Gove Peninsula facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gove Peninsula Northern Territory
Gove Peninsula Location in Northern Territory
Territory electorate(s)	Mulka
Federal Division(s)	Lingiari

The Gove Peninsula is a special place located at the northeastern tip of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. It became important during World War II because an air force base was built there. This area is also famous for the Gove land rights case. In 1971, the local Yolngu people went to court to claim ownership of their traditional lands. This happened after the Australian Government allowed a mining company to dig for bauxite without asking the Yolngu first. Today, the Yolngu people own this land.

Where is the Gove Peninsula?

Nanydjaka (Cape Arnhem Coast) is a beautiful part of the Gove Peninsula.

The Gove Peninsula is on the west coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. It's part of Arnhem Land, which is a huge area of land owned by Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. The main town on the peninsula is Nhulunbuy. It's a busy place with shops and services, located about 600 kilometres east of Darwin.

A Brief History of Gove Peninsula

Modern History and Land Rights

As European explorers and settlers moved into the Northern Territory, they came closer to the lands of the Yolngu people. This often led to disagreements. In 1931, a large area of about 96,000 square kilometres was set aside as an Aboriginal reserve. It was called the Arnhem Land Aboriginal Reserve.

The land on the peninsula was part of a very important court case in 1971. It was called Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd, also known as the Gove land rights case. This case was a big moment for Indigenous land rights in Australia. The plaintiffs, who were elders from different Yolngu clans, said they had the right to control their land. They wanted to live freely on their lands. The court first decided against them because native title in Australia was not yet recognized. However, the ideas from this case helped lead to the Mabo case 21 years later, which changed the law.

Today, a group called the Land Trust holds about 100,000 square kilometres as Aboriginal freehold land. This means the Aboriginal people own it, except for areas used for mining.

Gove Peninsula During World War II

The Gove Peninsula played a big role in defending Australia during World War II. Three air squadrons were based there. One was at the site of the current Gove airport, and another was for flying boats at Drimmie Head. The peninsula is named after Pilot Officer William Gove, a RAAF navigator who died in an air accident there in 1943.

Geography of the Peninsula

Land and Water Features

The Gove Peninsula is mostly untouched, except for the town of Nhulunbuy and the old bauxite mine and alumina refinery. The refinery closed in 2014. The area has many different landscapes. You can find savannah woodlands, wetlands, monsoon forests, and rocky escarpments. There are also many beautiful beaches, bays, and islands.

Melville Bay is a large bay between the peninsula and the mainland. There are many unnamed beaches in the bay and on the western side of the peninsula. There are also famous beaches like Ski Beach and Wallaby Beach.

Other popular spots around the peninsula include:

You can explore three coastal walking trails here. They are Daliwuy to Garanhan (3 km), Garanhan to Ngumuy (2.5 km), and Ngumuy to Baringura (1.5 km). Along these trails, signs explain how the Yolngu culture is connected to the land.

Nature and Coastal Life

The natural areas and coastal waters of the Gove Peninsula are very important for conservation. They are mostly undisturbed because the area is isolated, very large, and not many people live there. The waters have a shallow, tropical marine ecosystem. This means they have different places for marine and estuary animals to live. These include mangroves, seagrass beds, tidal flats, salt pans, and saltmarshes.

How Places Got Their Names

Some places on Australia's northern coast were named by Macassan traders and Dutch and English explorers. This happened before the 20th century. For example, the Arafura Sea and Arnhem Land got their names this way. Matthew Flinders named Point Dundas, Drimmie Head, Melville Bay, and Mount Saunders.

However, more non-Aboriginal people arrived in the 20th century and started giving English names to places. The airstrip built during World War II was the first place named Gove. It was named after Pilot Officer William Gove, who died in an air accident on the peninsula in 1943.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, many Yolngu people did not like that many places, including Nhulunbuy, were being renamed with English names. In 1968, they sent a bark petition to the Commonwealth Parliament about the renaming of Nhulunbuy. Linguist Raymattja Marika and Melanie Wilkinson have written down the origins and meanings of the Yolngu place names. Many of these names are linked to stories of old spirits known as Wuyal, the "Sugar Bag Hunters." In the end, the Yolngu succeeded, and the name Nhulunbuy was kept. Inside the town, only two other names come from Yolngu language: Wuyal Road and the Rotary Marika Lookout. The lookout is named after Dr. Marika's father, Roy Marika.

Climate and Seasons

The Gove Peninsula is located just 12 degrees south of the Equator. This means it has a tropical savanna climate. People who are not Aboriginal recognize two main seasons: the dry season (mid-May to mid-November) and the wet season (mid-November to mid-May).

Yolngu Seasons and Nature's Calendar

The Yolngu people have eight different seasons. These seasons are based on changes in the land, plants, and animals. They are:

• Dhuludur (October–November): This is the 'Pre-wet season'. The weather can be wild, with frequent thunder and lightning storms. Turtles and Threadfin Salmon are hunted.
• Bärra'mirri (December–January): This is the 'season of Heavy Rain and Growth'. There are heavy rains, and plants grow a lot. Magpie Geese arrive, and shellfish are collected.
• Mayaltha (February–March): This is the 'Flowering season'. Days are sunny, but there isn't much bush food. Flies appear, and many mosquito larvae are in the waterholes.
• Midawarr (March–April): This is the 'Fruiting season'. The east wind blows, bringing lots of bush foods like fruits, nuts, and barramundi.
• Ngathangamakulingamirri (April): A short 'Harvest season' that lasts about two weeks.
• Dharratharramirri (May–July): This is the 'Early Dry season'. Trade winds blow, and the bush is sometimes burned. Magpie Lark flocks arrive, and sharks and stingrays give birth.
• Burrugumirri (July–August): This is the 'time of the Birthing of Sharks and Stingrays'. It lasts about three weeks.
• Rarrandharr (August–October): This is the 'Main Dry season'. Warm southeast winds blow, the soil is hot, and young sharks and stingrays are hunted. Stringybark trees also flower.

Who Lives in Gove Peninsula?

In 2001, about 13,080 people lived in the East Arnhem region, which includes most of the Gove Peninsula. More than 60% of these people were Aboriginal.

In the town of Nhulunbuy itself, there were 3,766 people in 2001. About 7.3% of them were Indigenous.

By 2016, the population of Nhulunbuy (urban area) was 3,240. Only 2.8% of these residents were Indigenous. However, the wider Nhulunbuy Indigenous region had 9,559 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander residents.

The Yolngu People

The Gove Peninsula is owned by its traditional Aboriginal owners, the Yolngu people. It's a place rich in culture, and the Yolngu keep strong connections to their land, beliefs, and traditions.

"Yolngu" is the word Aboriginal people from East Arnhem Land, including the Gove Peninsula, use to describe themselves. It's not the name of a single family group. The five main clan groups in the region are Gumatj, Rirratjingu, Djapu, Madarrpa, and Dhalwangu.

The famous Marika family, many from Yirrkala, includes many artists and land rights activists. Some well-known members are Banduk Marika (1954–2021), Roy Dadaynga Marika (c.1925–1993), and Wandjuk Marika (1927–1987). Educator and linguist Raymattja Marika (c.1959–2008) was named NT Australian of the Year in 2007.

Yingiya Mark Guyula is the only independent Indigenous member of parliament in the Northern Territory as of 2020. He represents the electoral division of Mulka.

The Yolngu people call white people "balanda". This word likely comes from "Hollander," meaning a Dutch person.

Local Communities

• Yirrkala is about 18 km southeast of Nhulunbuy. Most of its 809 residents (2016 Census) are Aboriginal.
• Gunyangara, also known as Marngarr or Ski Beach, has about 280 people. Most are from the Gumatj clan, with family names like Yunupingu, Burarrwanga, and Munungirritj. It's on Drimmie Head in Melville Bay, 14 km west of Nhulunbuy, next to Gove Port. It has an airstrip and a health clinic. There are historic Makassan sites on the island. It's connected to the Gove Peninsula by a causeway built during World War II for a flying boat base.
• Birritjimi, also known as Wallaby Beach, is a 5 km stretch of beach in Melville Bay. The northern part is Birritjimi Beach, and the part curving northwest is Wallaby Beach. Homes built in the 1970s for Rio Tinto mining managers are now mainly lived in by the Gurruwiwi family and other members of the Galpu clan. Some healthcare is provided by mobile units from Nhulunbuy and Gunyangara. Birritjimi is home to Djalu Gurruwiwi, a master of the yiḏaki (didgeridoo) and an Aboriginal elder. Rio Tinto gave these homes to the traditional owners in 2008. As of 2020, the houses are in poor condition and might be torn down.

How the Region is Governed

There are 10 local councils in the region. They manage the towns of Nhulunbuy and Angurugu, and many local communities that mainly serve Indigenous people.

Economy and Work

Mining in Gove Peninsula

Nhulunbuy was built specifically for the Alcan Gove mine and alumina refinery, which is now closed. The town is on land leased from Aboriginal owners. In 2007, it was the largest town in East Arnhem Land and an important center for the region.

In the 1950s, the government found a large bauxite deposit here. It covered 65 square kilometres and had an estimated 250 million tonnes of bauxite. After some initial hesitation, Nabalco was formed. It was given a lease and promised to build a town, port, and mine. The building of the mine led to the Gove land rights case (mentioned above).

The economy of the Gove Peninsula mainly depended on the Alcan Gove Mine. In November 2013, Rio Tinto announced that the alumina refinery (but not the bauxite mine) would close in July 2014. This meant about 1,100 jobs were lost, which was nearly 25% of the town's population. The population dropped quickly. Rio Tinto also announced that the bauxite mine itself would close by 2030 or even sooner.

Spaceport and New Jobs

The Arnhem Space Centre has created jobs for local people. It also brought NASA staff and many tourists to the town when three rockets were launched in mid-2022. This filled up all the hotels for weeks! The future of the site is still being planned. However, the owners, Equatorial Launch Australia, say other space companies are interested in using the rocket launch pad. NASA has also said it will use the facility again.

Getting Around Gove Peninsula

The old airport terminal at Gove Airport.

You can rent four-wheel-drive vehicles, regular cars, or bicycles in Nhulunbuy. There's also an airport bus and a taxi company.

Travel by Air

A sign at Gove Airport remembering its service during World War II.

The Gove Airport is 13 km from Nhulunbuy town center. AirNorth has daily flights to Gove from Cairns and Darwin. These flights then connect to other cities around the world. The flight from Cairns to Gove takes 1 hour and 40 minutes, and from Darwin to Gove, it's 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Travel by Road

The most direct way to Nhulunbuy by road is via the Central Arnhem Road. This road leaves the Stuart Highway 52 km south of Katherine. The first 30 km are paved, but the rest is a gravel road. A four-wheel-drive vehicle is recommended, especially for the two main river crossings: the Wilton River and the Goyder River. You should carry extra fuel because you might not be able to buy it along the way. The Central Arnhem Road is 682 km long. Adding the 52 km from Katherine, it's a long drive, about 8 or 9 hours in good conditions. You need a permit to use this road because it crosses many Yolngu Clan lands.

Education in the Area

Nhulunbuy has one public primary school, which includes pre-school. It also has one public secondary school that goes up to Year 12. There's also a private school, Nhulunbuy Christian College, for students from Transition to Year 10. Yirrkala has a primary school that supports other community schools further away.

Society and Culture

Yolngu culture and their connection to the land are still very strong and important. Many people still live a traditional life. The Garma Festival, which celebrates Yolngu culture, happens every August at Gulkula. Thousands of people from Australia and around the world come to enjoy and learn from music, dance, art, crafts, and sports. There are three art centers on the peninsula: Nambara Arts and Crafts near Nhulunbuy, Buku Larrngay Mulka in Yirrkala, and Elcho Island Arts. Their artwork is known worldwide.

Music and the Yidaki

Arnhem Land, including the Gove Peninsula, is where the instrument commonly called the didgeridoo comes from. Locally, it's known as the yidaki. Yolngu people are masters at playing and making this instrument. The rhythms and techniques from this region are very special.

Yidaki from north-east Arnhem Land are very important culturally. The use of the yidaki here has been a continuous tradition for a very long time. Recently, the Yothu Yindi band and Djalu Gurruwiwi – known as "Mr Didgeridoo" – have helped make the yidaki popular around the world. Yidaki are usually made in north-east Arnhem Land from gadayka (Stringybark), gungurru (Woolybutt), and badawili (Rusty Bloodwood) trees.

Sports and Fun Activities

Sports are a big part of life in Nhulunbuy. The town has many facilities, including a sports ground, golf course, yacht club, swimming pool, fishing club, surf-lifesaving club, speedway, and skate park.

Sailing

Gove Harbour is a popular stop for yachts sailing along Australia's northern coast or heading to countries north of Australia. Except for December to April, when cyclones can happen, the waters around the Gove Peninsula are great for sailing. The Gove Boat Club is often full of visiting sailors from all over the world. The club also holds races and other yearly events.