HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Fleurieu Peninsula () is a
peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on a ...
in the Australian state of
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...
located south of the state capital of
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
.


History

Before
British colonisation of South Australia British colonisation of South Australia describes the planning and establishment of the colony of South Australia by the British government, covering the period from 1829, when the idea was raised by the then-imprisoned Edward Gibbon Wakefield ...
, the western side of the peninsula was occupied by the Kaurna people, while several clans of the
Ngarrindjeri The Ngarrindjeri people are the traditional Aboriginal Australian people of the lower Murray River, eastern Fleurieu Peninsula, and the Coorong of the southern-central area of the state of South Australia. The term ''Ngarrindjeri'' means "be ...
lived on the eastern side. The people were sustained by the
flora and fauna In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fungi ...
of the peninsula, for
food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...
and
bush medicine Bush medicine comprises traditional medicines used by Indigenous Australians, being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Indigenous people have been using various components of native Australian flora and some fauna as medicine for ...
. The
bulrush Bulrush is a vernacular name for several large wetland grass-like plants *Sedge family (Cyperaceae): **''Cyperus'' **'' Scirpus'' **''Blysmus'' **''Bolboschoenus'' **'' Scirpoides'' **'' Isolepis'' **'' Schoenoplectus'' **'' Trichophorum'' * T ...
es, reeds and
sedge The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus '' Carex'' ...
s were used for
basket-weaving Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...
or making
rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarl ...
, trees provided wood for
spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastene ...
s, and stones were fashioned into tools. The Fleurieu Peninsula was named after
Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu Charles Pierre Claret, comte de Fleurieu (2 July 1738, Lyon – 18 August 1810) was a French Navy officer, explorer, hydrographer and politician. He served as Minister of the Navy under Louis XVI, and was a member of the Institut de France. He wa ...
, the French explorer and
hydrographer Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary p ...
, by the French explorer
Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. Biography Early career Born a comm ...
as he explored the south coast of Australia in 1802. The name came into official use in 1911 after Fleurieu's great-nephew, Count Alphonse de Fleurieu, visited Adelaide and met with the Council of the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia, which recommended to the
state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...
that the unnamed peninsula terminating in Cape Jervis be given the name Fleurieu Peninsula "in honour of one who is worthy to be remembered in the annals of Australian geography". The government approved the name later that year.


Extent

The Geographical Names Advisory Committee advised in 2001 that the extent of the peninsula is:
that portion of land between Gulf St. Vincent and the Southern Ocean ''(sic)'', a line from Aldinga ''(sic)'' (southern end of Aldinga Bay) to Middleton (eastern end) being the cut-off for the peninsula. This boundary has not to be gazetted at present, and is intended to be the extent of the geographic feature only and is not to be applied to any industry or interest group regional identification.
The coast of the peninsula stretches from around from Sellicks Beach in the north to Middleton in the south-east.


Features

Towns on the peninsula include Victor Harbor, Normanville, Yankalilla and
Rapid Bay Rapid Bay is a locality that includes a small seaside town and bay on the west coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia. It lies within the District Council of Yankalilla and its township is approximately 100 km south of the stat ...
. Districts include Inman Valley and Hindmarsh Valley. A ferry travels between
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 south of the state capital of Adelaide. It is named after the headlan ...
, at the tip of the peninsula, and
Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...
. There is surfing on both the west and south facing coasts – known locally to Adelaide surfers as the Mid South Coast and the Far South Coast. Surf spots of note include Waitpinga and Middleton on the Far South Coast.


Flora and fauna

In the past, there were extensive
swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
s and
woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
s, which provided habitat and food sources for a range of birds, fish, and other animals, included snake-necked turtles, yabbies, rakali, ducks and
black swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon ...
s. Flora included the native
orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of floweri ...
(
leek orchid ''Prasophyllum'', commonly known as leek orchids, is a genus of about 140 species of flowering plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae and is found in Australia and New Zealand. The Australian species are found in all states but have not been r ...
), guinea flower and swamp wattle (Wirilda).


Ecology and conservation

The swamps of the Fleurieu Peninsula were listed as critically endangered under the
EPBC Act The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...
in 2003; however, there is no adopted or made recovery plan for this ecological community, only "Approved Conservation Advice" (2013). Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under
Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY 3.0 AU)
licence.
Less than four percent of the original swampland remain today. A group that includes
Aboriginal elder Australian Aboriginal elders are highly respected people within Australia and their respective Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. An Elder has been defined as "someone who has gained recognition as a custodian of knowledge and l ...
s and scientists are documenting Aboriginal cultural knowledge for the Fleurieu Peninsula
swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
s at Yundi, which is about south of Adelaide. The Yundi Nature Conservancy, containing about of swamp, is south-east of McLaren Vale, near Mount Compass. There, Ngarrindjeri elders and scientists from various disciplines share their knowledge and plan for rewilding some more of the peninsula. A seed bank has been created to this end.


See also

* Fleurieu (disambiguation)


References


External links


Fleurieu Peninsula Tourism Region Official tourism webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleurieu Peninsula