Rapid Bay is a locality that includes a small seaside town and bay on the west coast 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 ...

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 District Council of Yankalilla and its township is approximately 100 km south of the state capital,

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 ...

. A pair of

jetties A jetty is a man-made structure that protrudes 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", signif ...

are popular attractions for

recreational fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is occupational fishing activities done for profit; or subsistence fishing, ...

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 ...

. The bay particularly known as a site for observing

leafy seadragon The leafy seadragon (''Phycodurus eques'') or Glauert's seadragon, is a marine fish. It is the only member of the genus ''Phycodurus'' in the family Syngnathidae, which includes seadragons, pipefish, and seahorses. It is found along the s ...

s in the wild. Its postcode is 5204.

History

Rapid Bay features in the

creation myth A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony, a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Cre ...

s of the

Kaurna 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 ...

and

Ramindjeri The Ramindjeri or Raminjeri people were an Aboriginal Australian people forming part of the ''Kukabrak'' grouping now otherwise known as the Ngarrindjeri people. They were the most westerly Ngarrindjeri, living in the area around Encounter Bay an ...

peoples most notably as the burial site of the nephew of the Kaurna creator ancestor known as

Tjilbruke Tjilbruke (also Tjirbruki, Tjilbruki, Tjirbruke, Tjirbuk or Tjirbuki,) is an important creation ancestor for the Kaurna people of the Adelaide plains in the Australian state of South Australia. Tjilbruke was a Kaurna man, who appeared in Kaurn ...

. There is uncertainty as to the Kaurna name for Rapid Bay, which has been cited as Patparno, Patpangga (meaning "south" or "south place"), and Yarta-kulangga, a popular campsite at Rapid Bay, whose name probably means "place of the separate country". However, there is no evidence that any of these names was a place name for Rapid Bay, though the bay is officially dual-named Patpangga. Prior to the establishment of the South Australian colony, whalers based on

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island (, ) is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island, Northern Territory, Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Poi ...

were known to have called at Rapid Bay though it was not so named until 1836. South Australia Colonial Surveyor General

Colonel William Light William Light (27 April 1786 – 6 October 1839) was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He was the first Surveyor-General of the new British Province of South Australia, known for choosing the site of the colony's capi ...

made his first landfall on mainland South Australia at Rapid Bay on 8 September 1836. The site was named after Light's ship, the 162 ton

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 l ...

''Rapid''. To mark this historic landfall the Colonel's initials, "W.L.", were carved into a large boulder – a replica is visible in the township, while the original is stored in the

South Australian Museum The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultur ...

, in Adelaide. John Rapid Hoare (7 November 1836 – perhaps 7 July 1916), also named for the brig ''Rapid'', was the first European child born on mainland South Australia. Claims that he was born at Rapid Bay have been refuted. Rapid Bay was briefly considered by Light as a potential site for the new colony's capital, but with the discovery of 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 ...

it faded into quiet obscurity. On his first visit, Light created a garden then left the bay in the hands of Kangaroo Island

sealers Sealer may refer either to a person or ship engaged in seal hunting, or to a sealant; associated terms include: Seal hunting * Sealer Hill, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica * Sealers' Oven, bread oven of mud and stone built by sealers around 1800 ...

and indigenous people from the Encounter Bay area.

Quarrying

The

BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...

constructed the town, an ore-loading jetty and a high voltage power line from Willunga during the period 1938 to 1942 as part of the works undertaken to establish a limestone quarry. During the construction of the jetty, a worker named John Gamlin went missing and was presumed to have fallen from a platform that lacked rails and drowned. The tide was running quickly and wind speeds were reaching 40 miles per hour on the day of his disappearance. Quarrying commenced in 1942. The limestone was transported by sea and used as a flux at BHP's

Whyalla Steelworks The Whyalla Steelworks is a fully integrated steelworks and the only manufacturer of rail in Australia. It produces 75% of all structural steel in Australia. Iron ore is mined in the Middleback Range to feed the steelworks, resulting in the dist ...

in South Australia, and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

and Port Kembla in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. In 1948, production averaged 30,000 tonnes per month with a fully mechanised process from electric shovel to crushers, then by conveyor to ship. At that time there were 41 men employed at the project, including office staff. BHP's assets, including a crushing plant, jetty and loading wharf, were eventually sold to Adelaide Brighton Cement in 1981. On 1 January 1982, ownership of the jetty was transferred to the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government or the SA Government, is the executive branch of the state government, state of South Australia. It is modelled on the Westminster system, meaning that the h ...

at no cost.Friends of Rapid Bay Jetty > History
Accessed 2014-03-21 Total production from 1942 to 2013 is estimated at 17 million tonnes, most of which was used for industrial purposes. Incomplete figures indicate production for construction material between 1977 and 2013 was roughly 550,000 tonnes. A small volume of roadbase materials continues to be quarried from the site. The quarry and remaining buildings are located within tenements PM11 and PM12 which as of 2021 are held by Adelaide Brighton Cement and Croser Bros. The history of the township during the BHP years was recorded by Des Lord in the 2018 book ''Rapid Bay... Before we forget. History and memoirs of a mining town''.

Attractions

Rapid Bay is known for its steep cliffs, caves, beach, two jetties and associated

artificial reef An artificial reef (AR) is a human-created freshwater or marine benthic structure. Typically built in areas with a generally featureless bottom to promote Marine biology#Reefs, marine life, it may be intended to control #Erosion prevention, erosio ...

. A resident

population inhabits the bay and weedy seadragons are also occasionally seen. It is considered to be among the best scuba diving sites in South Australia and Australia and has been featured on ''SportDiver'' as one of the world's top nine dives. The ecological communities on the jetty piles are well-established and attract large schools of fish including Old Wives and Zebra Fish. Over 70 species of fish have been recorded in Rapid Bay. Many marine invertebrates can be observed on the jetty piles and living among the debris on the seafloor. Iconic examples include the Australian

giant cuttlefish The giant cuttlefish (''Ascarosepion apama''), also known as the Australian giant cuttlefish, is the world's largest cuttlefish species, growing to in mantle (mollusc), mantle length and up to in total length (total length meaning the whole ...

and the

blue-ringed octopus Blue-ringed octopuses, comprising the genus ''Hapalochlaena'', are four extremely venomous species of octopus that are found in tide pools and coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, from Japan to Australia. They can be identified by thei ...

. Rapid Bay is also a popular recreational fishing site, with fishing possible from shore, boat, kayak and the deck of the public jetty. The historic industrial jetty is permanently closed due to its state of natural decay.

Jetties

The first jetty at Rapid Bay was built in the late 1860s, described as "new" in 1867 and assessed by the Marine Board in 1871. It was considered well made but poorly designed owing to its south-westerly heading and the shallowness of water at its terminus. The jetty had been intended to feature a crane to assist with loading and unloading cargoes but the crane was lost in transit from Second Valley in some four-and-a-half fathoms of water where it was abandoned. The first jetty at Rapid Bay was constructed of timber and was intended for the export of wool and wheat. Wheat and lead were exported from Second Valley during the 1860s owing to the lack of a suitable road to bring those cargoes to the waterfront at Rapid Bay. The first Rapid Bay jetty's landward end was some 50 yards distant from the later BHP construction.

BHP Jetty

The BHP Jetty was originally long, with a 'T' section of length for ship-loading. The jetty terminated in of water (at lowest tide). Originally built by BHP and later operated by Adelaide Brighton Cement, the jetty ceased commercial operations in 1991. It suffered storm damage in 2004, after which it was progressively closed in stages for the purpose of ensuring public safety. Above the water, the jetty is slowly decaying and is off-limits to the general public. Below the water, the jetty provides habitat for a wide variety of temperate marine species. Since its closure, the above-water structure has also become an increasingly valuable roost for seabirds. The Jetty collapsed in January 2022.

Public Jetty

Construction of a new jetty of length located east of the BHP jetty was completed in 2009 to replace the public amenity lost by the progressive closure of the BHP jetty. The new jetty has since been colonised by marine life and augments the more established ecological communities on and around the historic jetty. At the seaward end, a staircase provides safe and easy entry to the water for divers and snorkelers. The jetty features concrete decking, is artificially lit after dark and is a popular spot for recreational fishing.

Gallery

File:Rapid Bay Old Jetty.jpg, alt=Rapid Bay Old Jetty, viewed from new jetty, Rapid Bay old jetty, viewed from new jetty File:Township, Rapid Bay, 1950 - B12179.jpg, View of the Town, the Quarry and the Jetty looking west towards Rapid Head (image created in 1950) File:Rapid Bay quarry.JPG, The limestone quarry at Rapid Bay as seen from the public car park for the jetty.

References

External links

Friends of Rapid Bay Jetty
retrieved 11/10/2012.
Dive the Rapid Bay Jetty , Diving Adelaide
{{authority control Coastal towns in South Australia Fleurieu Peninsula Mining towns in South Australia Bays of South Australia Gulf St Vincent Underwater diving sites in Australia