Venus Bay, South Australia

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Venus Bay
state = South Australia


caption = The entrance to Venus Bay
lga = District Council of Elliston
postcode = 5607
est = 1820
pop = 20
elevation= 1
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov = Flinders
fedgov = Grey
dist1 = 665
dir1 = North West
location1= Adelaide

Venus Bay is a small tourist and fishing town located on the bay of the same name, on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The town population numbers in the twenties during most of the year, but its numbers greatly increase during the summer holidays. The town also serves as an offloading point for professional fishermen, who fish the remote Archipelagos in the Southern Ocean.

History

Venus Bay, like most of the Eyre Peninsula was first recorded by Captain Matthew Flinders in 1802, during his attempt to map the coast of southern Australia. The bay takes its name from the first vessel to enter the bay, a schooner named "Venus", which continued to trade along the coast until she ran aground at Tumby Bay in 1850.

The town was established after a whaling station was built in the 1820’s, and for twenty years it existed as no more than a shop, hotel and police station. The focus of the town soon turned to agriculture as the area was opened up in the 1840’s and then cereal cropping in the 1870’s. The township was abandoned by 1900, but was somewhat revitalised in the 1920s when it became a base for a commercial fishing operation.Citation
last = Sydney Morning Herald Tourism | title = Port Kenny and Venus Bay | url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/South-Australia/Port-Kenny/2005/02/17/1108500204601.html | access-date = 2007-05-25 ]

This led to a school being established in 1939, however it closed in 1955. [Citation
last = Manning Index of South Australia | title = Venus Bay | url = http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/manning/pn/v/v1.htm#venusB | access-date = 2007-05-25 ]

Geography

The town of Venus Bay lies on the bay of the same name, with numerous tidal flats, shallow lagoons, mangroves, islands, and a number of deep channels that carry water in and out of the bay. The entrance is lined by towering cliffs, as is much of the coast, but in the bay, the landscape is flat lying, with much of this land used for agricultural purposes. The bay is highly sheltered, contrasting to the entrance where large swells constantly batter the coast.

Economy

The economy of the town is heavily dependent on commercial fishing, with a number of boats using Venus Bay as an offloading base, where fish, lobster and abalone are transported for sale. Agriculture does impact the town’s economy, but the agricultural areas are more centralised toward Port Kenny. ]

Venus Bay also relies heavily on tourism, particularly during the summer, where its small caravan park regularly fills up. Venus Bay is primarily a fishing and water sport based destination, with the sheltered waters providing small boat users a safe fishing environment. The bay is known to hold whiting, salmon, garfish, snook, tommy ruff, flathead and gummy shark, with most of these caught off the town’s jetty also. [Citation
last = Tourism EP| title = Fishing Key | url = http://tep.com.au/region_fishing.htm | access-date = 2007-05-25 ]

There are a number of tourist walks near the town, and a number of drives to surrounding areas such as Talia Caves and Mount Camel Beach.

Most of your daily supplies and accommodation can be accessed from the licenced general store and cafe', as well as other accommodation in the caravan park and private beach houses. [Citation
last = Waterways in South Australia | title = Venus Bay | url = http://users.senet.com.au/~gittins/venus.html | access-date = 2007-05-25 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.venusbaysa.com Venus Bay town information]
* [http://www.epa.sa.gov.au/venus.html Tourism Eyre Peninsula page]
* [http://www.smh.com.au/news/South-Australia/Port-Kenny/2005/02/17/1108500204601.html Sydney Morning Herald – Venus Bay & Port Kenny]