Venus Bay (formerly Parkin) is a small

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

town sited on the bay of the same name, on the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named aft ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a 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 of Australia's states and territories ...

. The town population numbers in the twenties for most of the year, but its numbers greatly increase during the summer holidays. At the , Venus Bay had a population of 139. The town also serves professional

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreat ...

who fish the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...

History

Venus Bay, as with most of the coast of the

, was first recorded by Captain

Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...

in 1802, during his attempt to map the coast of southern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, although he did not land, did not name it, and had no idea of its extent. The first Europeans to explore the bay were the party which landed from the

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

''Nerus'' in March 1839, comprising Captain F.R. Lees,

David McLaren David McLaren may refer to: * David McLaren (colonial manager) (1785–1850), colonial manager (CEO) of the colony of South Australia (1837–1841) * David McLaren (politician) David McLaren (1872 – 3 November 1939) was a Mayor of Wellington ...

, and Samuel Stephens, the latter two being the current and former Colonial Managers of the

South Australian Company The South Australian Company, also referred to as the South Australia Company, was formed in London on 9 October 1835, after the '' South Australia (Foundation) Act 1834'' had established the new British Province of South Australia, with the So ...

, who were examining the West Coast for potential special surveys, but they also did not name it. Sheep pastoralists soon followed, and in 1850, in order to load wool, the bay was first entered by a vessel, Robert Venn's

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

''Venus'', 60 tons, from which the bay took its name. The ''Venus'' continued to trade along the coast, carrying wool, wheat, and passengers, until she was sold in 1852 to NSW, where she was wrecked at Cronulla on 22 July. The town was established after a

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...

station was built in the 1850s, and for twenty years it existed as no more than a shop, hotel and

police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...

. In 1855 there were eleven Aboriginal mounted constables of the Native Police Force stationed at Venus Bay under Sergeant Eyre. The focus of the town soon turned from wool and

pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The animal ...

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

as the area was opened for

cereal crop A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food en ...

ping in the 1870s. The town was surveyed in August 1864 and was subsequently given the name "Parkin" (also spelt as Parkyn in one source) in honour of

William Parkin William Parkin (24 August 1801 – 31 May 1889) was a businessman politician and philanthropist in the early days of the Colony of South Australia History Parkin was a native of Glastonbury, near Barnstaple, and emigrated to South Australia on ...

, who was notable as a businessman, politician and philanthropist. The name of the town was officially changed to "Venus Bay" in July 1940. The township was abandoned by 1900, but was revitalised in the 1920s when it became the base for a

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

operation. This led to a school being established in 1939 which, however, closed in 1955.

Environment

The town of Venus Bay lies on the bay of the same name, with numerous

tidal flat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

s, shallow

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s, and a number of deep channels that carry water in and out of the bay. The entrance is lined by towering

cliffs In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

, as is much of the coast, but in the bay, the landscape is flat lying, with much of this land used for

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

purposes. The bay is highly sheltered, contrasting to the entrance where large swells constantly batter the coast.

Important Bird Area

The bay, with its wetlands and beaches, has been identified as an 83 km²

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because it regularly supports over 1% of the world populations of

pied A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white backgro ...

and

sooty oystercatcher The sooty oystercatcher (''Haematopus fuliginosus'') is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird endemic to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. It prefers rocky coastlines, but will occasionally live in estuaries. All of its fea ...

s as well as small numbers of

fairy tern The fairy tern (''Sternula nereis'') is a small tern which is native to the southwestern Pacific. It is listed as " Vulnerable" by the IUCN and the New Zealand subspecies is " Critically Endangered". There are three subspecies: * Australian f ...

Economy

The

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

of the town is heavily dependent on commercial

, with a number of boats using Venus Bay as an offloading base, where

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

lobster Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...

and

abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Haliotidae. Other common name In biology, a common name of a taxon o ...

are transported for sale. Agriculture does impact the town's economy, but the agricultural areas are more centralised toward Port Kenny.

Tourism

Venus Bay also relies heavily on tourism, particularly during the summer, when its small

caravan park Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

regularly fills up. Venus Bay is primarily a fishing and water sport based destination, with the sheltered waters providing small boat users with a safe fishing environment. The bay is known to hold whiting, salmon, garfish, snook, tommy ruff, flathead and

gummy shark The gummy shark (''Mustelus antarcticus''), also known as the Australian smooth hound, flake, sweet william or smooth dog-shark, is a shark in the family Triakidae. These small to medium-sized bottom-dwelling sharks are found mostly in, but are ...

, with most of these caught off the town's

jetty A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

also. There are several tourist walks near the town, as well as drives to surrounding areas such as Talia Caves and Mount Camel Beach. Daily supplies and accommodation are available from the licensed general store and cafe, as well as other accommodation in the caravan park and private beach houses. The northern end of the

Lake Newland Conservation Park Lake Newland Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located on the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula about north of the town of Elliston. It was proclaimed in 1991 in order to protect Lake Newland, a ...

lies about 20 km to the south of the town.

References

External links

Venus Bay town information
{{authority control Coastal towns in South Australia Eyre Peninsula Fishing communities in Australia Bays of South Australia