What’s in a name? Yanchep Station

This newly-opened terminus station on the former Joondalup Line has a strong (albeit descriptively short) indigenous origin to its name.

Yanchep derives from the Aboriginal word yanget, which is a native flax or bullrush (a type of weed). The first recorded use of Yanchep was in 1866, when surveyor Robert Quinn named Lake Yanchep.

The area now known as Yanchep was originally a sheep station until the 1970s when Alan Bond – the entrepreneurial businessman well-known for (among many other things) leading the syndicate which won the America’s Cup in 1983, breaking the longest winning streak in sporting history (132 years) – bought more than 8000ha of land in the area.

Mr Bond wanted to use the area for his land development concept, Yanchep Sun City – a satellite city which he claimed would attract more than 200,000 residents. Poor sales saw him drop this dream after a few years.

Fun Fact: To boost Sun City’s profile, Atlantis Marine Park was built at Two Rocks in 1981 and featured performing seals, dolphins and other marine creatures. It closed in 1990 due to financial difficulties and was subsequently abandoned, though the large limestone sculpture of Neptune that originally overlooked the park remains a landmark and was heritage-listed in 2006.

Second Fun Fact: Yanget was also the basis for the name of another Perth suburb, Yangebup.