Carpenter Rocks, South Australia

Carpenter Rocks South Australia
Sunset over 'The Carpenter', from Gerloff Bay
Carpenter Rocks
Coordinates	37°55′0″S 140°24′0″E / 37.91667°S 140.40000°E / -37.91667; 140.40000Coordinates: 37°55′0″S 140°24′0″E / 37.91667°S 140.40000°E / -37.91667; 140.40000
Population	269 (2006 census)
Postcode(s)	5291
Location	452 km (281 mi) SE of Adelaide 35 km (22 mi) SW of Mount Gambier 37 km (23 mi) W of Port Macdonnell, South Australia
LGA(s)	District Council of Grant
Region	Limestone Coast
County	County of Grey
State electorate(s)	Mount Gambier
Federal Division(s)	Barker
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 19.0 °C 66 °F 8.2 °C 47 °F 708.4 mm 27.9 in
Localities around Carpenter Rocks: Canunda German Flat German Creek German Creek Canunda Ocean Carpenter Rocks Kongorong Ocean Ocean Pelican Point Pelican Point Blackfellows Caves
Footnotes	Climate Adjoining localities

Carpenter Rocks is a small coastal town located 35 km south-west of Mount Gambier in the south-east of South Australia. The area faces the Southern Ocean and is renowned for its rugged coastline which provides exceptional fishing and diving locations.

In the 2006 census, the town and surrounding localities such as Pelican Point had a population of 269. Carpenter Rocks is in the District Council of Grant local government area, the South Australian House of Assembly electoral district of Mount Gambier and the Australian House of Representatives Division of Barker.

The earliest people in the Carpenter Rocks area were the aboriginal communities from the Booandik tribe. They were scattered in small groups along the coast where they had access to an abundance of food and water. Due to disease and land dispossession the last full blooded Booandik died in 1904.

Lieutenant James Grant, when on board the HMS Lady Nelson, was the first known British person to view land known today as south eastern South Australia. On 3 December 1800, he sighted what at first he thought was four unconnected islands, but on a closer look realized they were two mountains and two capes. One of these he named Cape Banks, just west of today's township, after English Botanist - Joseph Banks. On 4 April 1802, the French explorer Nicholas Baudin aboard the ship Geographe noticed the area and made the observation: