Port Noarlunga is a suburb in the City of Onkaparinga, South Australia. It is a small sea-side suburb, population 2,632, about 30 kilometres long natural reef that is exposed at low tide. The beach is large and very long and has reasonable surfing in the South Port area whose name is taken from its location - 'South of the Port'.
The suburb is bounded to the south by the Onkaparinga River, including a tidal estuary. It is bounded to the west by the Gulf St Vincent, by Christies Beach to the north and by Noarlunga Centre and Noarlunga Downs to the east.
History
In pre-European times, this area along with most of the Adelaide plains was inhabited by the Kaurna tribe.
The first record of the area was provided by Captain Collet Barker who explored the Onkaparinga River on 15 April 1831 in his search for a Gulf outlet from Lake Alexandrina. In early 1837, while camped by the Sturt River near Marion, South Australia's only two horses slipped their tether ropes during the night and the overseer of stock, C.W. Stuart led an expedition to recover them. Taking a botanist to record the plants encountered, the expedition searched much of present-day Noarlunga before finding the horses near the Onkaparinga River. The men being on foot were however, unable to capture them. In June 1837, Colonel William Light led an overland expedition to arrest whalers who had been abducting native women at Encounter Bay, 100 km south of Adelaide. Cresting Tapleys Hill they named the valley Morphett Vale after expedition member John Morphett. They reached the southern end of the Mount Lofty Ranges before impenetrable scrub forced them to return to Adelaide. The following year, John McLaren of the Survey Dept. divided the area south of Adelaide into three districts (B.C and D) based on the reports made by the Stuart and Light expeditions. B and C districts, the present Noarlunga District, was opened to public selection in February 1839 and by 1841 the population was estimated to be about 150. The government town of Port Noarlunga was surveyed and offered for sale on 14 April 1859.
The township was originally settled as a port for the produce from the proposed market town of Noarlunga a few kilometres upstream. The Onkaparinga River mouth proved unsuitable to coastal ketches, so produce was barged down river to the sandhills and then taken by horse drawn rail trucks to the jetty. The current jetty was constructed in 1921 and is the second jetty to have been constructed at Port Noarlunga. The original jetty, 30 metres south of the current jetty, was constructed in 1855, but was destroyed in several severe storms in the early 1900s.
In the early 20th century Port Noarlunga was a popular coastal holiday destination, with the beach proving an attraction with its natural beauty and in summer amusement fairs were run, as well as row boating on the river estuary. Port Noarlunga Post Office opened around November 1909.
With the gradual incursion of urban sprawl, and in particular immigration-fuelled expansion in the 1960s and 1970s, the township eventually became an outer suburb of Adelaide. The South Australian Housing Trust in particular developed housing in the nearby areas of Christies Beach and O'Sullivan Beach and with the extension of the metropolitan rail line to adjacent Noarlunga Centre in 1978 the township of Port Noarlunga had largely lost its attraction as a holiday destination.
It is now largely occupied by permanent residents, although it still retains much of its early village charm. The City of Onkaparinga council has assisted with maintaining this spirit of the old township, working with the State government in the late 1990s to divert through road traffic around the town centre.
Attractions
The beach and the jetty are the biggest attractions to visitors. The close proximity of a diverse range of aquatic features making this area stand out from other coastal locations. There is also a small main street (Gawler Street) that serves visitors and locals in this beach area. It has several cafes, a pub, a fish and chip shop, a surf shop and several other businesses providing services to the locals. The old "Institute" building, built in 1924, is now the community centre.
Port Noarlunga Reef
Port Noarlunga Reef is a narrow reef about 400 metres long and was formed from a consolidated Pleistocene sand dune. The reef runs parallel to shore and has two sections, with the area separating them called The Gap. It is a popular scuba diving and snorkelling location, with more than 200 marine plant species and over 60 fish species. There is a self-guided diving trail which was established in 1994, which is marked with a series of 12 glass plaques. The plaques indicate aspects of the reef ecosystem relevant to their location.
Port Noarlunga Aquatic Reserve
The Port Noarlunga Aquatic Reserve was the first aquatic reserve proclaimed in South Australia, being established in 1971 to protect the reef life and the adjacent river estuary. The boundaries of the reserve were extended to the north in 1993 to include an adjacent limestone reef known as Horseshoe Reef at Christies Beach. As of 2007, it extends along the coastline from Onkaparinga Head at Port Noarlunga South in the south to Gulfview Road at Christies Beach in the north and includes the Onkaparinga River up until the Main South Road at Old Noarlunga. The reserve covers an area of 527 hectares (1,300 acres). Fishing activity is limited to the use of rod and handline while the use of ‘hand nets for the taking of shrimps for bait only’ is permitted in estuary and the Onkaparinga River. No fishing is permitted within 25 metres (82 ft) of Horseshoe and Port Noarlunga Reefs and can only be carried out from the jetty and the beach at Port Noarlunga.
Port Noarlunga Aquatic Centre
Since 1976 the Port Noarlunga Aquatic Centre has operated classes for primary school children from throughout the state. The program runs in the first and last school terms each year and provides the opportunity to try waveskiing, canoeing, fishing, snorkelling, sailing, swimming and sailboarding. About 15,000 students have access to this program each year.
Onkaparinga Community Playground
In the south of the suburb there is a large community playground. This is a community built playground and as such is unique to South Australia. A$250 000 was raised from community sponsorship before the playground was built using community labour over the period of 18–23 June 2002. This project began after research by "Living Neighbourhood" in nearby Christies Beach. There was a public meeting, after which a non-profit incorporated body was formed for the project.