Wardang Island, also known as Waralti (also spelled Waraldi or Wauraltee) is a low-lying 20 km2 island in the Spencer Gulf close to the western coast of the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. It acts as a natural breakwater, protecting the former grain port of Port Victoria and providing a sheltered anchorage. After European colonisation it was used for the grazing of sheep, for rabbit disease research, was quarried for lime to supply the lead smelter at Port Pirie and is currently leased to the island's traditional owners: the Narungga. The much smaller Goose Island and the other rocks and islets in the Goose Island Conservation Park lie off the northern end. Anyone seeking to visit the island must obtain prior permission from the Point Pearce Community Council.
Nomenclature Both names for the island are indigenous words. Wardang means "crow" while Wauraltee means "bandicoot island".
History
The island is part of the traditional lands of the Narungga people of the Yorke Peninsula who camped there regularly to hunt and gather food including shellfish, fish and the eggs of seabirds. Ceremony was also conducted there, including burials. Following the European settlement of South Australia, the first pastoral lease on Wardang Island was issued in 1861 to Stephen Goldsworthy for a term of 14 years. Natural vegetation was cleared and replaced with sown pasture. The lease gave the Narungga the continued right to travel to and from the island. In 1884 Goldsworthy transferred the lease to the Point Pearce, a mission for Aboriginal Australians, then known as the Yorke Peninsula Aboriginal Mission, "for the use and benefits of the inhabitants of the province". In 1877, the island was considered as a candidate site for a permanent quarantine station for South Australia, but was ultimately rejected. The mission used the island to graze sheep. Shearing sheds were built as well as living quarters to cater for the families living there. Mineral leases were later issued for the quarrying of lime. From 1915 the mission became an Aboriginal reserve under state government control, part of the Point Pearce Aboriginal Station. The Aboriginal reserve on Wardang Island was abolished in 1948 and access was restricted while quarrying continued. However, in 1975 the South Australian government returned Wardang Island to the Aboriginal Lands Trust and it became part of Point Pearce Community Council.
Lighthouse and shipwrecks In 1909 a lighthouse was erected at the highest point on the island's West coast to serve the large number of ships visiting nearby Port Victoria, though its effectiveness was limited by low visibility. The lighthouse tower from Wedge Island was moved to Wardang Island on 23 July 1918 where it replacing the previous light, which was simply supported by a post. The Wedge Island light was a Chance Bros 250mm lens. In 1988 the navigation light from Wedge Island was converted to solar power and the old tower was replaced with a fibreglass hut. Accounts of the total number of shipping casualties and wrecks around Wardang Island vary. Between the years 1898 and 1929, there were at least 18 shipping casualties in the vicinity, of which eleven were total wrecks. It was reported that in 1916, ten wrecks lined the island's coast. In 1926, Wardang Island was referred to as "The Island of Wrecks" by The World's News. The Advertiser published the claim that prior to 1950, twenty-two shipwrecks had occurred in the vicinity of the island. The legacy of shipping losses has made the waters around Wardang Island popular with recreational divers interested in wreck diving. A dive trail showcases eight of nine identified shipwrecks around the island, which are associated with the trading port of Port Victoria in the early 1900s. Of the wrecks, five are of schooners and coastal steamers – the Monarch, S.S. Australian, S.S. Investigator, MacIntyre and Moorara – that carried wheat and other local cargo, and three – the Aagot, Notre Dame D'Arvor and Songvaar – are larger vessels that transported grain to Europe. The dive trail is also known as the Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail.
Quarrying and settlement In 1900, mineral leases were issued over parts of the island. These were gradually acquired from 1910 by Broken Hill Associated Smelters (BHAS), and by 1939 they held all of the leases on the island. Until 1968 BHAS quarried lime sand on the island, and shipped it by barge to use as flux in smelters at Port Pirie. A jetty was constructed in 1915 by BHP to facilitate the shipping of lime. In 1918, quarrying focused on deposits at the southern end of the island. A railway line was constructed to move the quarried lime from the southern deposits to the jetty at the northern end of the island. Initially the cartage was drawn by horses, then replaced by a kerosene driven locomotive. The railway was made redundant in the early 1950s and replaced with motor trucks. By 1951, 900,000 tonnes of lime had been quarried from Wardang Island and shipped to Port Pirie. As the population of the island increased, BHAS built homes, a school and other infrastructure to provide for its employees and their families. In 1930, there were two jetties, a dance hall, a school, a playground, a "wireless" and fourteen houses present. In 1950 there were 47 people living on the island, 14 of whom were schoolchildren. The BHAS foreman, Mr J. W. Waters was the longest-term resident at that time, having lived there for 13 years. When BHAS discovered limeshell deposits in Coffin Bay it surrendered its leases and abandoned the island. Guano was also quarried on Wardang Island. The quarrying ceased in 1968. Between 1910 and 1968 over a million tons of sand was quarried from the island. The mobile dune at the south of the island has been completely removed, leaving only the fixed, vegetated dunes.
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