__NOTOC__ Sellicks Beach, formerly spelt Sellick's Beach, is a suburb in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

located within Adelaide metropolitan area about from the

Adelaide city centre Adelaide city centre (Kaurna: Tarndanya) is the inner city locality of Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "the City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaide and from the City of Ad ...

. It is an outer southern suburb of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and is located in the local government area of the

City of Onkaparinga The City of Onkaparinga () is a local government area (LGA) located on the southern fringe of Adelaide, South Australia. It is named after the Onkaparinga River, whose name comes from ''Ngangkiparinga'', a Kaurna word meaning women's river. It ...

at the southern boundary of the metropolitan area. It is known as Witawali or Witawodli by the

Traditional Owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have right ...

, the

Kaurna The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurna ...

people, and is of significance as being the site of a

freshwater spring A spring is a point of exit at which groundwater from an aquifer flows out on top of Earth's crust (pedosphere) and becomes surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of fres ...

said to be created by the tears of Tjilbruke, the

creator being A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatr ...

. The beach lies within

Aldinga Bay Aldinga Bay is a bay located on the east coast of Gulf St Vincent in South Australia about south-southwest of Adelaide city centre. Extent & description Aldinga Bay lies between Snapper Point in the suburb of Aldinga Beach at its northern e ...

. The suburb consists of land bounded in the north by Button Road, in the east by the Main South Road, to the south by the boundary of the cadastral unit of the

Hundred of Willunga The Hundred of Willunga is a cadastral unit of hundred covering the extreme south suburbs of the Adelaide metropolitan area. It is one of the eleven hundreds of the County of Adelaide. It was named in 1846 by Governor Frederick Robe probably der ...

and to the west by the coastline with

. The

2016 Australian census The 2016 Australian census was the 17th national population census held in Australia. The census was officially conducted with effect on Tuesday, 9 August 2016. The total population of the Commonwealth of Australia was counted as – an incre ...

reported that Sellicks Beach had 2,616 people living within its boundaries.

History

Before the

British colonisation of South Australia British colonisation of South Australia describes the planning and establishment of the colony of South Australia by the British government, covering the period from 1829, when the idea was raised by the then-imprisoned Edward Gibbon Wakefield ...

, the Sellicks Beach area, along with most of the

Adelaide plains The Adelaide Plains (Kaurna name Tarndanya) is a plain in South Australia lying between the coast ( Gulf St Vincent) on the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east. The southernmost tip of the plain is in the southern seaside suburbs of A ...

area and down the western side of the

Fleurieu Peninsula The Fleurieu Peninsula () is a peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia located south of the state capital of Adelaide. History Before British colonisation of South Australia, the western side of the peninsula was occupied by the ...

, was inhabited by the

people. There is a significant site associated with the Kaurna Dreaming of the creator ancestor Tjilbruke, with a

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

on the end of Francis Street on the Esplanade. This was unveiled in 1986, the year of the South Australian

sesquicentenary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saint ...

, as part of the Tjilbruke Dreaming Track. The name originated in 1925 as a sub-division of part of section 665 of the

cadastral A cadastre or cadaster is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represented graphically in a cad ...

unit of the

called "Sellicks Beach Estate", which was developed by George and Robert Herrick, two farmers who lived at Aldinga. Sellicks Beach was gazetted as a place on 28 October 1993.

Description and facilities

There is a post office,

delicatessen Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...

and a wholesale nursery. Sellicks Beach is also close to Aldinga Beach, which has three petrol stations, two supermarkets, bakery, doctor's surgery, two chemists and other various shops.

Motor vehicles on the beach

Organised motorcycle racing on the beach was held as early as 1917, with annual speed trials being held during summer until 1953 and with re-enactments in both 1986 and 1992. Annual racing resumed in 2017 after a 20-year period of no activity. Driving motor vehicles onto the beach is permitted free of charge for residents, while non-residents are charged a small fee.

Notes and references

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sellicks Beach, South Australia Coastal towns in South Australia Beaches of South Australia