South Australia, The Forth Largest State in Australia.

With Adelaide as it’s Capital, South Australia is world renowned for it magnificent wine growing areas , such as the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills and the Coonwarra.

It is strewn with wonderful holiday areas to fill you with pleasure and excitement.  Meet native wildlife on Kangaroo Island and swim with sea lions on the Eyre Peninsula.  Four wheel drive past the deep red gorges of the Flinders Ranges and soar over majestic Wilpena Pound. Swim, surf and fish on the pristine beaches of the Fleurieu Peninsula and glide past the willow-fringed banks of the Murray River on a houseboat. Dive into shipwrecks and Aboriginal history on the Yorke Peninsula. Explore the fossil-rich Naracoorte Caves on the Limestone Coast.  From historic buildings to pristine islands, you’ll love South Australia’s rich heritage and spectacular natural attractions.

History:

South Australia (abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent. With a total land area of 983,482 square kilometres (379,725 sq mi), it is the fourth largest of Australia’s states and territories.

South Australia shares borders with all of the other mainland states, and with the Northern Territory; it is bordered to the west by Western Australia, to the north by the Northern Territory, to the north-east by Queensland, to the east by New South Wales, to the south-east by Victoria, and to the south by the Great Australian Bight and the Indian Ocean. With over 1.6 million people, the state comprises less than 8% of the Australian population and ranks fifth in population among the states and territories. The majority of its people reside in the state capital, Adelaide, with most of the remainder settled in fertile areas along the south-eastern coast and River Murray. The state’s origins are unique in Australia as a freely settled, planned British province, rather than as a convict settlement. Official settlement began on 28 December 1836, when the colony was proclaimed at The Old Gum Tree by Governor John Hindmarsh.

The first settlement to be established was Kingscote, Kangaroo Island, on 26 July 1836, five months before Adelaide was founded. The guiding principle behind settlement was that of systematic colonisation, a theory espoused by Edward Gibbon Wakefield that was later employed by the New Zealand Company. The aim was to establish the province as a centre of civilisation for free immigrants, promising civil liberties and religious tolerance. Although its history is marked by economic hardship, South Australia has remained politically innovative and culturally vibrant.

Today, the state is known as a state of festivals and of fine wine. The state’s economy centres on the agricultural, manufacturing and mining industries and has an increasingly significant finance sector as well. (Courtesy of Wikipedia).

Evidence of human activity in South Australia dates back as far as 20,000 years ago with flint mining activity and rock art in the Koonalda Cave on theNullarbor Plain. In addition wooden spears and tools were made in an area now covered in peat bog in the South East. Kangaroo Island was inhabited long before the island was cut off by rising sea levels.

The first recorded European sighting of the South Australian coast was in 1627 when the Dutch ship theGulden Zeepaert, captained by François Thijssen, examined the coastline. Thijssen named his discovery “Pieter Nuyts Land”, after the highest ranking individual on board.

The coastline of South Australia was first mapped by Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin in 1802.

Browse through the menu on the left and get a feel for the rich tapestry of the life and history of South Australia. You will be overwhelmed by the variety and quality of the destinations awaiting you on your South Australian adventure.