Darke Peak (formerly Carappee) is a small

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

town located in central

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Earlier called Eyre's Peninsula, it was named after e ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. The town is the population centre for the surrounding

district and has become a minor

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

town. It is situated on

Barngarla The Barngarla, (historically also spelled as Parnkalla or Pangkala), are an Indigenous people of South Australia and the traditional owners of much of Eyre Peninsula. Their language, Barngarla is a Yura language and part of a revival effo ...

lands. The J. C. Darke Memorial and Grave, commemorating early European explorer

John Charles Darke John Charles Darke (1806–22 October 1844) was a surveyor and explorer in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and South Australia. He died after being speared by Aboriginals in 1844. Early years Darke was born in Hereford, England, in 1806, the so ...

, is located near the township and is located on the

South Australian Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...

. The town has a number of limited facilities, including accommodation,

grocery A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food p ...

and

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...

supplies.

History

The area was in the general vicinity of

Nauo The Nauo people, also spelt Nawu and Nhawu, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the south-western Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The Nauo language became extinct by the twentieth century, but efforts are being made to revive it. Countr ...

and

land. The town takes its name from the

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

John Charles Darke, who was injured in a

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

attack by

Indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

while he was climbing nearby Waddikee Rock on 24 October 1844. Waddikee Rock is a sacred site of the

Barngarla people The Barngarla, (historically also spelled as Parnkalla or Pangkala), are an Indigenous people of South Australia and the traditional owners of much of Eyre Peninsula. Their language, Barngarla is a Yura language and part of a revival effor ...

. He died the next day and was buried at the foot of the Rock. Governor Grey expressed a wish that some landform in the region of the

grave A grave is a location where a cadaver, dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is burial, buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of buria ...

should be named to honour him. In 1865

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

Thomas Evans who was performing a trigonometrical survey of the

Gawler Ranges The Gawler Ranges are a range of stoney hills in South Australia to the north of the Eyre Peninsula. The Eyre Highway skirts the south of the ranges. The Gawler Ranges National Park is in the ranges north of Kimba, South Australia, Kimba and Wud ...

and named the high mount, 'Darke's Peak'. In 1909, another surveyor, W.G. Evans, reported that he had found bones in a grave and was satisfied they were the remains of Darke. Darke's grave and monument are located on the western side of the range, still standing as a memorial to the first

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

who explored this area. The memorial was erected by the SA Government in 1910. The township of Darke Peak was originally proclaimed ''Carappee'' in 1914. The town was renamed in 1940 after the peak that bears John Charles Darke's name as further honour to the explorer. A school opened in the town in 1917. Darke Peak includes Darke Range, Caralue Bluff, Carappee Hill Conservation Park and Carappee Hill in the surrounding area, with Carappee Hill known for being the highest exposed

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

rock mass on

Economy

Darke Peak is predominantly a

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

community, with surrounding areas producing

cereal crops A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, su ...

, with

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

also produced as a backup for when the region experiences poor

rainfall Rain is a form of precipitation where water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. ...

. Local

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

s have been farming the area for a number of generations, predating the establishment of the town. The farming areas are very similar to other towns across the central

, growing much the same

crops A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. In other words, a crop is a plant or plant product that is grown for a specific purpose such as food, fibre, or fuel. When plants of the same species a ...

under similar

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

conditions.

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

is a minor component of the towns economy, with Darke's Grave, The Darke Range and various tourist drives the main attractions. Tourist information is present at The Peak Stop shelter.

Facilities

Darke Peak has a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

which dates back to the early days of the settlement and offers accommodation and meals.

Sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

ing facilities in the town include

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

courts, oval,

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

and a

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

course, with some sports teams competing in local leagues.

Governance

Darke Peak is located in the local government area of

District Council of Cleve The District Council of Cleve is a local government area on the eastern Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The district is mostly agricultural in nature, but also encompasses the popular coastal tourist town of Arno Bay. History The District Co ...

, the State

Electoral district of Flinders Flinders is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It is named after explorer Matthew Flinders, who was responsible for charting most of the state's coastline. It is a 58,901 km² coastal rural elector ...

and the Federal

Division of Grey The Division of Grey is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 ...

References

External links

Eyre Peninsula TourismCouncil Site
{{authority control Towns in South Australia Eyre Peninsula