Wirrina Cove facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Wirrina Cove South Australia
Marina St. Vincent, Wirrina Cove
Wirrina Cove Location in South Australia
Population	497 (shared with other localities in the “State Suburb of Wirrina Cove”) (2011 census)
Established	1999
Postcode(s)	5204
Time zone	ACST (UTC+9:30)
• Summer (DST)	ACST (UTC+10:30)
Location	70 km (43 mi) south west of Adelaide city centre
LGA(s)	District Council of Yankalilla
Region	Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island
State electorate(s)	Mawson
Federal Division(s)	Mayo
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 17.5 °C 64 °F 10.2 °C 50 °F 818.9 mm 32.2 in
Suburbs around Wirrina Cove: Gulf St Vincent Gulf St Vincent Gulf St Vincent Second Valley Wirrina Cove Normanville Second Valley Second Valley Hay Flat
Footnotes	Location Climatic data

Wirrina Cove is a fun holiday spot and a small town on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia. It's located between the coastal towns of Second Valley and Normanville, right on Yankalilla Bay. This holiday resort started being built around 1972. It's about 90 kilometers south of Adelaide, the capital city.

Today, Wirrina Cove has a marina called Marina St. Vincent. It also features the New Terry Hotel & Golf Resort. You can find many places to stay, like the Wirrina Cove Holiday Park.

Little Gorge is a place north of the cove. Near it, you can find the HMAS Hobart Memorial Lookout. This lookout is on the road to Normanville.

First Peoples of Wirrina Cove

Long before Europeans arrived, the Kaurna people were the traditional owners of the land around Wirrina Cove. This area, along with much of the Adelaide Plains, was their home.

There's a special place here linked to the Kaurna people's 'Dreaming' stories. They believe that the tears of a creator ancestor named Tjilbruke formed a freshwater spring here. This spring is the sixth one on the Tjilbruke Dreaming Trail. You can find a special commemorative plaque about it at the entrance to the Wirrina Cove Resort.

Other old Kaurna names for this area include Congeratinga (or Kongaratinga), Yarnauwingga, and Anacotilla. The exact meanings of these names are not fully clear. The name Kongarati Cave is also part of the Tjilbruke story. It is said to be near Rapid Bay.

What Does "Wirrina" Mean?

The name "Wirrina" is not a word from the Kaurna language. It's also not from any other South Australian Aboriginal language. The people who first built the resort, Holiday Village Co-operative Ltd, chose this name in 1972.

They likely found it in a book called Australian Aboriginal Words and Their Meanings (1949) by H.M. Cooper. In that book, "Wirrina" means "Somewhere to go." The word probably comes from an Aboriginal language group from another state. It might be from the Gwydir River or Barwon Rivers area in New South Wales.

Nature and Environment

There is a creek in the area called Congeratina Creek. In 2015, it was noted as a "flowing brackish creek" in autumn. Brackish means the water is a mix of fresh and salty. However, it was dry in spring.

The natural environment around the creek was in "fair" condition. The plants around it were mostly introduced species (plants brought from other places) and gum trees. Cattle were also grazing nearby.

The Resort's Journey

The Wirrina Cove resort was very popular in the 1980s. But after that, it changed owners five times. In 1992, it faced financial trouble. It was bought again and improved in 1995–96. However, it ran into financial problems again in 2012.

In 2013, the land and businesses were sold off in parts. This included the resort, the caravan park, and the marina. An Auckland-based hotel company called VR Group bought the resort. They spent over A$1.5 million to make it better. They upgraded most of the 87 rooms, the tennis courts, the mini-golf course, and the gym. The resort was ready to reopen in April 2014.

In 2019, the resort changed owners again. It was renamed the New Terry Hotel & Golf Resort. The new owner, Andie Xu, wanted to attract Chinese tourists. The name "Terry" comes from Chinese words that sound like "peace" and "success." The restaurant now offers both Chinese and Australian food.

Marina St. Vincent

The marina at Wirrina Cove got approval to be built in 1988. Construction was planned to start in 1989 and take about 10 months. The idea was to help tourism in the area. It would allow for sunset cruises and day trips to Kangaroo Island. When it was built, it was a very big project, costing about $45 million. After it was finished, the marina was named Marina St. Vincent.

The state government took over the 210-berth Wirrina Cove Marina on March 30, 2020. Staff from the Department of Infrastructure and Transport now manage it. This happened after a long court case. The previous company had not paid a bill for dredging (clearing the bottom of the marina). The marina was reported to be in poor condition in June 2020.

Other Fun Things to See

The HMAS Hobart Memorial Lookout is north of the cove. It's near Little Gorge, on the road to Normanville. From here, you can see the Fleurieu Artificial Reef. This reef was created by sinking the old HMAS Hobart ship.