PORT DENISON 2 - DONGARA, PORT DENISON AND THE STORM (27 APRIL - 13 MAY 2014)

If we retain no other memories of Port Denison the one abiding recollection will be that of the sound of heavy, booming surf. The fishing fleet at Port Denison lies protected in the calm waters of the marina, snug within the embrace of the massive rock walls which shield the boats from the relentless attack of the Indian Ocean, but even on those days when there is little wind and all looks relatively benign at sea, the massive humps of the ocean swells heave themselves at the shore with astounding, malevolent energy. 

The entire front of the Dongara Denison Beach Holiday Park is protected by a wall of rock. 

This is just as well...at no stage during our stay did we see any open sand along this stretch of the 'beach'.........

and this is how things can change when it blows.  These waves were thumpers. But more of Port Denison itself later.  Let's begin where we arrived, at Dongara,  just north of the port. 

The tourist information trumpets that an arrival at Dongara on the Brand Highway cannot be missed because visitors will be greeted by the 'big lobster'. Can you spot it?

This crouching carved crustacean may be considered large by local standards, but we are from South Australia where the genuine article rears its fibre glass feelers some ten metres skywards on the approach to Kingston SE. And, as a quirky aside, we happen to know the manager of the restaurant within its huge exoskeleton very well...l played hockey with Murray for years.

Enough scorn. It is less than gracious. On into Dongara where the occasional spreading Moreton Bay and Port Jackson fig trees of the eastern end of the CBD

give way to an avenue of these giants providing a streetscape somewhat reminiscent of the main street of Sawtell the difference being that here they line both sides of the street rather than march grandly down its centre.

With their massive buttressed root system and thick, grey contorted trunks, these are impressive trees to say the least.  They are a real feature of Dongara.

The centre of the main street houses the large Dogara Hotel/Motel opposite a group of shops which provide an adequate if somewhat limited range of wares for local and tourist consumption. It had been suggested that we should eat here, but an inspection of the price range prompted us to make an alternative decision as to how to spend our restricted entertainment allowance...more of that later.

To the west of the motel and shops the small Uniting Church building marks the end of the main drag.

Our visit to the nearby park, or more to the point, one of the public buildings it contained,

provided one of those small discoveries I just cherish. Accusations of pretension could never be levelled at this local paper!

As in many places we are currently visiting, bougainvillea flourishes in Dongara. Our visit to the chemist shop was brightened considerably by this display.

Our road out of the main centre of Dongara took us past one of the beautifully renovated grand homes of the area

and its quaint music shop at the junction 

where we turned south to cross the Irwin River bridge which is the informal divide between Dongara and Port Denison.  

The Irwin is a significant river. It drains a very large catchment. And along with the water comes the mud.






And, as we discovered, this can have a significant effect on the ocean waters at Port Denison. What happened?  Let's take a quick diversion.  

A few days after our arrival at Port Denison a vigorous storm front smacked into the WA coast and the majority of the state. Fortunately the forecasts had provided us with plenty of warning of what was in store. Although our site was pretty sheltered, I took no chances....we were well battened down with tie down straps, a surround rope 

and bracing poles applying upward counter pressure on the anti-flapper rafters which hold down each end of the awing. 

Our preparations had been completed in the clear weather well in advance of the approaching the front, unlike others in the camp who, as the skies darkened over the sea to the west and the wind began to flick menacingly, could be seen scurrying about in ever more frantic efforts to secure their vans, awnings and annex canvas before the worst came. 

The early evening brought the first wind shift and dumping rain but not the forecast howling 35 to 40 knots. Things were still relatively calm by the time we turned in. Had we dodged a bullet? No such luck.  At 0300 hours the westerly gale unleashed its forecast fury. We had not been in wind like this since Cooktown. The squalling gusts shrieked like harpies around the van and annex. For the next twelve hours the weather gods did all they could to uproot us from our site, but our preparations had not been in vain...we stood firm. This is not to say, of course, that I hadn't been out checking things from time to time until daylight made everything easier.  Another good lesson in survival techniques in the face on an onslaught had been tucked away.

So what has this somewhat self-satisfied tale of survival got to do with the Irwin River?

Let me begin this tale with an overview of the ocean waters looking south towards Port Denison prior to the storm. This was the last we were to see of the beautiful clear blue of the Indian Ocean for the remainder of our stay.

The mouth of the Irwin is amazingly small and shallow, akin to that of the much larger River Murray. At the point where it meets the sea the waters of the river form a small estuary, which, after the storm was completely flooded.

This was due to the fact that the mouth of the river was closed when the rains fell, as it is for much of the year, plugged over by the beach sand tossed up by the surf.








How things were to change. The muddy, rising waters of the Irwin broke through the choking sand overnight. Now the beautiful blue of the ocean was rapidly being transformed by the ugly brown torrent of fresh water pouring across the surface of the denser salt water in a spreading cloud of misery.








It reminded me of that scene from the film 'The Ten Commandments' where the 'angel of death' was depicted as a smoky, misty wraith snaking and slithering through the narrow streets of Egypt, spreading death as it went.









From now until the time of our departure, the Irwin continued to spew the silt of its catchment into the ocean











transforming the blue waters into something more like a giant bowl of cappuccino, complete with frothy tops.







Apart from the visual desecration this caused, the turbidity did have a marked effect on our fishing efforts....herring do not bite well in cloudy water.

But for now let's return to our tour.





We crossed the Irwin River bridge en route south to Port Denison. Another landmark beckoned, the old and venerable Priory Hotel which stands in somewhat dowdy grandeur on the southern banks of the Irwin.

This watering hole began life as just that, a single story limestone building completed in 1881, when it existed as the Dongara Hotel. The second story was added later and the building was bought by the order of the Dominican Sisters who ran the establishment as a boarding school for the next 70 years before it reverted to its original use.






We were to return here later during our stay for a most excellent afternoon and evening of live music and wood oven pizza. For now we continued along the Dongara Port Denison road







past one of the remaining working drive in theatres in the country (it was closed for winter....damn...another romantic opportunity lost!) Here is another reminder of the fact that this is a cray fishing town. Just beyond the drive in screen one of the navigation lead lights outer reefs stands steady against the elements marking the safe passage into harbour through the outer reefs (the bulky pole with the square top at the left of the photo)








and, on the other side of the road, The Star of the Sea Catholic church.












Skirting past the entrance to our caravan park, the marina road leads past the local store and take-away,












Southerlys Hotel/Motel,















and the foreshore parks















to the landmark fishermen's memorial obelisk.











From here the entire vista of the marina opens to view, from the western wall and narrow mouth














along the northern wall






to the fleet basin and crayfish processing factory. This factory is one of the largest in the state. From here tonnes of live crays are processed and exported overseas. Sadly there was no local sales outlet at the factory. Our plans for a crayfish feast, complete with Chief Pierre's special seafood sauce, went unrequited. My only compensation was that the Treasurer was relieved.




To the south of the marina beyond the low cliffs and our fishing spot, the somewhat blandly named South Beach offers good solid sand on which even conventional vehicles can usually manoeuvre with safety. The beach entrance road travels past the delightfully located and startlingly fairly priced Starfish Cafe (where in WA can one obtain a hamburger for $10?) and the bulk of the large shed of the local Surf Lifesaving Club behind it.




South Beach offers swimming, surfing, wind surfing, fishing and just lazing about on the sand.  It is reputed to have been rated as one of the best ten beaches in Australia, but for me that was a step far too far. Admittedly we were seeing it after the storm had littered the shore with seaweed, and the water was less than azure blue, but no, a good beach but nothing out of the box.






Port Denison was relatively quiet during our stay quite unlike the first day we drove through when the streets were teeming with cars, trailers, boats and caravans and the marina parks areas were alive with activity.  This is indeed a holiday town and the marina park is well structured to cater for all.



Despite the few days of less than ordinary weather we were having a fine time at Port Denison. And it was not over yet.