Denial Bay

Denial Bay (formerly McKenzie) is a small fishing and tourist village in the west of South Australia that lies on the western side of Murat Bay about 562 kilometres (349 mi) from the Adelaide city centre and about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) from Ceduna.[6][3] The town has extensive European history, first built on in 1889, and now hosts a large expanse of oyster farms, one of the largest on the Eyre Peninsula.

Denial Bay
South Australia
Denial Bay
Coordinates32.100°S 133.576°E / -32.100; 133.576
Population131 (2016 census)[1]
Established1889[2]
Postcode(s)5690[3]
Elevation1 m (3 ft)
Time zoneACST (UTC+9:30)
 • Summer (DST)ACST (UTC+10:30)
Location
LGA(s)District Council of Ceduna
State electorate(s)Flinders[4]
Federal Division(s)Grey[5]
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall
23.5 °C
74 °F		 10.4 °C
51 °F		 294.8 mm
11.6 in
Localities around Denial Bay:
Ceduna Ceduna Ceduna
Nadia Denial Bay Murat Bay (water body)
Tourville Bay (water body) Denial Bay (water body) Denial Bay (water body)
FootnotesLocation[3][6]
Coordinates[2]
Climate[7]
Adjoining localities[2][6]

History

The bay which the town is named after initially mapped by Matthew Flinders in 1802, as part of a wider attempt to map South Australia's coastline. Flinders named the inlet "Denial Bay" because of "the deceptive hope we had formed of penetrating by it some distance into the interior of the country".[8]

The first European exploration of the hinterland was in August 1839 by John Hill and Samuel Stephens, using the chartered brig Rapid as a base.[9][10]

The town was established by William McKenzie in 1889 as the first settlement in what was to become the Ceduna area. McKenzie nearly single-handedly set up the town, clearing mallee scrub by axe, building a general store and becoming the local harbour master, postman, blacksmith, butcher, saddler and Justice of the Peace, employing up to 30 people at any one time.[11]

The town established primarily as a loading and offloading point for the various inland farming activities, and this was done using a unique system based on the rocky floor of the bay's seabed.

A large wooden platform known as 'McKenzie's Landing' was constructed and at high tide, boats would unload goods onto the platform and at low tides horse and cart would be used to collect the items. The same would be done to load boats.[12]

The town was surveyed during December 1909 and proclaimed under the name McKenzie on 16 June 1910 presumably after William McKenzie. The town was officially renamed as Denial Bay on 19 September 1940.[13][14]

During this peak of activity, a school opened in 1897 and continued operation until 1945.[8] In 1909, a jetty was constructed south of McKenzie's Landing after a 1905 proposal, and still stands today.[8]

Another piece of history at Denial Bay is the famous dog fence which runs down to the water near McKenzie's Landing.[15]

The town has long since ceased functioning as a port, and today relies on the aquaculture industry, as well as tourism.

Economy

The economy of Denial Bay now depends heavily on the production of Oysters by aquaculture, as well as minor inputs from tourism.

Oyster farming was established in the area in 1985, with 105 Ha of intertidal farms allocated to farmers within the bay. The maximum size per individual farm was 10 Ha. This has since increased to over 200 Ha in Denial and Murat Bays.[16]

The oysters grown in both the Denial Bay and Smoky Bay regions account for approximately 20% of all oysters grown in the state. The oyster growing industry is celebrated each year during 'Oysterfest' in Ceduna.[16]

Tourism in the town is centred around recreational fishing and other marine based activities such as snorkelling, scuba diving, swimming and even surfing along some parts of the coast.

The bay has an unusually high density of the Blue Swimmer Crab, making it a popular destination for crabbers, with crabs caught off the jetty or by boat. Other notable species caught in the bay include Snapper, King George and Yellowfin Whiting, Salmon, Mulloway, Shark and Squid, as well as a host of other species.[17]

Media

A newspaper, the Denial Bay Starter, a weekly paper issued every Saturday, was printed in Denial Bay from 14 November 1908 to 29 January 1910.[18]

Facilities

Denial Bay is a very small town, and as such has very limited facilities. The town does have a small general store that sells petrol and groceries, with a public payphone located nearby. A full range of shopping and business services is located in Ceduna only 12 kilometres away by sealed road.[12]

The town has very little in the way of accommodation, sporting grounds, eateries or other services.

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Denial Bay". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  2. "Search result for "Denial Bay (Locality Bounded)" (Record no SA0019712) with the following layers selected – "Suburbs and Localities" and "Government Towns"". Property Location Browser. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  3. "Denial Bay, South Australia". Postcodes Australia. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  4. "District of Flinders Background Profile". Electoral Commission SA. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  5. "Federal electoral division of Grey" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  6. Boating Industry Association of South Australia (BIA); South Australia. Department for Environment and Heritage (2005), South Australia's waters an atlas & guide, Boating Industry Association of South Australia, p. 223, ISBN 978-1-86254-680-6
  7. "Monthly climate statistics: Summary statistics CEDUNA AMO (nearest station)". Commonwealth of Australia , Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  8. State Library of South Australia Manning Index, Denial Bay, retrieved 14 June 2007
  9. Register, 26 October 1839, pp.5 and 17.
  10. Secondary Towns Association, formed for the purchasing of one or more ... – Secondary Towns Association, London – Google Books. 1843. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  11. Ceduna District Council, Denial Bay, retrieved 14 June 2007
  12. Nullabor Net, Denial Bay, retrieved 14 June 2007
  13. "Property Location Browser: Search result for Denial Bay, GTWN". Property Location Browser. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  14. "Names of towns decided by popular usage". Port Lincoln Times: 3. 26 September 1940. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  15. Sydney Morning Herald Travel (8 February 2004), Ceduna, The Sydney Morning Herald, retrieved 14 June 2007
  16. Oysterfest Site, History, archived from the original on 12 September 2007, retrieved 14 June 2007
  17. Eyre Peninsula Tourism, Eyre Peninsula Fishing Code, archived from the original on 24 February 2007, retrieved 14 June 2007
  18. Laube, Anthony. "LibGuides: SA Newspapers: C-E". guides.slsa.sa.gov.au. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
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