Before Europeans came around 1840, the Narungga people lived on Yorke Peninsula. They are the traditional owners of the land. The Narungga had four clans on the peninsula, called Guuranda: Kurnara in the north, Dilpa in the south, Wari in the west, and Windarra in the east. They also had names for many places, like Maggiwarda for Maitland. Today, Narungga people still live on the peninsula. They are supported by the Narungga Aboriginal Progress Association in Maitland and the community at Point Pearce.
Captain Matthew Flinders named the area "Yorke's Peninsula" after Charles Philip Yorke (who later became Lord Hardwicke). A French captain, Nicolas Baudin, wanted to name it "Cambaceres Peninsula," but Flinders' name was chosen.
Geography
Physiography
Aerial view of Yorke Peninsula, looking south from around Ardrossan. Gulf St Vincent is in the foreground, Spencer Gulf in the background. The "foot" of the "boot" can be discerned near the horizon
The Yorke Peninsula is also called the Yorke Horst. It is a special part of a larger area called the South Australian Shatter Belt, which is part of the West Australian Shield. This shield is a big geological area made of old rocks. The peninsula, along with Cape Eyre, is part of the Eyre Yorke Block bioregion.
Topography
Most of Yorke Peninsula has good farming land with small hills and flat plains. The southern part of the Hummocks Range stretches into the top of the peninsula and becomes flat near Clinton. The highest point on the peninsula is about 5km (3.1mi) northeast of Maitland. Some people disagree about where the peninsula ends and the Mid-North region begins, so part of the steep Hummocks area might be counted as part of the peninsula.
Inside the peninsula, there are several shallow valleys. The main valley is called Yorke Valley. It runs from Sunnyvale (south of Paskeville) to Ramsey, between Minlaton and Stansbury. The Yorke Valley area is roughly between Arthurton, Maitland, Ardrossan, and Curramulka.
The southern tip of the peninsula, sometimes called the "foot," is surrounded by ocean on three sides. It is a large, isolated area of about 170,000-hectare (420,000-acre) with lots of native plants.
Towns
The main towns include the Copper Coast towns of Kadina, Moonta, and Wallaroo; farming towns like Maitland, Minlaton, and Yorketown; and the port town of Ardrossan. Many smaller coastal towns are popular for fishing and holidays, especially for people from Adelaide.
The Yorke Peninsula has a Mediterranean climate, like other southern coastal parts of the state. This means it has hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Some areas near the peninsula have a semi-arid climate. In summer, the average high temperature is about 30°C (86°F), and in winter, it is around 12–15°C (54–59°F).
Because the peninsula is surrounded by water, winters are milder than in most of the state. Night temperatures rarely drop below zero, so frost is not common. Sometimes, hot winds from the desert bring temperatures above 40°C (104°F) in summer and warm winter days around 25°C (77°F).
The area gets about 400–600mm (16–24in) of rain each year. Most rain falls from mid-April to September, but the amount can change a lot from year to year. Sometimes, in spring and summer, heavy storms come from the north. Otherwise, rain is light and not very reliable because high-pressure weather systems often keep the area dry.
Farming
Yorke Peninsula is a big producer of grain, especially barley. In the past, grain was sent out by ships because there were no railways in the area. Many coastal towns have large jetties. Long ago, small sailing ships and steamships used these jetties to pick up grain packed in bags and to bring fertilizer and other supplies. As roads got better and grain was moved in bulk by truck instead of bags, ships were no longer used.
In 1970, a deep-water port opened near the south-east tip of the peninsula at Port Giles to export grain in bulk. Most other ports stopped handling freight in the 1950s and 1960s. The only other ports with bulk grain facilities are Wallaroo on the north-west side and Ardrossan at the top of Gulf St Vincent. Ardrossan also ships dolomite from a nearby mine for OneSteel. Maitland has a grain depot run by AWB but it is only reached by road.
Wine making started on the peninsula in the 1990s, using the rich grey limestone soil.
Yorke Peninsula Field Days
The Yorke Peninsula Field Days are known as Australia’s oldest field days (agricultural shows). They have been held since 1895. Every two years at the end of September, the site near Paskeville becomes very busy with farming activities.
Transport
You can get to Yorke Peninsula from Adelaide by road. There is a regular bus service that runs from Adelaide to the main towns on the peninsula and also between some towns. It takes about two and a half hours to drive from one end of the peninsula to the other, and about 30 to 40 minutes to drive across it. There are no traffic lights on the peninsula.
In December 2006, Sea SA started the first ferry service across Spencer Gulf, between Wallaroo and Lucky Bay near Cowell on the Eyre Peninsula. This ferry ran until at least late 2015. As of 2021, a daily ferry service is run by Spencer Gulf Searoad.
Since 2014, a program called "Baiting for biodiversity" has been helping protect native animals on the Yorke Peninsula. It offers discounted fox baits to landowners to reduce the number of foxes, which are harmful to native wildlife. This program covers 170,000 hectares (420,000 acres) and has helped protect animals like the western pygmy possum, tammar wallaby, and threatened birds such as the hooded plover, mallee fowl, and fairy tern. Bush stone-curlews have also returned to the peninsula after being gone for 40 years.
In 2003, Monarto Zoo in South Australia kept 85 mainland tammar wallabies from New Zealand. These wallabies were waiting to be released back into Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park because they had disappeared from there. after they had been locally extinct there for some time. By 2012, four groups of wallabies had been released, and the population grew to 100–120 animals.
Protected Areas
The peninsula has several protected areas, including:
Yorke Peninsula also has two important bird areas (IBAs): the Gulf St Vincent Important Bird Area and the Southern Yorke Peninsula Important Bird Area. The Gulf St Vincent IBA covers land from Ardrossan to the head of Gulf St Vincent and along the east coast of the gulf. The Southern Yorke Peninsula IBA covers much of the southern western tip of the peninsula and overlaps with Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park and Warrenben Conservation Park.
Marna Banggara
Marna Banggara, formerly called the Great Southern Ark, is a big project started in 2019 to restore the southern Yorke Peninsula’s environment. The project plans to bring back about 20 species that have disappeared from the area. A 25km (16mi) fence will enclose a 170,000ha (420,000 acres) "mainland island" to protect native animals and farm animals like lambs from feral cats and red foxes. Some fox control work began around 2006 to help tammar wallabies return to Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park, but the new fence will protect a larger area.
The southern tip of the peninsula is a great place for bringing back animals because it is surrounded by ocean on three sides, has good native plants, and is isolated. Marna Banggara is funded by several groups, including the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board, the National Landcare Program, the South Australian Department for Environment and Water, WWF-Australia, and the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife.
↑"History of Yorke Peninsula". .. Yorke Peninsula: Past and Present .. 28 April 1923. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
↑Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA) (2007), Aquatic Reserve: Coobowie(PDF), Primary Industries and Regions South Australia, archived from the original(PDF) on 5 April 2015, retrieved 31 October 2014
