Sun, 29th Oct, 2017 7 Mile Beach, nth of Dongara, WA (exploring Dongara & Port Denison)

7.30am 21 degrees with the van closed up. Rain in the early hours but all clear now and the sun is shining brightly.

Headed off in shorts and t-shirts – silly us should have put a jumper in as the wind is still cold.

Into Dongara to the Info Centre but it and the Museum as closed on Sundays. A bit of history from the tourist brochure.

Drove down to the lookout over the Irwin River. The headwaters of the Irwin are located below Canna near Pindar. The river doesn’t reach the sea here either.

Further on to Seaspray Beach on the north side of the river. Looking south to the Leander Point and Arurine Bay then north along the beach. Not the prettiest of beach as there is a lot of limestone in the sand making it darker.

Walked south along the beach to the closed mouth of the Irwin River.

Rock bar out the front of the mouth.

Looking up the river then across the mouth then up the beach and around to the river again.

Headed back along the beach and checked out a shack on top of the dune. It was part of the caravan park where people can clean their fish etc. Great rubbish bin.

Back into town and across the Irwin River to Port Denison. Followed the road to Leander Point and up to the Obelisk (built in 1869) high on the point. Beautiful view over the marina and across to closed mouth of the Irwin River shame the wind was blowing so hard and it was freezing!! Made a cuppa and huddled on the seat beside the Obelisk taking in the nice view. Arurine Bay was used as a shipping port in the early days. Prior to the jetty being built in 1867 a signal flag was raised when those on land wanted passing ships to call in. The construction of the obelisks and jetty aided ships navigating into port. Warehouses were built but in 1894 the Midland Railway started and that was the end of the port and by 1912 it was virtually inoperative. In the mid 1950s the lobster industry brought new life to the port and in 1970 the Port Denison Fishing Boat Harbour was constructed to provide safe anchorage for the fishing fleet.

Some info boards about the river and some old photos.

As the wind is whipping up the waves we can see them crashing on Leander Reef then White Tops Reef further north. At 10pm on 13^th Nov, 1853 the Leander, a 173 tonne brigantine, struck the shore adjacent to a large and prominent sand ridge that ran several kilometres from Port Irwin. Leander has never been found and is thought to be buried in the sand very close to the shore. The wreck of the Leander in 1853 was the catalyst for settlers to lobby for the building of a jetty. The new jetty didn’t help the Albatross in June 1868. A new 18 tonne ship helped refloat the Sea Bird and Twinkling Star which had run aground during heavy storms at Port Irwin. Sea Bird and Albatross then sailed to Champion bay but both were forced to return dur to the heavy winds. On June 24^th, just 1.5 km from the mouth Albatross was swamped and rolled onto a sandbank. Seven men and one woman drowned and three men swam to shore and were rescued. The wreck has not been found.

Lovely trees line the park beside the marina.

There is a triathlon on at the moment so we continued along the Ocean Drive to a boardwalk along the river.

Back across the river to Dongara and out to the main road to check out the big Rock Lobster.

Around to the Royal Steam Roller Flour Mill that has been restored and is now a private home of a local builder. His sign shows the mill before being restored. The mill was built in 1894 by Francis Pearse. Huge steam engines powers the mill which ground wheat from the local area until it closed in 1935. The mill was capable of producing 6 tons of flower per working day, about 7 to 8 sacks per hour. (It isn't leaning - that was just my photography skills!!)

Nearby is another lovely home called The Bungalow. The original rear section was built in the 1850s. Around 1880 Francis Pearse purchased the property and the front rooms were added.

Walked down Moreton Terrace which is lined with lovely big Moreton and Port Jackson fig trees which were planted in 1906.

Great sign on the side of the Pop Up Shop – local arts and crafts.

Fabulous string art – that brings back memories – even Steve said he had done that. Lots of lovely hand crafted items to buy and paintings and photographs. I snuck a photo of this wine holder. I bought a small bag to put our wallets in when we go for walks etc. It was a perfect fit.

Great metal cutting for the war memorial.

Walked over the bridge built in 1964 over the Irwin River. The river floods occasionally due to cyclones dumping rain inland.

Russ Cottage was one of the buildings that has been flooded a few times. It was built in 1868 by Titus Russ on land owned by his employer. It was restored by the Historical Society in 1970 and sadly flooded one month later but they restored it again.

It was closed so I peered in the windows at the displays they have created.

Continued up the river bank to Priory Lodge. It was built on the original road to Dongara and the Port. It was known then as the Dongara Hotel and was a single storey limestone rubble structure built by William Criddle in 1881. It was purchased in 1902 by the Dominican Sisters to be used as a school. They added the second storey and renamed the building St Dominic’s Priory. This section was built in 1926 and named the Dominican Ladies College. It was both classrooms and boarding rooms. Boys and girls attended the primary school and girls then could receive secondary education as day pupils or boarders. A flood in 1971 destroyed the tennis courts, playground and inundated the building with mud so the school closed the college. It has since been restored and has had its historic inn licence reinstated.

Such a range of colours of bougainvillea and they have prickles too. A sign says today’s temperature is 22 degrees!!

Back across the river to the Road Board Office which was built in 1910 and was used til 1958 when new offices were built. There is a well next to it which was Dongara’s first public water supply.

This building was built in 1912 for a merchant, S Moore, who used it as a shop and storehouse. It was then The Elite Supply, a clothing shop and tearooms. It was then where electricity was supplied from. The electricity supply operated from 6pm to 10pm and on Mondays and Tuesdays for washing and ironing. Motors were switched off around 10pm waking everyone with the sudden silence.

This is the second Dongara State School. The first one was built in 1870 where the new police station is. By 1906 the need for a bigger school arose so this two room school was built. It continued until 1972 when a new district high school was built.

Across the road is the Church of St John The Baptist (Anglican). The foundation stone was laid in 1884. The stone font was installed in 1913. Some pews have been made from ships’ timber collected from the beach. The bell was once used to recall ticket of leave convict men to Fremantle Gaol at the end of the day.

Francis Kelly, an accountant for Francis Pearse, built this house about 1888. In 1897 it was purchased by the Education Dept and after some renovations the headmaster of the Dongara School moved in. Big home.

The Star Bakery and Butcher shop was built in 1904 by James Criddle and operated by Tom Rowland. It caught fire in 1927 and was reroofed. 

The Mechanics Institute was built in 1881 to help working men to self-education. They could attend lectures, read newspapers and periodicals of the day or enjoy a game of chess or cards. The hall was also used for meetings and dances.

Across the road was the Methodist Wesleyan Church (now Uniting). A local builder donated the land and then won the contract to build the church – well of course he would!! The church opened on 14^th Dec, 1884 with more than 200 people attending morning and evening services.

The Info Centre is in the original Post Office. Firstly though the postal services were conducted from the Mill in 1866 by John Smith. He then sold stamps from the verandah of the Police Station but the public didn’t like this so in 1891 plans were started for a new post office. It was constructed in 1894 and incorporated the telegraph office and manual phone exchange.

The Irwin Museum is housed in the old Police Station which was built in 1870. It was also used as the courthouse, gaol, ticket of leave hiring depot and police quarters. It was used until 1983 when a new building was built next door.

Around the corner was a building and residence built by Francis Pearse for the Bank of Western Australia. It was built in 1894 and was leased to the bank until 1921 then after the death of Mr Pearse was purchased by the bank. The bank merged with the Bank of NSW in 1927. In 1950 the building was sold. It still has the iron-barred windows and solid vault installed for the bank.

This lovely large home was built in 1870 for Francis Pearse. It overlooks the river and had lovely terraced gardens right down to the river’s edge. It was built in two stages. Originally a seven roomed house it later was extended by three rooms.

Ron and Angela are looking after a house here for a month so we joined them for lunch which was lovely. Had a great time chatting. Hopefully we will meet up with them again somewhere.

Topped up the water tanks then back to camp. Found a spot in the sun out of the cold wind beside the van to read. Later Trevor and Barbara joined us for drinks then another couple from Bundaberg came over. A single lady also from Bundy joined us too so we had a great afternoon.

Back into the closed up van to warm up as that wind got colder as the sun went down. Shame to be at the beach wearing jumpers!!