Cervantes (Australia)

Cervantes
Stromatolites on nearby Lake Thetis
State :  Australia State : Western Australia
Coordinates : 30 ° 30 ′  S , 115 ° 4 ′  E Coordinates: 30 ° 30 ′  S , 115 ° 4 ′  E
Residents : 527 (2016)
Time zone : AWST (UTC + 8) Postal code : 6551 LGA : Shire of Dandaragan
Cervantes

Cervantes is a place in the Australian state of Western Australia and is located about 220 kilometers north of Perth on the Indian Ocean . The former fishing village with 527 inhabitants (2016) is now a tourist center as a starting point for the Nambung National Park , 16 kilometers south , whose main attraction are the Pinnacles .

history

The place was founded in 1962 as part of the expanding rock lobster catch, so it is quite young. It got its historicizing name from an American two-masted whaling master that sank on a nearby island on June 29, 1844 and was named after Miguel de Cervantes .

Based on this reminiscence , all street names are named after Spanish locations ( Seville , Aragón , Cádiz , Valencia ). However, there has never been a Spanish population here.

In the 21st century, tourism has replaced fishing as the main source of income.

Holiday complex in Cervantes with cylinder cleaner tree ( Callistemon )

Infrastructure

The few buildings are distributed along the thoroughfares over an area of ​​around ten square kilometers. There is no town center.

A motel with a restaurant, holiday apartments, backpacker accommodation, gas station with snack, excursion organizer, information center, campsite and golf course are mixed between the residential units.

The scattered settlement extends to the sea with a small port facility and fish processing factory.

Boats at Cervantes

Destinations in the area

Hanson Bay south of Cervantes at Thirsty Point

The top destination for the excursion is the nearby Nambung National Park with the Pinnacles. Tourists also visit the headland Thirsty Point , which offers a viewpoint over Hanson Bay and a picnic area, and Lake Thetis , a lake with a small stromatolite colony that is 1,200 years old and can be reached via an approx. 1 km long runway. young "is.

literature

• Janine Günther, Jens Mohr: West Australia and the Top End , Verlag 360 °, 1st edition 2005

Web links

Commons : Cervantes, Western Australia  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Cervantes and surroundings

Individual evidence

1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics : Cervantes (L) (Urban Center / Locality) ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2020.