Trip to Dongara

We went to Dongara, a coastal town 64 kms south of Geraldton.

The Irwin River.

Blacks swans on the river.  They glide along in a rather majestic fashion.

A small stone cottage.

Another old building, once the Roads Board Office,  that seems a great favourite in the town.  It now houses Poppies, a cafe that has not closed during the Covid19 restrictions, serving takeaway coffee and cake to the population.

The rather more imposing Dongara Hotel, built in 1867, which has just reopened its doors for meals.  This was the first inn in Dongara and was known as the Irwin Arms.  The original structure forms the core of the present building.

Priory Hotel which was originally built as a hotel in 1881 but purchased by the Dominican Sisters in 1902 for the purpose of opening a school and it operated as the Dominican Ladies College until 1971.

After being beautifully restored the building has had its historic inn licence reinstated.

Overlooking wetlands.

Sculpture bench.

Murals on the side of a couple of buildings,

A few examples of whimsy.  Teddy bears along a fenceline.  A couple of cute sculptures below.

The Western Rock Lobster, the emblem of Dongara and indeed much of the west coast.  The crayfish industry is a lively and vigorous activity in these parts.

After a couple of nights in Dongara, instead of heading straight back to Geraldton we detoured to the nearby small inland town of Mingenew.  This is view from Mingenew Hill.  In season, which sadly is not now, this is supposed to be the true heart and soul of wildflower country, according to the brochure.

Sculptures cut out from sheets of iron seem to be a feature in WA.  We have seen them elsewhere.

The stockman and his dog.

This is commemorating a rifle range training ground for WWII outside the town at Depot Hill where Andrew did a walk.

Life in Geraldton continues and restrictions easing

Things are opening up more and more, bit by bit.  Today we were allowed to visit Joke at Nazareth House. The 110 bed aged care facility was opened in 1941.  Plans for the building were drawn by Monsignore Hawes, who also did the design for the Geraldton Cathedral.

Nazareth House is beautifully situated at Bluff Point.  The buildings are a lovely sandstone colour and the grounds lie along the inlet and some parts, including Joke's room, are facing the beach.

In spite of being in Geraldton for six weeks already. this was the first occasion we have been allowed to visit due to coronavirus restrictions.  We had to present proof of our flu vaccinations and had our temperature taken before being allowed to meet with Joke in the courtyard.

Joke was very happy to see us and appreciated our visit.  Unfortunately she was not able to show us her room and reputedly lovely garden.  Hopefully, we may be able to do that before we get to leave Geraldton when the travel restrictions are further eased.  We plan to visit her regularly while we are here.  When she lived in Carnarvon we stayed with her for a week 11 years ago and we had a very nice time together.  Joke and Andrew share their Dutch background.

Proof of Geraldton friendliness and generosity.  Chris from next door knocked on the door asking if we like crayfish?  I nearly kissed him as he presented us with two lovely specimens and came into the kitchen to show us how to dismember the delicious things.  They were already cooked thank goodness.  Instead of a kiss we gave him some wine as our grateful thanks.  He also gave us some little whiting fillets which were lovely and fresh.

Our entree that night.







Chris and Ailsa's son is a fisherman on one of the Abrolhos Islands, a chain of islands and associated coral reefs off the coast about 80 kms west of Geraldton.  They get given a lot of fish and crustaceans and Ailsa us promised a big fillet of groper, plus an invitation for dinner.  I am beside myself with anticipation.  Wonderful food and socialising -  a fantastic combination.

An outing to Ellendale Pool

Suddenly let off the leash a little, we decided to go for an overnight stay in Winnie the motor home once again to visit Ellendale Pool which we last visited 11 years ago when we were in this area of WA.  It is a 50 km drive out there, south west of Geraldton.

Another leaning tree of Greenough.  These leaning trees belong to a native WA species of river gum.  Their characteristic lean is caused by constant strong southerly winds that burn off growth on the windward side.  They are very striking.

A handsome llama we saw on the way.

On the way there we drove past several wind farms which have a total of 50-60 turbines.  The mid west region of WA is one of Australia's windiest regions.  The typical wind strength is around 20-25 km.

One blade of the wind turbine is 48.7m in length and it is 9.8 tonne in weight.  The material is fiberglass composite.

Finally we arrived at Ellendale Pool.  The reflection of the cliffs over the water is a little reminiscent of Karijini National Park in the Pilbara.  I wonder if we will be allowed to go there this year with Covid restrictions?

Being at Ellendale Pool brought back memories of our trip around Australia eleven years ago.  We looked up the blog and we were here in October 2009.

The bird life is impressive.

The corellas (white parrots) make a lot of noise morning and night.  At first they can drive you mad but you get used to their shrill cries after a while.

Andrew obligingly climbed up those cliffs to take some magnificent shots of the Greenough River below.  Actually he did not have to climb up the sheer face but he did take a 4km walk around in order to cross the river on the bridge and then walk steadily uphill.  When we were last here 11 years ago I also went up with him  Oh, those were the days :-)

The left hand view of the river.

The right hand view towards the campground.

Looking down on Winnie from the heights.

At one end of the campground was this little lagoon that is not part of the main river.  The algae makes it this amazing red colour.

We have seen pink lakes caused by algae but never such a rich red hue such as this.

It looks spectacular.  Others there told us that a week ago it was a lavender colour.