North to Monkey Mia: Part 1 – Dongara, 6-7 June
When to go up north; the Seven Dwarves of travel; which road to take; the bustling metropolis of Cataby; two towns, one river; review: Seaspray Holiday Park; a squadron of pelicans; in search of Dongara’s history
Here in Western Australia, the best time time to go up north it when it gets too cold and rainy down south in Margaret River. Winter, basically. Northwestern Australia sizzles in summer, and I know better than to make my husband hot and miserable on purpose.
Though I presented Roy with the itinerary for a “trip up north” for his birthday in May as a fait accompli, I wanted it at least as much as he did… maybe more. Another advantage to planning the itinerary and booking the accommodation solo is that it lets you make unilateral decisions… so much easier!
Having the luxury of time, incorporating no more than four hours of driving daily is ideal for us. Also, we share the driving equally: two hours each means no one gets to be the Driving Martyr. It also helps keep the Seven Dwarves of travel out of the car. You know them: Grumpy, Bolshy, Crabby, Snappy, Sarky, Cranky and Whiney.
Which Road to Dongara?
There are two routes north from Perth. The one we took some years ago, on a trip to Geraldton, hugs the coast – though not closely – and takes you via the Indian Ocean Drive to Lancelin, Cervantes and The Pinnacles, Jurien Bay, Green Head and Leeman.
Though I was at the wheel, the Volvo CX40’s GPS decided we’d follow the alternative route: via Neaves Road to the Great Northern Highway (GNH). Apart from wildflowers in season and some major mineral mining operations no doubt making someone a massive fortune, the GNH has not a lot of obvious sightseeing in its favour; but it was fairly pleasant. Towns* along the way include Cataby, Coolgara, Badgingarra and Eneabba.
* Note on towns
Australia has a liberal approach in its description of human settlements. To me, its “cities” look more like towns: Bunbury (population 31,000) is classified as a city; while what promises to be a “town” might be more like a hamlet. Eneabba, for example, had a population of 147 at the 2016 census. This becomes important when planning a trip – don’t assume you’ll find accommodation, fuel or even a cup of coffee en route!
Anyway, with a total of less than three hours’ driving today (289km from Perth to Dongara) we stopped at Cataby (population around 173) to change drivers; fill up (unleaded 91 only); and suck back a free instant coffee (the coffee machine was kaput). In retrospect, we could have held out for the second roadhouse, where the coffee machine might not have been out of order and a wider variety of petrol might have been available.
Dongara and Port Denison
Dongara and Port Denison are double towns, straddling the River Irwin.
Port Denison is a bright, clean port town, with its attractive South Beach, a big marina and several stopover options.
I preferred the look of Dongara – mainly because it promised early settler history. The name comes from “Dhungurra”, or “Thungarra”, meaning a meeting place for seals, or place of the fur seals, in the local Aboriginal language. Dongara was a good choice: see here.
Review: Seaspray Holiday Park
Seaspray Holiday Park is located right on the beach, an easy walk from the centre of Dongara. Our Chalet No. 2 had possibly the best location of them all. It was 50 metres from the beach, and overlooked a nice pool reserved for chalet and apartment guests.
We didn’t need three bedrooms; but we did want a kitchen, and this place was beautifully located and offered good value. Also, it allows one-night stays, which is not always the case. (Both Kalbarri Edge and the RAC Monkey Mia Resort, reviewed later, required at least a two-night booking.)
Not that you’d want to swim at this time of year, despite the lovely sunshine – the water was nippy, to say the least. That said, sitting around the fire-pit that first evening at Seaspray Beach, Dongara, you barely needed a jumper, though we’d left home that morning in a chilly 10°C.
A couple of families with numerous kids were roasting innumerable marshmallows and ruining their collective dinners.
You need to actually be on the beach like this to truly appreciate our WA sunsets (and today was WA Day).
There’s no shortage of hotel and pub fare in Dongara. The Dongara Hotel Motel was doing a brisk trade when we drove past earlier, and we saw at least one other bar, too. Not being fans of tavern-type food, we dined on seafood curry that I’d brought from home, thawed and reheated.
In fact, this whole week away re-confirmed that you can eat healthy, home-cooked food while you’re on the road. That’s if you want to; I know that not everyone does – and as long as the accommodation you book has a full kitchen with a fridge and freezer.
It helps to keep Roy happy, too. As you may know from my other blog, Living Long and Strong with Verne and Roy – Health, Longevity & Biohacking, we follow the Low Carb, No Crap™ diet: at least 80-90% of the time, anyway!
Beach and River Irwin walk
Taking a left on the beach took me to the mouth of the Irwin River, where I chanced upon the highlight of my day: a squadron of seven pelicans. Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone with me, and not my Canon camera. Keeping watch with one beady eye, they let me gradually sneak up on them for a while before gracefully setting sail.
Following the river bank back, I gratefully thanked whoever had installed a boardwalk through the marsh; but then the path became waterlogged and I found another way, a deeply rutted track leading uphill to a lookout over the estuarine river, Seaspray Park and the beach.
Later, I saw from the signs below that I’d done sections of the recommended trails.
Dongara town
Next morning, I took my camera and headed up the short hill along Church Street from Seaspray to Dongara town. The idea was to explore the small CBD and hit the tourist info office, the museum and Russ Cottage before Roy joined me for coffee at the Bakery. At the first roundabout, you turn right to find the tourism office, the library, the museum and the police station.
But the museum and Russ Cottage would open only “around 10.15am”, said the woman at the info office; they’re staffed by volunteers. Fair enough. And the museum isn’t open on Tuesdays. Okay.
I did enjoy Dongara’s main street, featuring “handsome stands of Moreton Bay and Port Jackson fig trees” – planted in 1906, for a total cost of 16 shillings and four pence.
The Dongara Heritage Trail is 4.6 km long, starts at the Royal Steam Flour Mill and passes Priory Lodge, Russ Cottage, the Old Police Station and Court House, the Church of St John the Baptist and “the gracious houses on Hunts Road”.
Thwarted with regard to the museum, I wandered down Waldeck Street to the old Flour Mill, built in 1894. Another disappointment: it’s privately owned, and you can’t view it except from afar. That makes it difficult to get a view that doesn’t include a lot of scrap metal, near-scrap vehicles and an otherwise charming chicken coop.
Considering its Heritage Council description, below, you’d think someone might have tried harder:
“The Dongara Flour Mill has high historic significance given its important association with the economic and agricultural development of the Irwin District… The place has high aesthetic significance, given its use of local materials, dominant scale, and siting at the main northerly entrance to the town. The Dongara Mill and surroundings have scientific significance for their potential to contribute to the better understanding of the history of the state and the district through the analysis of archaeological material from the place. The place has high social significance given the local community’s commitment to its conservation.” Really?
The will to live
By 9.45am I was close to losing the will to live: or at least, the will to continue exploring Dongara’s fascinating pioneer history. Thank goodness for mobile phones: Roy, having packed the car, picked me up somewhere along Waldeck Street, weeping gently. (Me weeping, not him.)
Instead of the unappealing Bakery – no seating, no coffee, synthetic aromas – we tried both Poppies, located in a gorgeous converted chapel next to the ANZAC Memorial, and the café opposite it. Both were closed from Monday to Wednesday (yesterday to tomorrow). Dongara Hotel Motel being the only other option in town, we had another mediocre coffee there.
We used to say it was difficult to find bad coffee in Australia; but as we moved farther north on this trip, it was proving far easier than we’d previously thought.
Next up, Part 2 of our trip up north: Northampton street scapes, and the wonderful rock formations around Kalbarri!