Saturday, 20 June 2026
We had a lazy start to today. With no alarm set, it was nearly 8.00am before we made any effort to get underway. After breakfast we walked down to Seaz Denison Seafood to buy prawns for dinner. While we are by the ocean, we are taking advantage of the opportunity to indulge in fresh seafood. This morning we purchased 1.5 kilos of freshly cooked tiger prawns that we will eat with Ross and Sharon tonight. Yum!
Next on our relaxed list of sightseeing was to drive to Dongara to complete the Heritage Walk. We picked up the guide to Dongara’s historic buildings and landmarks from the Visitor Centre yesterday afternoon. We parked the truck near the Dongara Hotel and started walking along Moreton Terrace to reach the Dongara Library that is No. 1 on the walk. We passed a plaque at Plester House so turned to the corresponding number in our guide. Ahem, the name and number on the plaque did not match the number and description in the guide so, straightaway, we were confused!
With a bit of flipping backwards and forwards in the guide, Bernie eventually found the description that matched the building we were looking at. Now operating as a café, the house was built by the Plester Family in about 1915. Onwards towards the library, passing the Dongara Uniting Church on our way. Opposite we found the Dongara Town Hall, built on the site of the Mechanics Institute which was destroyed by fire in 1950. Which brought us to the town’s current library, which operates out of what was the Dongara Post Office until 1989.
Wandering down Waldeck Street, we found the Old Police Station and Courthouse, that now operates as the Irwin Districts Historical Society and Museum. Rounding the corner onto Hunts Road, we strolled by the former Bank of Western Australia which is now a private residence. The bank chambers and residence was built by Francis Pearse in 1894 and leased to the bank until 1921, when the bank purchased the building from his estate. Opposite was the large house that prominent merchant, Francis Pearse, built for himself in 1888.
We wandered past Delmage House, built by builder and undertaker James Delmage in the 1870s. Later, between 1903 to 1918, James was the Chairman of the Irwin Road Board. At the moment we were enjoying that the plaques in front of the buildings matched our guide. With the river nearby, the guide provided us with some information about the Irwin River (Yarranoo Muraja in the language of the Wattandee People). It told us that, in the summer, the inland Wattandee People would follow the river to the sea to get relief from the heat, gather seafood and follow the customs of the Wattarn Borungar (Sea Totem People).
At this point the guide suggested crossing the river to visit three sites on the Port Denison side. Hmmn, we decided that we would call in at those sites when we were driving back to our cabin later. On Point Leander Leander Drive, opposite Hunts Road, we found the Roads Board Office, which currently operates as Poppies by the Park Café. A short walk took us to the town’s beautifully kept War Memorial and Memorial Park.
It was about here that the guide got all out of sync with the plaques in front of the buildings! Turning onto Moreton Terrace we admired the avenue of mature Moreton Bay Figs. It was once named Irwin Road, but was renamed Moreton Terrace because of the figs that line the street connecting the historic precinct with the Brand Highway. We wandered past Moore’s Store built in 1912 as a shop and storehouse for local businessman, Samuel Moore. The building has had many iterations over the years including as tearooms, a drapery store, temporarily as branch and staff quarters of the NAB, Tokos Restaurant and currently as the Pannarai Café.
Also on Moreton Terrace, the site of The Barn, now replaced with a garage and service station, Dongara Hotel and Brand’s Store, named after its most renowned owner, David Brand, later Sir David Brand, KCMG, MLA for Greenough (1945-1975) and longest-serving Premier of Western Australia (1959-1971). This brought us full circle, back to Plester House which operated as a hairdressing salon for many years before becoming a popular outdoor café.
Turning onto Waldeck Street, heading in the opposite direction from earlier, we passed the former Dongara State School, St John the Baptist Anglican Church and the Dongara School Masters House which brought us to Dongara Bakery, where we bought fresh bread rolls for dinner and pie/pasty/sausage roll for lunch. With one last photo of the Methodist Manse, we headed back to where the truck was parked.
We popped into the IGA to buy some salad for tonight and some pepper, because the grinder on our supermarket pepper grinder has already broken, even though the label says it’s durable enough to be refilled five times before it reaches end of life. Hmmn, it seems not. We drove out to the highway to photograph the BIG-ish lobster. It’s certainly not as impressive as the Big Lobster at Kingston SE in South Australia. While there we realised that we didn’t buy a new box of Splices. Oh, no, back to the IGA to rectify that oversight, ha, ha.
We headed over the Irwin River and called in at Russ Cottage. Titus Russ built this cottage in 1868 using stone quarried up the river and pushed to site in a wheelbarrow, probably with assistance from ticket of leave men. Oops, maybe we should have visited this site on the way into town as it was only open between 10.00am and noon today. We walked along to Priory Lodge which was the original Dongara Hotel when built in 1881. The building was purchased by Dominican Sisters in 1902. They added a second storey, for the purpose of running a school and renamed it St Domenic’s Priory. In 1926 they added another building, incorporating classrooms and boarding facilities for the Dominican Ladies College. The site was abandoned after a flood in 1971 before later being restored to operate as an inn.
Our final stop was at Denison House. There was originally a mill on this site, but it closed down and the site was sold. The new owner, Dr George Bartlett, use the stone from the mill to build Denison House from which he ran his medical practice. His wife is credited with terracing the gardens down to the riverbank. In 1944 the Benedictine Community of Norcia purchased the property as a summer retreat for monks, nuns and students. Since 2004 the Shire of Irwin has owned the property and it is currently used by community groups.
We returned to our cabin and put our feet up for a while before venturing out again later in the afternoon to walk along the oceanfront in the opposite direction from last night. This walk took us alongside Ocean Drive where we found the Tin Soldiers in remembrance of ANZAC. As we approached from side on the soldiers just looked like iron posts but, as we drew abreast of them they resolved into cut-outs of soldiers.
This trail continued on a boardwalk along the Irwin River Estuary, where we saw a greater egret and a few ducks rather than the pelicans and swans promised on our trails map! The river only breaks through to the ocean after heavy rainfall, so it is possible to complete a circuit walk by crossing the sandbar to walk along the northern side of the river before re-crossing the river at the road bridge. We decided, after the walking we had already done this morning, that we didn’t need to complete the circuit. As we headed back to the cabin we did, however, climb up the stairs to the lookout with views over the beach, the estuary and the marina.
Back at the cabin we relaxed until dinner time. We made a bit of salad and boiled a few potatoes before Ross and Sharon joined us for our feast of tiger prawns. Fresh prawns that hadn’t been frozen. So good!
Steps: 13,720 (8.63kms)
