Victor Harbor, South Australia

Victor Harbor is a city in the Australian state of South Australia and lies about 85 km south of Adelaide. The city has 10 380 inhabitants and is situated at the southern end of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the Encounter Bay.

History

Victor Harbor was founded in 1837 as a whaling station and was at times the most important port in South Australia. Until the mid-19th century, the export of whale oil was the main industry. The last whale was landed there in 1872. By 1921 the town was called Port Victoria.

Although the word harbor in Australian English written with ou, Victor Harbor is, as well as some other ports in South Australia, written with o, presumably due to a clerical error on the part of one of the first Surveyor General of South Australia.

Tourist

Today, the site is primarily a scenic and tourist destination within easy reach of metropolitan Adelaide and houses in the holiday season, up to 40,000 holidaymakers.

One attraction is a horse-drawn tram, which one comes across a several hundred meter long jetty to upstream Granite Iceland (Victor Harbor Horse Drawn Tram ). Also within walking distance of this web is accessible. A natural history trail with some viewpoints via the Klippensaum this protected as a nature park island. After dark, you can take a guided tour to observe the penguins located on the island of Penguin Conservation Station.

In the southern winter months from June to September you can watch from the island or on special boat tours whales.

Another tourist attraction is the historic steam train to Goolwa.

The fine sandy beach slopes very gently towards the bay, and is a popular family beach. Under normal weather conditions the offshore island for its gentle waters in the bay provides, so that the beach is quite popular with surf beginners who want to learn this sport.