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| Wagait Beach Northern Territory | |||||||||||||||
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 Rocks at Imaluk Beach | |||||||||||||||
  Wagait Beach | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 12°26′03″S 130°44′32″E / 12.434041°S 130.742309°E / -12.434041; 130.742309 | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 461 (2016 census) | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 0822 | ||||||||||||||
| Time zone | ACST (UTC+9:30) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | 128 km (80 mi) from Darwin | ||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | Wagait Shire | ||||||||||||||
| Territory electorate(s) | Daly | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Lingiari | ||||||||||||||
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| Footnotes | Adjoining localities | ||||||||||||||
Wagait Beach is a locality approximately 8 km west of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, on the opposite side of the harbour. It makes up the Wagait Shire local government area. The population was 422 in 2021.
Wagait Beach is on the north coast of the Cox Peninsula, which forms the western side of Darwin Harbour. It is part of the Hundred of Bray, as surveyed by George Goyder in 1869–70.
History
In 1942, after the Bombing of Darwin, a military base was established at Waugite Point on the north east of the Cox Peninsula, and a huge observation tower was constructed, with a communications bunker underneath it. Waugaite tower was destroyed by Cyclone Tracy in 1974. The precise origin of the name of the community is unclear, but the beach adjacent to Wagait Point is called Wagait Beach. One source claims that the community was named after the tower, which is unconvincing as the tower was named after Waugite (Wagait) Point and so clearly is not the origin of the name.
Transport
Wagait Beach can be accessed by a 15-minute passenger ferry trip, from Cullen Bay (Darwin), to Mandorah which is 5 km from Wagait Beach. There is a bicycle path from Mandorah to Wagait Beach. It is a 128 km drive from Darwin via the Cox Peninsula Rd through Berry Springs.
See also
References
- "Place Names Register Extract for Wagait Beach". NT Place Names Register. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Wagait Beach (State Suburb)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- "Division of Daly". Northern Territory Electoral Commission. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- "Federal electoral division of Lingiari". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- ^ "Monthly climate statistics: Summary statistics DARWIN AIRPORT (nearest weather station)". Commonwealth of Australia, Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- "Wagait Beach". NT Atlas and Spatial Data Directory. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment (2003). Mangrove Mapping Charles Point (PDF) (Map). Northern Territory Government, Darwin. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
- ^ Foley, M (1987), Point Charles lighthouse and the military occupation of the Cox Peninsula (PDF), Northern Territory Library Service, Darwin, retrieved 6 April 2015
- Place names committee for the Northern Territory (2014), Territory Origins, Northern Territory Government, retrieved 6 April 2015