Friday, 19 June 2026
We packed up again this morning to continue driving south. The beginning of our journey repeated our drive from yesterday, heading down the coast towards the Pink Lake. This morning when we reached the T-intersection with the Port Gregory Road, we did not turn right into Port Gregory, we turned left towards Northampton.
We stopped briefly at Lynton Station, to look at the ruins of the Port Gregory Convict Hiring Station. Although Western Australia was populated by free settlers, they still needed people to perform heavy labour and undesirable jobs. To this end, convicts, generally those with a ticket-to-leave, who were working their way towards a full pardon, were transported to Western Australia. They were housed in Convict Hiring Stations along the coast and mines, station owners and other employers could come to the depot to hire convict labour. The ruins at Lynton provide the only insight into how a convict hiring station was laid out and functioned in the 1850s in Western Australia, with all other hiring stations lost to history.
An interesting snippet on one of the interpretative boards was that Mrs Leonowens who was married to the Commissariat storekeeper here at Lynton, later went on to be the governess to the children of the King of Siam. That part of her adventurous life story was told in the musical ‘The King and I’. Rather than driving straight to Northampton, we took the turnoff to Horrocks, which was named after convict Joseph Horrocks, who was transported to Western Australia in 1851. He later worked as a medical attendant before becoming involved in mining, and championing individual rights and the rehabilitation of convicts.
Coming down the road into Horrocks, we could see ships on the horizon, lining up awaiting their turn to enter the Port of Geraldton. After our visit to the sleepy little town of Port Gregory yesterday, we were not expecting much of Horrocks. The only reason we had made the detour was because the town was on my radar, having featured on an episode of ‘Selling Houses Australia’ that aired just before our departure. Seeing as we were passing so close, I wanted to find the house that Dennis and Wendy decided to paint tangerine! Mission accomplished. And, Horrocks is much prettier than Port Gregory!
We departed town on the Horrocks Road, driving through mixed agricultural (wheat?) and pastoral (sheep) land before rejoining the Port Gregory Road and arriving in Northampton. This town is one of the oldest settlements in Western Australia, gazetted in 1864 and classified as a historical town by the National Trust of Australia in 1993. It is also known for ‘Ewe Turn’, a community arts project which includes over 50 hand painted ewes, lambs and kelpies installed throughout the townsite. We found but a few. Northampton has also produced nine young men who have played in the AFL. Life-sized effigies of the footballers are featured on the main street.
As we were motoring into town we heard some chatter on UHF Channel 40 about vanilla slices. Now didn’t that sound tempting?! We found the bakery and headed in. Hmmn, the vanilla slices had pink icing, so that was a no for me. Besides which, they just didn’t look quite right, so I opted for a blueberry tart instead. Bernie purchased a vanilla slice and found it … very average. While we were in the bakery Ross and Sharon popped in to buy an early lunch, before continuing on their way to Port Denison, while we still had plans to visit the HMAS Sydney II Memorial in Geraldton.
We arrived in Geraldton and made our way to the HMAS Sydney II Memorial on Gummer Avenue. The memorial sits atop a small hill overlooking the Indian Ocean. It includes the history of the HMAS Sydney II and a Wall of Remembrance recording the names of the 645 crew members who were lost when she sank after her short battle with the German Raider HSK Kormoran on the 19th of November 1941.
The memorial is steeped with symbolism that gives expression to the tragic loss of the HMAS Sydney II. The precinct’s circular plan symbolizes totality, wholeness, infinity, eternity and the curved WA Black Granite Wall of Remembrance represents the ‘encircling arms of the Nation’ welcoming home its lost loved ones.
The Sanctuary, that forms the centerpiece of the memorial, is topped with a dome composed of 645 stainless steel gulls, representing those lost. The concept was inspired by an incident that took place during a Memorial Site Dedication Ceremony on the 19th of November 1998. While the Last Post was played at sunset, the last recorded moment in time when the HMAS Sydney II was seen, a flock of silver gulls swooped over the assembled crowd. With gulls said to represent the souls of sailors lost at sea, this must have been an eerie thing to witness.
The Stele, based on the historic symbolism of Standing Stones as grave markers, is a striking vertical element that represents the prow of the HMAS Sydney II and provides a focal point visible from many kilometres around. At the edge of the precinct stands the ‘Waiting Woman Sculpture’, a lifelike figure of a woman who leans into the wind, frozen in time, her gaze fixed patiently and forever on the far horizon. It was impossible not to think of Bernie’s Aunty Mona who waited at home in Melbourne when her husband, Walter, went to sea on the HMAS Sydney II during WWII. A fitting tribute to the victims of Australia’s greatest naval tragedy. It has been very moving to see, not just this memorial, but multiple memorials that remember those who were lost. Lest We Forget.
After paying our respects at the memorial, we drove down to the shopping mall at the bottom of the hill. We found some sushi for lunch and then did a small shop at Woolies. Loading the groceries into the truck we noticed some impressive towers so, with our supplies secured, we drove in the direction of the towers and found ourselves at the St Francis Xavier Cathedral. The cathedral was built between 1916 and 1938 with a central dome and twin towers. It is the seat of the Bishop of Geraldton.
It was time to complete our journey to Port Denison, so we made our way out of town on the Brand Highway. We continued to drive through a mixture of agricultural and pastoral land. We have certainly left the harsh and arid landscape of the Kimberley and the Pilbara behind us now. We were surprised by how many windmills we saw in the fields beside the road. It is unusual to see so many windmills, well, windmilling. With a brisk breeze blowing the blades on the windmills were whizzing around.
We spotted a Green Eureka flag and wondered what it means. Google was consulted and we learnt that this variant is used in environmental and anti-mining protests. The iconic dark blue background is replaced with green to represent the Australian environment. A little further along the highway we saw ‘No fracking’ signs which left no room for wondering what the symbolism meant.
Arriving in Dongara, we refueled at the BP Servo. Diesel was only $1.92/litre which is the cheapest we have purchased it for during our entire trip! Even better, there was a BP member offer on that reduced the pump price by five cents/litre so, we only paid $1.87/litre.
We found the Dongara Port Denison Visitor Centre and picked up a few brochures on activities we can undertake over the next couple of days. With those in hand, we jumped back into the truck and turned onto the Point Leander Road. We crossed the Irwin River and found ourselves in Port Denison, where we checked in at the Big 4 Holiday Park.
After transferring our gear into our waterfront chalet, we set out to walk to the Fisherman’s Obelisk. The obelisk was erected in 1869 as an aid to navigation. Three of the obelisk’s four faces have bronze plaques affixed to them. One face is dedicated to the fishermen of Dongara-Port Denison who have lost their lives at sea. A second face commemorates the loss of the brigantine Leander near this point on the 11th of November 1853. The third face is a tribute to Lieutenant John Lort Stokes and crew of the survey ship HMS Beagle. The HMS Beagle surveyed the Western Australian coastline in December 1841.
Returning to our cabin, we watched yet another disappointing sunset, before joining Ross and Sharon at their van for spag bol. While we were sitting on our camp chairs outside their van, we had a man driving around the park on his scooter that was lit up like a disco and blaring music. It was a bit of a laugh but we wondered how long he planned to be sharing his music with everyone? Fortunately, he was done before the Gold Coast Suns vs Hawthorn game was.
Steps: 11,704 (7.43kms)
