Stephens Bay and Spain Bay
"Along vast, wild Stephens Bay, open to the Southern Ocean, where the breakers pound in endless succession and the rugged spume-wreathed coast rolls south to the formidable pillars of South West Cape, the Needwonne people had earlier made their home. They had camped in the shelter of the great sand dunes north of Noyhener (the beach whose name preserves a word of their language), and found good hunting and gathering at Stephens Beach. Rich sustenance came from seals and mutton-birds on nearby islands, and from shellfish along the rocky headlands. Inland, game abounded — wallabies on the moorlands and buttongrass plains which the Needwonne burned periodically, and swans on sheltered waters nearby. The middens, mainly of abalone and warrener shells, contained stone tools, seal and wallaby bones".
Christobel Mattingley, National Library of Australia News, Volume XII Number 4
Stephens Bay and Spain Bay are easily reached in an enjoyable day trip from Noyhener beach.
Stephens Bay is a large windswept bay open to the south-west and has a wide sandy beach for most of its length. Interesting features at the southern end of the bay include huge Aboriginal shell middens and enormous sand dunes behind the beach with views to Hannant Inlet from the top of the dunes.
Spain Bay is relatively well sheltered. Calm waters, numerous rocky coves, freshwater creeks and a long sandy beach make this a very pleasant spot. An easy to follow track leads to Spain Bay from the northern end of Stephens Bay.
Date: 13/03/09
Size: 23 items