Port Victoria

Centrally placed on Yorke Peninsula and only 192 kilometres from Adelaide, Port Victoria is an ideal base to explore from. Overlooking the shores of Victoria Bay towards Wardang Island, the town is a popular destination for family holidays, fishing or diving experiences. The waters around Wardang Island hide nine shipwrecks, with eight of them included in the Underwater Maritime Heritage Trail enjoyed by many diving enthusiasts. Commercial fishing is still an important industry with recreational fishing from jetties, beaches or boats being a huge attraction to the area. The traditional owners of Yorke Peninsula are the Adjahdura Aboriginal people, whose land reached from Port Broughton in the north to the Hammock Ranges in the East. Today Point Pearce and Wardang Island are Aboriginal Lands of the Adjahdura people. The Narungga Aboriginal Progress Association Incorporated (NAPA) has been formed to provide the means and opportunity for Aboriginal people to become more self-sufficient. To provide employment, skills/training opportunities, raise self-esteem and increase economic development. In 1802 Captain Matthew Flinders mistook Wardang Island for part of the mainland and named the area Point Pearce. It wasn't until 1839 when the area was surveyed by Robert Cook and James Hughes, in a schooner called 'Victoria' that they realised there was a separated island, they named the bay Victoria Harbour in 1839 after their boat. In 1976 the town was initially proclaimed as 'Wauraltee', however the local residents always called it Port Victoria, so its name was changed in 1940. Pastoralists took up most of the land for the first few years, followed by farmers. In the late 1870's the Hotel was the first building established and the jetty was constructed in 1878. In the 1880's the farmers around the area began experimenting with growing barley for human's to eat as well as just to feed the stock. The town soon became a major grain port, exporting as far away as England. Ships were anchored in the harbour and loaded by a smaller craft, sometimes taking up to six weeks to fill one vessel. At one point during the Second World War 50,000 bags of grain were stored. Known as the 'Last of the Windjammers' ports, Port Victoria was once alive with ships of all sizes from the massive Windjammers, Schooners, Baroques, Ketches and Steamships.