A small town in the West Coast region of South Australia that is the last major settlement before crossing the Nullarbor Plain from east to west. It is also the western gateway to the Eyre Peninsula and the south eastern reaches of the Great Australian Bight.

Where is it?: in the northwest corner of Eyre Peninsula, west of the junction of the Flinders and Eyre Highways around 786 km northwest of the capital Adelaide.

Events: Ceduna's annual Oysterfest is a major attraction held on the South Australia Labour Day long weekend. It was established in 1991. Attracting over 6000 people, it celebrates the oyster industry in the clean waters of South Australia's far-west coast, with a wide variety of activities, including a gala dinner, celebrity chefs, live concerts, children's amusements and a street parade. The finale is marked by a fireworks display.

With a population of around 2,500, Ceduna is set on Murat Bay and the sandy coves, sheltered bays and offshore islands of the bay make it a popular base for a beach holiday.

The foreshore at Ceduna is lined with Norfolk Island pine trees. There is a jetty for walking, fishing and small boats. The port town/suburb of Thevenard lies 3 km to the west on Cape Thevenard.

Ceduna is a town of some 4000 people supported by a number of local industries, including wheat farming, gypsum mining, salt mining, and commercial fishing for a number of local fish species such as the much renowned King George Whiting, Snapper, Garfish, Prawns and Lobsters which are known locally as Crayfish.

OTC Observatory

Ceduna was the site of a major satellite telecommunications facility operated by the Overseas Telecommunications Commission. Established by OTC in 1969 and later taken over by Telstra, this facility was a major employer in the town until it became redundant due to technological changes. The Earth Station provided the gateway between Australia and Europe for telephone and television communication.

In October 1994, improved communication methods and a desire to rationalise services saw the closure of the Ceduna Earth Station. Tours to this site are not currently available, but you can travel via Goode Road for around 30 km to see the building and the one dish left there.

Nuyts Archipelago Conservation Park

15km off the coast of Ceduna, Nuyts Archipelago Conservation Park comprises 22 islands and reefs and is a haven for rare and endangered wildlife. Accessible by boat, the islands feature granite boulders with limestone domes and large sand dunes. Mangrove communities can also be found on St Peter and Eyre islands with good access to fishing nearby. Access to the Franklin islands are prohibited, however boat tours operate to the other islands in the group out of Ceduna.

Denial Bay
Take a leisurely drive 14 kms west, along the Denial Bay Road and look at McKenzie's ruins. William McKenzie was known as the father of the district, as it was he who encouraged many farmers to come here to start a new life. At aged 45, Wiliam went to Denial Bay and selected 16,280 ha of land. He employed a large number of men and women on his farm and his farming example created a pilgrimage to Denial Bay and districts. It was not unusual to see up to 20 four-foot strippers reaping in his paddocks.

There was also a store, slaughterhouse, butchering business, saddlery, Post Office, blacksmith shop and (now situated across the road), a Police Station. Mac was Harbour Master and a Justice of the Peace. He was also a stone mason and built his own home, sheds and tanks as well as many other buildings around Denial Bay. His own house was added to as required. He built at great speed and used a shovel as a trowel.

About Ceduna

Climate: Ceduna has a semi-arid climate with hot, dry summers and cool, slightly wetter winters' July is the wettest month. The average yearly precipitation is just under 300mm at the coast and diminishes northward into the interior, becoming increasingly arid. Goyder's Line, which demarcates the edge of the area where rainfall is generally sufficient to support agriculture, starts near Ceduna.

Origin of name: The name is a corruption of the local Aboriginal word Chedoona and is said to mean a place to sit down and rest.

History: European contact with the coast near Ceduna began in the early 17th century, 166 years before the establishment of the first European settlement on Sydney Harbour, when the islands offshore were first charted.

In 1622 that the Governor General of Dutch East Indies, Jan Pieterszoon Coen, made plans and gave instructions for a thorough investigation of the South Land. He wanted 'to ascertaining as much of the situation and nature of these regions as God Almighty shall vouchsafe to allow'.

In 1627 the crew of the Gulden Zeepaert, under the command of Francois Thijssen, touched the most southerly part of the continent and sailed east as far as present day Ceduna. 1,800 km of Australia's south coast were traversed and mapped, between Cape Leeuwin and Nuyts Archipelago. The land was named Pieter Nuytsland, after one of the 220 passengers on board, Pieter Nuyts, an esteemed councillor of India who planned to settle in Java.

Two of the islands discovered were named St Peter and St Francis on what became Australia Day (26th January) 1627. Later, French explorer Nicolas Baudin and English navigator Matthew Flinders praised the accuracy of the Dutch mapping, the first of any part of the southern coast of the Australian continent. They are now the oldest place names in South Australia. Not finding anything of their liking or to trade, most of the Dutch navigators soon lost interest in New Holland and gave no further thought of colonising it or establishing a small foothold or port.

Matthew Flinders on his voyage in the Investigator, anchored in Fowlers Bay on 28 January 1802. He went on to explore the coast and named Denial Bay, Smoky Bay and the islands of Nuyts Archipelago. He was disappointed to find no river and gave the name Denial Bay because they did not find fresh water. French expedition leader Nicolas Baudin visited Murat Bay after meeting with Flinders and named it after Joachim Murat. He also named the point of Thevenard after the Admiral and Minister of Marine Antoine-Jean-Marie Thevenard, and Decres Bay after Denis Decres, duke of the First French Empire.

The first European exploration of the hinterland was during August���September 1839 by John Hill and Samuel Stephens, using the chartered brig Rapid as a base. Hill reported to Governor Gawler that although the bay was 'valuable', the hinterland was 'waterless', thereby stalling European interest.

There was a whaling station on nearby St Peter Island during the 1850s before settlement.

The Commissioner of Crown Lands, faced with widespread agitation to open West Coast lands for agricultural settlement, invited three farmers in July 1887 to inspect the lands between Streaky Bay and Western Australia. They were optimistic about the area and recommended that the necessary surveys be started at once. In 1889 the Government in Adelaide formalised the Far West with survey lines.

In June 1901, the town of Ceduna was proclaimed. For many years, locals called the township Murat Bay and it was not until the railways came and called the siding Ceduna in 1915 that locals adopted the name. The Ceduna Jetty was built in 1902.