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a significant source of economic prosperity for South Australia at the time. These three towns are known for their large Cornish ethnicity, often called "Little Cornwall". Kernewek Lowender is the world's largest Cornish Festival, held biennially in the Cornish Triangle. The area continues to make a significant contribution to the economy of South Australia, as a major producer of grain, particularly barley and wheat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copper Coast Council</span> Local government area in South Australia

The Copper Coast Council is a local government area in the Australian state of South Australia located at the northern end of the Yorke Peninsula. It was established in 1997 and its seat is in Kadina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinton, South Australia</span> Town in South Australia

Clinton is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on the east coast of Yorke Peninsula overlooking the north west head of Gulf St Vincent about 101 kilometres (63 mi) west of the state capital of Adelaide and about 36 kilometres (22 mi) north-east of the municipal seat of Maitland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narungga</span>

The Narungga people, also spelt Narangga, are a group of Aboriginal Australians whose traditional lands are located throughout Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. Their traditional language, one of the Yura-Thura grouping, is Narungga.

Jerusalem is a suburb of the town of Kadina on the Yorke Peninsula. It is located in the Copper Coast Council. The boundaries were formally gazetted in January, 1999, although the name had long been in use for the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallaroo Mines, South Australia</span> Suburb of Kadina, South Australia

Wallaroo Mines is a suburb of the inland town of Kadina on the Yorke Peninsula in the Copper Coast Council area. It was named for the land division in which it was established in 1860, the Hundred of Wallaroo, as was the nearby coastal town of Wallaroo. The boundaries were formally gazetted in January 1999 for "the long established name".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Arthur, South Australia</span> Town in South Australia

Port Arthur is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on the Yorke Peninsula at the northern end of Gulf St Vincent about 105 kilometres north west of the state capital of Adelaide and about 9 kilometres north of the town of Port Wakefield.

Warburto is a locality in South Australia located on the west coast of Yorke Peninsula, consisting of the rural areas south of the town of Wallaroo around the headland of Warburto Point. It immediately adjoins Spencer Gulf, and is located about 140 kilometres north-west of the Adelaide city centre.

Hamley is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on the Yorke Peninsula on the southern side of the urban area associated with Moonta about 130 kilometres north-west of the Adelaide city centre.

Yorke Peninsula Country Times is a weekly South Australian newspaper, which was first published on 4 September 1968. It was formed by the merging of Kadina, Wallaroo and Moonta Times and South Australian Farmer, representing numerous former publications dating back to 1865.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hundred of Wallaroo</span> Cadastral in South Australia

The Hundred of Wallaroo is a cadastral unit of hundred located on the Copper Coast of South Australia. It is one of the 16 hundreds of the County of Daly. It was named in 1862 by Governor Dominick Daly after the indigenous term wadla warru presumed to mean wallaby urine.

References

  1. ↑ "Population health profile of the Yorke Peninsula" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  2. ↑ "District of Frome Background Profile". ELECTORAL COMMISSION SA. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "District of Goyder Background Profile". ELECTORAL COMMISSION SA. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Federal electoral division of Grey" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  5. ↑ "Windara reef". Yorke Peninsula Visitor Information. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  6. ↑ "South Australian Reef Reviving the Gulf". The Nature Conservancy Australia. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  7. ↑ Liebelt, Belinda; Roberts, Amy; O'Loughlin, Clem; Milera, Doug (6 December 2016). "'We had to be off by sundown': Narungga contributions to farming industries on Yorke Peninsula (Guuranda), South Australia". Aboriginal History . 40. ANU Press. doi: 10.22459/ah.40.2016.04 . ISSN   0314-8769. PDF
  8. ↑ "Figure 1: Yorke Peninsula (Guuranda) and relevant placenames". ResearchGate. 1 June 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  9. ↑ "Plan of Yorke's Peninsula showing mineral claims, townships, runs, etc.;cartographic material&;/ by J.B. Poole C.E., Licensed Surveyor". State Library of South Australia . Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  10. ↑ "History of Yorke Peninsula". .. Yorke Peninsula: Past and Present .. 28 April 1923. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Marna Banggara: Creating a safe haven for native species". Landscape South Australia. Northern and Yorke. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  12. ↑ "Barley Stacks Wines". Barley Stacks Wines. Archived from the original on 30 November 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  13. ↑ Yorke Peninsula Field Days website, The Yorke Peninsula Field Days are acknowledged as the oldest in Australia with the first trial held near Bute, SA, on 31 July 1895.
  14. ↑ "Getting Here & Around". Yorke Peninsula Tourism. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  15. ↑ "About Us". Sea SA Pty Lty. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  16. ↑ "Timetable". Spencer Gulf Searoad. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  17. ↑ "Yorke Peninsula natives thrive with fox numbers down". Environment SA. South Australia Department for Environment and Water. 14 February 2019. Archived from the original on 24 February 2024. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  18. 1 2 3 "Yorke Peninsula sanctuary for iconic and threatened species". Department for Environment and Water. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  19. ↑ "Tamar Wallaby Reintroduction: To breed and reintroduce Tamar wallabies into their former range in Australia". World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  20. ↑ "'Extinct' wallaby goes back on show". ABC News. 14 February 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  21. ↑ "Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park". National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  22. ↑ "Parks Guide 2013 - Yorke Peninsula and Clare Valley" (PDF). Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. 2013. pp. 73–74. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  23. ↑ "National Parks and Wildlife (Thidna Conservation Park) Proclamation 2017", The South Australian Government Gazette: 5132, 19 December 2017, retrieved 31 December 2017
  24. ↑ Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA) (2007), Aquatic Reserve: Coobowie (PDF), Primary Industries and Regions South Australia, archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2015, retrieved 31 October 2014
  25. ↑ "Important Bird Areas factsheet: Gulf St Vincent". BirdLife International. 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  26. ↑ "Important Bird Areas factsheet: Southern Yorke Peninsula". BirdLife International. 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  27. ↑ "Great Southern Ark project renamed Marna Banggara". WWF-Australia . 27 November 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  28. ↑ Kilvert, Nick (31 January 2019). "Rewilding project to create 'great southern ark' over former mine, farmland". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  29. ↑ Corvo, Shannon; Radford, Luke; Lysaght, Gary-Jon (7 November 2019). "Controversial wire fence splits peninsula to keep native animals in, pests out". ABC News. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  30. 1 2 Stephens, Kate (4 April 2021). "Meet the woylie, an eco-engineer bringing life back to degraded ecosystems". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  31. ↑ Johnson, Sarah (28 July 2022). "Endangered bettongs complete 2,000km journey to new home in South Australia". Marna Banggara. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  32. ↑ "AFLW: Martin joins the ranks at Adelaide". Adelaide . Telstra Media. 23 October 2018.
  33. 1 2 Sonny Coombs (23 February 2016). "Brothers make AFL debut". Yorke Peninsula Country Times . Retrieved 4 June 2016.
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