__NOTOC__ Aldinga Beach is an outer southern suburb of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. It lies within the

City of Onkaparinga The City of Onkaparinga () is a local government area (LGA) located on the southern fringe of Adelaide, South Australia. It is named after the Onkaparinga River, whose name comes from ''Ngangkiparinga'', a Kaurna word meaning women's river. It ...

and has the postcode 5173. At the , Aldinga Beach had a population of 10,557. It lies about a kilometre west of the smaller suburb of Aldinga. The beach is a well-known spot for surfing, swimming,

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

, and

snorkelling Snorkeling ( British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of swimming face down on or through a body of water while breathing the ambient air through a shaped tube called a snorkel, usually with swimming goggles or a ...

during the summer months. It overlooks an aquatic reserve which has been created to safeguard a unique

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

formation. The Silver Sands beach and holiday area lies just south of Aldinga Beach.

History

Aboriginal use

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

Kaurna people The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kau ...

occupied the land from the

Adelaide plains The Adelaide Plains (Kaurna name Tarndanya) is a plain in South Australia lying between the coast ( Gulf St Vincent) on the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east. The southernmost tip of the plain is in the southern seaside suburbs of A ...

and southwards down western side of the

Fleurieu Peninsula The Fleurieu Peninsula ( ; locally mainly ) is a peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia located south of the state capital of Adelaide city centre, Adelaide. History Before British colonisation of South Australia, the western s ...

. There was a camp at Aldinga known as Camp Coortandillah, and Kaurna people were present living in the Aldinga Scrub until the 1870s, when Bishop

Augustus Short Augustus Short (11 June 1802 – 5 October 1883) was the first Anglicanism, Anglican bishop of Adelaide, South Australia. Early life and career Born at Bickham House, near Exeter, Devon, England, the third son of Charles Short, a London bar ...

sent the remaining people to the mission at Poonindie, thus ending their occupation of the area. After they were removed, some Aboriginal people from the Goolwa area (

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 "belo ...

people) occupied the area. The

Kaurna language Kaurna ( or ) is a Pama-Nyungan language historically spoken by the Kaurna peoples of the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. The Kaurna peoples are made up of various tribal clan groups, each with their own ''parnkarra'' district of land and ...

name of Aldinga was Ngaltingga.

European settlement

Aldinga Beach Post Office opened on 1 March 1960. Aldinga Beach has four places listed on the

South Australian Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...

. The former farmhouses at 5 Barramundi Way and 3726 Main South Road, Symond's Barn at 7 Stewart Avenue and 4-8 Sunset Parade are all listed on the register.

Protected areas

Aldinga Beach is associated with two

protected areas Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

- the Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park and the Aldinga Reef Aquatic Reserve. The Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park is located within the southern extent of the suburb and on land in the adjoining suburb of Sellicks Beach. The Aldinga Reef aquatic reserve is located immediately offshore of both Aldinga Beach and Port Willunga and includes land within the intertidal zone of both suburbs.

Aldinga Washpool

Aldinga Washpool and Blue Lagoon are situated just to the south of the conservation park, with the Washpool area covering almost . The Blue Lagoon is a smaller

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'') an ...

, situated at the north-eastern end. The Washpool is one of few remaining coastal

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

lagoon systems and

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

on the coast of

greater Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city ce ...

, and provides important habitat for waterbirds (such as the

hooded plover The hooded plover or hooded dotterel (''Charadrius cucullatus'') is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae. It is endemic to southern Australia, where it inhabits ocean beaches and subcoastal lagoons. Taxonomy The hooded plover was Species ...

) and other

flora and fauna An organism is any living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have been pro ...

. The wetland fills up as the winter rains come, and can dry out from about October to May each year. It is a popular area for

birding Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescope, ...

, and a breeding ground for the endangered yellowish sedge skipper butterfly. The Washpool area is also a place of great significance for the

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

, the Kaurna people, as it is the location of a Tjirbruke (the creator ancestor) freshwater spring, and part of the Dreaming Track dedicated in 1986. The Kaurna name was Wakondilla or Wangkondilla. The second version of the name (incorporating "wang") relates to a small

possum Possum may refer to: Animals * Didelphimorphia, or (o)possums, an order of marsupials native to the Americas ** Didelphis, a genus of marsupials within Didelphimorphia *** Common opossum, native to Central and South America *** Virginia opossum ...

, but it is not known which version is correct. The area was used for curing and drying animal skins, and there were freshwater springs nearby, around which were Kaurna campsites. Hunting would take place in the Aldinga Scrub, and fishing along Sellicks Beach.PDF
/ref> Volunteers have been working on

rewilding Rewilding is a form of ecological restoration aimed at increasing biodiversity and restoring natural processes. It differs from other forms of ecological restoration in that rewilding aspires to reduce human influence on ecosystems. It is also d ...

the area for many years, and they have been lobbying the state government to give the area protection. Among other measures, the volunteers have been planting gahnia seedlings, upon which the yellowish sedge skipper butterfly lives. The area has been the site of community activism since 1971, when the government announced that it intended to include the Blue Lagoon and Washpool in an extended the Aldinga Reserve (now Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park).

References

External links

Aldinga Beach Beachsafe webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldinga Beach, South Australia Suburbs of Adelaide Beaches of South Australia Gulf St Vincent