Aldinga Beach is an outer southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It lies within the City of Onkaparinga and has the postcode 5173. At the 2016 census, Aldinga Beach had a population of 10,557.[8][1] It lies about a kilometre west of the smaller suburb of Aldinga. The beach is a well-known spot for surfing, swimming, scuba diving, and snorkelling during the summer months. It overlooks an aquatic reserve which has been created to safeguard a unique reef formation.[9]
| Aldinga Beach South Australia | |||||||||||||||
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 Black cormorants at Aldinga Beach | |||||||||||||||
  Aldinga Beach | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 35°17′42″S 138°27′27″E / 35.295131°S 138.457387°E[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 10,667 (SAL 2021)[2] | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 5173[3] | ||||||||||||||
| Time zone | ACST (UTC 9:30) | ||||||||||||||
| • Summer (DST) | ACDT (UTC 10:30) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | 41 km (25 mi) S of Adelaide[3] | ||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | City of Onkaparinga | ||||||||||||||
| Region | Southern Adelaide[4] | ||||||||||||||
| County | Adelaide[1] | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Mawson[5] | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Mayo[6] | ||||||||||||||
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| Footnotes | Adjoining suburbs[1] | ||||||||||||||
The Silver Sands beach and holiday area lies just south of Aldinga Beach.[10][11]
History
editAboriginal use
editBefore British colonisation of South Australia, the Kaurna people occupied the land from the Adelaide plains and southwards down western side of the Fleurieu Peninsula. 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 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 people) occupied the area. The Kaurna language name of Aldinga was Ngaltingga.[12]
European settlement
editAldinga Beach Post Office opened on 1 March 1960.[13]
Aldinga Beach has four places listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.[14] 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.[14]
Protected areas
editAldinga Beach is associated with two protected areas - 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.[15] 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.[16]
Aldinga Washpool
editAldinga Washpool and Blue Lagoon are situated just to the south of the conservation park,[17] with the Washpool area covering almost 75 hectares (190 acres). The Blue Lagoon is a smaller lagoon, situated at the north-eastern end.[18] The Washpool is one of few remaining coastal estuarine lagoon systems and wetlands on the coast of greater Adelaide, and provides important habitat for waterbirds (such as the hooded plover[19]) and other flora and fauna.[17] 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,[18] and a breeding ground for the endangered yellowish sedge skipper butterfly.[19]
The Washpool area is also a place of great significance for the traditional owners, the Kaurna people,[17] as it is the location of a Tjirbruke (the creator ancestor) freshwater spring, and part of the Dreaming Track dedicated in 1986.[20] The Kaurna name was Wakondilla or Wangkondilla. The second version of the name (incorporating "wang") relates to a small possum, 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.[11]
Volunteers have been working on rewilding 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.[19] 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).[20]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d "Search results for 'Aldinga Beach, SUB' with the following datasets selected - 'Suburbs and localities', 'Counties', 'Hundreds', 'Local Government Areas', 'SA Government Regions' and 'Gazetteer". Location SA Map Viewer. South Australian Government. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Aldinga Beach (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
- ^ a b "(postcode for) Aldinga Beach, South Australia". Postcodes Australia. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ "Southern Adelaide SA Government region" (PDF). The Government of South Australia. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ Mawson (Map). Electoral District Boundaries Commission. 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ "Profile of the electoral division of Mayo (SA)". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
- ^ a b c "Summary (climate) statistics NOARLUNGA". Commonwealth of Australia, Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ "2016 Census QuickStats: Aldinga Beach". quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- ^ "Aldinga Beach". Fleurieu Peninsula.
- ^ "Beach in Silver Sands Onkaparinga SA". SLS Beachsafe. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ a b Schultz, Chester (17 January 2018). "Wakondilla / Wangkondilla". Adelaide Research & Scholarship. University of Adelaide. Retrieved 16 November 2020. PDF
- ^ Amery, Rob (2016). Warraparna Kaurna!: Reclaiming an Australian language (PDF). University of Adelaide Press. pp. 73, 94, 204. doi:10.20851/kaurna. ISBN 978-1-925261-25-7. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ^ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
- ^ a b "SA Heritage Places Database Search: Aldinga Beach". South Australian Heritage Register. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ "Protected Areas of South Australia September (Map) 2014 Edition" (PDF). Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ^ "Search result for "Aldinga Reef Aquatic Reserve" with the following databases selected - "Suburbs and Localities" and "Aquatic Reserves"". Location SA Viewer. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
- ^ a b c "Aldinga Washpool and Blue Lagoon". Landscape South Australia: Hills and Fleurieu. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ a b "The Washpool, Aldinga Beach Birdwatching". Birds SA. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ a b c Nielsen, Ben (15 November 2020). "Volunteers rejuvenating culturally significant Aldinga Washpool Lagoon now want it protected". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ a b "History of the Washpool". Aldinga Washpool Lagoon. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
