Description
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SEASCAPE PAINTING
Beachport Conservation Park, located in Limestone Coast of South Australia is a protected area. It’s beauty has inspired me to produce this South Australian seascape painting.
Originally established in 1959 as a nature reserve, the conservation park was declared as a National Park in 1959.
Under the National Parks and Wildlife Act of 1972, it was reclaimed as a conservation park with the purpose of preventing and protecting the coastal environment of Southeast Australia.
On a slender peninsula just north of the Beachport township, this park is bounded by a wild ocean shore of ragged limestone cliffs on one side, and the relative calm of Lake George on the other.
Special features of the park include its weathered limestone cliffs and middens – the discarded remains of shellfish left by the Boandik people.
The walking the trails of this National Park allow stunning panoramic views of the ocean and Lake George.
Beachport Conservation Park’s white sandy beaches and coastal flora are home to an array of birdlife, making it an ideal spot for birdwatching, with many migratory birds visiting the lake. The birdlife includes hooded plovers which can be seen nesting along the beach, the rare orange bellied parrot that can be found in the coastal saltmarshes and at beach dune habitats, the pied oystercatcher, small waders on the beach, a white faced heron or pied cormorants on the reefs and rocky headlands.
The lake is also a popular place for swimming, dinghy sailing and windsurfing.
The main local industries are agriculture, viticulture, tourism, aquaculture, fishing, surfboard manufacturing and kelp fertiliser manufacturing. The first industry in the South East of South Australia was a whaling station at Beachport. The bay is now home to a thriving fishing fleet and is a popular tourist destination.