Port Lincoln, South Australia

Port Lincoln South Australia
Port Lincoln
Port Lincoln Location in South Australia
Coordinates	34°43′56″S 135°51′31″E
Population	16,147 (2015)[1]
• Density	118.47/km^2 (306.8/sq mi)
Established	1839
Postcode(s)	5606
Area	136.3 km^2 (52.6 sq mi)[2] (2011 urban)
Time zone	ACST (UTC+9:30)
• Summer (DST)	ACST (UTC+10:30)
Location	280 km (174 mi) from Adelaide 649 km (403 mi) from Adelaide via
LGA(s)	City of Port Lincoln
Region	Eyre Western[3]
County	Flinders[4]
State electorate(s)	Flinders[5]
Federal division(s)	Grey[6]
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 21.3 °C 70 °F 11.4 °C 53 °F 389.7 mm 15.3 in
Localities around Port Lincoln: Boston Boston Port Lincoln (water body) Duck Ponds Port Lincoln Port Lincoln (water body) Tulka Port Lincoln (water body) Port Lincoln (water body)
Footnotes	Adjoining localities[4]

Railway Station

Port Lincoln is a city in South Australia. It is a coastal city on Boston Bay at the southern end of the Eyre Peninsula. It is the largest city in the region. It is about 280 kilometres (straight line – 646 km by road) from the capital city Adelaide.

History

The first people to live in the area were the Barngarla (Parnkalla) people, who are Indigenous Australian people. The name they used to call this area was Galinyala.^[7]

European people settled in the area in 1836.

British Royal Navy explorer Matthew Flinders discovered the harbour in February 1802. He named it Port Lincoln rather than just Lincoln, where Flinders came from.

Fresh water

Port Lincoln may have become the state capital of the future South Australia, but it did not have a good water supply.^[source?]. Even as a small town, Port Lincoln could not get enough fresh water, which is now supplied mostly from the underground aquifers to the south of the city. Recently the water supply on the Eyre Peninsula has been connected to Murray River water through a link from Kimba to Whyalla to connect into the Morgan to Whyalla pipeline water.

Demographics

About 14,245 people live in the Port Lincoln area as of 2006.^[8] Aboriginal people made up 5.4% of Port Lincoln's 2006 population.^[9]

Geography

Port Lincoln has different coastal areas, from sheltered waters and beaches, to surf beaches and rugged oceanic coastline.

Government

Port Lincoln and its suburbs comprise the City of Port Lincoln local government area. Port Lincoln is in the state electoral district of Flinders and the federal Division of Grey.

Economy

The economy is based on loading wheat onto ships. The port can handle over 337,500 tonnes) of wheat. There is also the canning and fish processing works, lambs, wool and beef, and tuna farming for the Japanese market.^[10] The port is home to a large commercial fishing fleet. There is also fish farming (aquaculture) of the following species: tuna, kingfish, abalone, mussels, oysters, and experimental farming in seahorses and spiny lobsters. Before the introduction of fish farming, the main fishing was for Southern bluefin tuna.^[source?]

Port Lincoln is the end of an isolated 42 narrow gauge railway system to bring the wheat to port. Iron ore traffic may be added in the future, although this has been the topic of protest and debate in the community.^[source?]

Tourism

Tourism is becoming more important, thanks to the scenic beauty and coastal locality. Easy access to both Spencer Gulf and the Great Australian Bight make Port Lincoln a good place for yachting, scuba diving, shark cage diving and game fishing. The city also is the regional centre for government administration, corporate services and commerce to Eyre Peninsula. However, many State Government functions are gradually being closed as State Government becomes more centralised in Adelaide. During the past decade, there has been a big increase in building houses and commercial buildings.

Lincoln National Park, Coffin Bay National Park and Kellidie Bay Conservation Park are within easy driving distance.

Climate

Climate data for Port Lincoln
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	46.1 (115.0)	44.2 (111.6)	42.4 (108.3)	39.5 (103.1)	31.6 (88.9)	27.3 (81.1)	22.6 (72.7)	31.2 (88.2)	33.7 (92.7)	38.2 (100.8)	45.8 (114.4)	43.7 (110.7)	46.1 (115.0)
Average high °C (°F)	25.8 (78.4)	25.9 (78.6)	24.0 (75.2)	22.0 (71.6)	19.4 (66.9)	16.8 (62.2)	16.1 (61.0)	16.8 (62.2)	18.6 (65.5)	20.5 (68.9)	22.9 (73.2)	24.4 (75.9)	21.1 (70.0)
Average low °C (°F)	15.6 (60.1)	16.2 (61.2)	14.5 (58.1)	12.1 (53.8)	10.5 (50.9)	8.7 (47.7)	7.6 (45.7)	7.1 (44.8)	8.0 (46.4)	9.6 (49.3)	12.1 (53.8)	14.0 (57.2)	11.3 (52.3)
Record low °C (°F)	8.5 (47.3)	8.6 (47.5)	7.1 (44.8)	5.1 (41.2)	3.0 (37.4)	1.5 (34.7)	1.4 (34.5)	1.3 (34.3)	0.1 (32.2)	2.3 (36.1)	4.1 (39.4)	5.2 (41.4)	0.1 (32.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	18.4 (0.72)	11.6 (0.46)	18.4 (0.72)	17.2 (0.68)	41.8 (1.65)	62.3 (2.45)	55.8 (2.20)	47.8 (1.88)	37.7 (1.48)	27.3 (1.07)	18.1 (0.71)	17.6 (0.69)	374.8 (14.76)
Source: [11]

Transport

Port Lincoln is the port for the isolated narrow gauge (1067) Eyre Peninsular Railway.

There is also a smaller port at Proper Bay which may be restored to use for iron ore traffic.^[12] The export of iron ore through Port Lincoln has been approved by the South Australian Government. (c. Oct 2009)^[13]

Port Lincoln Airport is located a few kilometers north of the city. Regional Express and Qantaslink provide several daily flights to the state capital of Adelaide.

Culture

The book Blue Fin by Colin Thiele was set in Port Lincoln. The movie of the same name was filmed in nearby Streaky Bay. Some of the shark scenes of Jaws and Anzac Cove scenes in Gallipoli, were also filmed near Port Lincoln. ^[source?]

Australian Survivor, the Australian-produced series of the US television series, Survivor, was filmed at Whalers Way, south of Port Lincoln, in 2001.

Hearts Apart by Caitlin Jones was written on a farm in Port Lincoln.

Port Lincoln was visited in 1939 by English travel author Eric Newby, while he was crew in the four-masted barque Moshulu, which anchored off Boston Island. Moshulu had taken 82 days to sail to Port Lincoln from Belfast in ballast (a fast passage for a windjammer). But there was no grain to be had there, even though Moshulu waited at anchor for most of January. The crew was given shore leave in Port Lincoln, encountering large amounts of Australian wine. Moshulu finally sailed to Port Victoria for cargo.

During the 1939 season, Passat and Lawhill also went to Port Lincoln. Newby wrote about his round-trip from Ireland to South Australia in his book The Last Grain Race (1956). Several pictures of Port Lincoln in 1939 are in his photo-essay of his voyage, Learning the Ropes.

Media

Port Lincoln has two local commercial radio stations, 89.9 Magic FM and 765 AM 5CC. It is also served by ABC West Coast SA on 1485 AM. It also receives Triple J and ABC Radio National from Tumby Bay and satellite uplink from Melbourne respectively. ABC News Radio is available on 91.5FM. It also receives KIXFM 87.6.

Port Lincoln has one local newspaper, the Port Lincoln Times, a Rural Press publication. The Port Lincoln Times is published on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is printed in Murray Bridge at the high-tech Rural Press printing centre.

Free to air TV stations available in Port Lincoln are ABC, SBS, Southern Cross GTS/BKN (formerly Central Television) and Southern Cross Ten. Also available is Austar pay TV.

Panorama of Boston Bay, with Port Lincoln in the right third of picture

People from Port Lincoln

Statue of Makybe Diva at Port Lincoln, South Australia

Olympic gold medal weightlifter Dean Lukin was a tuna fisherman who became famous as a weightlifter in the 1980s. He came back to run the family fishery business.

Many Australian Rules Football (AFL) players have come from Port Lincoln, including Graham Johncock, Peter Burgoyne, Shaun Burgoyne and Byron Pickett.

Tony Santic, the owner of Makybe Diva (the only horse to win the Melbourne Cup three times), is a tuna farmer in Port Lincoln. A life-sized bronze statue of the horse stands on the town's foreshore.

Australian Diamonds netball player Lauren Nourse began her career in Port Lincoln at age seven. In 2008 she was a member of the gold medal winning Australian side at the Auckland World Netball Championships.

References

1. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2014–15: Population Estimates by Significant Urban Area, 2005 to 2015". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2015.
2. "2011 Census Community Profiles: Port Lincoln". ABS Census. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 15 September 2016.^{[permanent dead link]}
3. "Eyre Western SA Government region" (PDF). The Government of South Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
4. "Search result(s) for Port Lincoln LOCB (Record No.SA0040601) with the following layers being selected – "Suburbs and Localities", "Local Government Areas", "Counties" and "Place names (gazetteer)"". Property Location Browser. Government of South Australia. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
5. "District of Flinders Background Profile". Electoral Commission SA. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
6. "Federal electoral division of Grey" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
7. Here is a quote about the Aboriginal name: "Professor Ghil'ad Zuckermann, Chair of Linguistics and Endangered Languages at the University of Adelaide [...] told NITV: 'I urge Australia to define the 330 Aboriginal languages, most of them sleeping beauties, as the official languages of their region. [Australia should] introduce bilingual signs and thus change the linguistic landscape, of this beautiful country. So, for example, Port Lincoln should also be referred to as Galinyala, which is its original Barngarla name '". These sentences appeared in an article that was written by Sophie Verass from the National Indigenous Television (NITV). The name of the article was Indigenous meanings of Australian town names. It was published on 10 August 2016.
8. http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/LGA46300Population/People12002-2006?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=LGA46300&issue=2002-2006&num=&view= ^{[dead link]}
9. http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/LGA46300Population/People12002-2006?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=LGA46300&issue=2002-2006&num=&view=^{[permanent dead link]}
10. Tim Treadgold, The future is Fish: Japan's taste for tuna is creating millionaires in a tiny Australian town Archived 2013-01-13 at the Wayback Machine" Forbes Magazine, May 22, 2006
11. "BOM".
12. Company defends Lincoln ore export plan – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
13. Pt Lincoln ore exports win approval – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Other websites

• City of Port Lincoln
• Map Archived 2011-06-11 at the Wayback Machine
• Media related to Port Lincoln, South Australia at Wikimedia Commons
• Port Lincoln travel guide from Wikivoyage