Hiltaba Nature Reserve

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Coordinates: 32°10′S 135°04′E / 32.16°S 135.07°E / -32.16; 135.07 (Hiltaba)
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Hiltaba Nature Reserve is located in South Australia
Hiltaba Nature Reserve
Hiltaba Nature Reserve
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Location in South Australia

32°10′S 135°04′E / 32.16°S 135.07°E / -32.16; 135.07 (Hiltaba)

Hiltaba Nature Reserve is located in the north of the Eyre Peninsula on the western edge of the Gawler Ranges, South Australia. It is situated on a former pastoral lease known as Hiltaba, or Hiltaba Station, that had operated as a sheep station. It is owned by the Nature Foundation, which purchased the property in 2012.

History

Old Hiltaba homestead, 1925

The

Barngarla, Kokatha, and Wirangu peoples, who have inhabited the area for at least 30,000 years and are known collectively as the Gawler Ranges Aboriginal People.[1] The tribal land of a man called "Whipstick Billy", who was "one of the last Gawler Ranges natives" still alive by around 1910, was said to have been centred on Hiltaba.[2]

Around 1844,

Streaky Bay, through the Gawler Ranges, on a search for sheep-farming land.[3] Hiltaba was one of the first three pastoral leases taken up in the area in the 1860s, along with Yardea and Paney Station, all with names of Aboriginal origin.[2] Hiltaba was also referred to as "Hiltruby" and "Hiltaby", and it is not known which comes closest to the Aboriginal name for the area. James Hiern took up the Hiltaba lease in 1868, and later sold it to his business partner Anton Schlinke, who had migrated from Prussia in the 1840s. Schlinke, after adding many improvements to the property, was not able to farm it successfully owing to rabbits and dingoes (rabbits provided food for the dingoes, leading to large numbers, so both became pests), so he gave the lease back to the Crown, after which it remained unoccupied for years. Much later, his son William took over the lease.[3]

Homestead built by Jack "Slinger" Nitschke

Yardea was the only permanent station west of the ranges, although over time the boundaries, owners, and managers changed, and occasionally the station was only utilised for winter pasture. The original (now roofless) residence and the dam were constructed by the Fitzgerald brothers, who resided there from approximately 1892 until 1912. The lease was purchased by Carl Hermann Nitschke in 1918 and has been in his family ever since. His son, test cricketer

Homesdale Nitschke (aka "Jack" or "Slinger"), owned the property for some time. He built the present homestead in 1936, before his marriage.[3]

Cattle were introduced from time to time, but the numbers of both cattle and sheep fluctuated. In 1918, there were about 2,000 sheep and a few hundred cattle; by 1939, there were 11,500 sheep. Cattle were removed from the property in the 1960s. Rabbits, dingoes, kangaroos, feral goats, irregular rainfall, and saline water all contributed to making it hard to make a good living out of farming on the property.[3]

The MacLachlan family purchased Hiltaba in 1986, in 1995 transferring it to Janet Angas (née MacLachlan) and her husband Alastair.[3]

After the

Caring for Our Country fund and the Government of South Australia,[5] with the intention of returning the property to its natural state.[4]

One of the main purposes of creating the nature reserve is to help to create an almost completely unbroken east-west corridor

yellow-footed rock wallaby, could move freely. All sheep were removed from the area, and by the time of its opening as a reserve (although not yet to the public) on 3 May 2013, around 6500 feral goats had been removed. Workers were continuing to shoot feral cats and lay down bait for foxes.[6] There was a special dedication at the opening ceremony to Damien Pearce, a DEWNR employee who had worked hard to achieve the corridor in the arid lands but died in 2010, before the purchase of the property.[5]

In 2018 two budget bush campgrounds were opened on the property: one at Pretty Point, with only a toilet, no showers, while the one at the Old Shearers Quarters has showers and toilets.[7]

Description

View on Hiltaba Nature Reserve

Hiltaba Nature Reserve adjoins the

Wudinna (population 549 in 2016[9]), around 110 km (68 mi) away.[10] The area is part of the northern Eyre Peninsula[11][12] Not far from its western border lies the Yellabinna Regional Reserve.[4]

The 78,000 ha (190,000-acre) property includes unique and significant geological formations composed of

flora and fauna.[11] Scientific surveys have discovered 21 new species of spiders, 13 species of snails,[5] a number of pythons, monitor lizards, and various plants found nowhere else on the planet.[6]

Rock hole (gnamma) on Hiltaba Nature Reserve

Aboriginal cultural significance, are maintained on the property.[3][13]

The foundation has created driving and walking tracks, as well as fireplaces and accessible fuel for campers.[6] The property remains a pastoral lease, and adjoining landholders help to manage issues like stray stock, dingoes, and feral goats.[5]

Apart from the substantial bungalow built by Slinger Nitschke, there are also several other structures on the property:[3]

  • The woolshed, which has been substantially restored by volunteers
  • Shearers' Quarters, now used as accommodation for guests
  • Several dams
  • The original home built by the Fitzgerald brothers
  • The "Governes's cottage
  • The grave of an 11-month-old infant who lived in Kondoolka Station to the north-west, who died on the way to Streaky Bay hospital by horse and cart

Flora and fauna

Several species of both plants and animals identified on a "Bush Blitz" survey in 2012 are

National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 (SA).[14] The acacia shrublands, casuarina woodlands, mallee forest, and tussock grasslands provide habitat for over 40 state-listed species and nine species listed by the Government of Australia (under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999).[12]

Notable species include:[15]

Fauna
Flora

Other plant species that can be seen on the property include

western myall.[3]

There are many species of

Port Lincoln parrot.[3]

Geological significance

Pink granite at Hiltaba

The geology of the area is highly complex and of great significance.

Lake Acraman, just north of the reserve.[3]

The Gawler Range Volcanics and the

Silicic-dominated Large Igneous Province, covering a large area in the central Gawler Craton. There are only a few recognised SLIPs in the world,[16] with this one known as the Gawler SLIP.[17]

Mount Hiltaba (450 m (1,480 ft) is one of the highest peaks in the Gawler Ranges and has a large

trig points.[3]

In 2015 to 2016 detailed geological mapping was undertaken as part of mineral exploration, as the property lies in the

Iron Oxide Copper Gold province of the GRV.[3]

Kids on Country

The Nature Foundation runs the "Kids on Country" program at both Hiltaba and the

rock holes.[13]

Educators,

Aboriginal elders, and Indigenous rangers are involved in the programme.[13]

For visitors

The park is open today and staying visitors between 1 April and 31 October. There are two bush campgrounds, 9 rooms for up to 17 people at the Shearers' Quarters, and two cottages accommodating five people each. There are numerous walking and driving tracks,[18] with the five walks named after the founders and other early supporters of the foundation.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^
    National Parks South Australia (October 2017). Gawler Ranges National Park: Management Plan 2017 (PDF). Government of South Australia. pp. 6, 13. Retrieved 9 January 2022. Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
    licence.
  2. ^ a b Kneebone, Sue; Jones, Philip G.; Knights, Mary (2010), Naturally Disturbed: 6 April – 7 May 2010 (Exhibition catalogue, from an exhibition at the SASA Gallery.), University of South Australia
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Nature Foundation (August 2021). "A brief history of Hiltaba". Hiltaba Nature Reserve: North Wall Nature Drive track notes. Version 1.3.
  4. ^
    RM Williams
    . Retrieved 10 January 2022. This story excerpt is from Issue #118, Outback Magazine: April/May 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d Neindorf, Brooke (14 May 2013). "From station to conservation". ABC News. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e Delaney, Jarrad (9 May 2013). "Hiltaba Nature Reserve opens". Port Lincoln Times. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  7. ^ Gilmore, Michelle (25 July 2018). "Nature Foundation SA introduces 4 new budget campgrounds". Camps Australia Wide. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  8. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Poochera (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 9 January 2022. Edit this at Wikidata
  9. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Wudinna (L)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 9 January 2022. Edit this at Wikidata
  10. ^ "Hiltaba". bonzle.com. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Hiltaba Nature Reserve". Nature Foundation. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  12. ^ a b Hiltaba Nature Reserve Information Pack, Nature Foundation, 22 October 2020
  13. ^ a b c Jonscher, Samantha (3 June 2018). "SA students take to the bush to connect with land and Indigenous culture". ABC News. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  14. Government of Australia; BHP Billiton; Earthwatch Institute; Australian Biological Resources Study (2015). Hiltaba Nature Reserve Gawler Ranges National Park SA; 12–23 November 2012
    (PDF). Bush Blitz Species Recovery Program. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Hiltaba Nature Reserve". Nature Foundation. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  16. ^ Agangi, Andrea (2011). Magmatic and volcanic evolution of a silicic large igneous province (SLIP): the Gawler Range Volcanics and Hiltaba Suite, South Australia (PhD). University of Tasmania. Retrieved 9 January 2022. PDF
  17. S2CID 134717666
    .
  18. ^ "Visit Hiltaba". Nature Foundation. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Barbara Hardy Walking Trail, Hiltaba Nature Reserve". Walking SA. Retrieved 10 January 2022.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hiltaba_Nature_Reserve&oldid=1218127902"