Road Trip - Dongara

This is the entry statement to Dongara. The plaque on the sculpture reads:

This entry statement was unveiled by Mr Shane Hill, JP MLA in the presence of Cr Robyn Parsons JP, Shire President, on 5 September 2005 and was jointly funded by the the Midwest Development Commission and the Shire of Irwin.

We went swimming at Dongara the next day. There's a huge amount of seaweed between the sand dunes and the beach. We didn't realise how deep it was until we got to the edge of it as you can see in the photo below. It's a bit like quicksand - you don't know if you're going to sink up to your knees with your next step.

While we were at Dongara we had a look around, and found this monument, an obelisk to commemorate shipwreck Leander in 1853. The plaque says that the captain made a mistake and thought he was in Geraldton, and as a result struck a reef and sank. The Obelisk now serves to warn other sailors. Perhaps it's a monument to stupidity?

To commemorate the loss of the brigantine leander near this point on 11 November 1853. Due to a fault in it's chronometer, Leander under captain R Johnston on route from Fremantle to Singapore via Champion Bay turned for it's run into Geraldton too soon and collided with South Leander Reef. As an aid to navigation this obelisk was erected in 1869.

Because of the seaweed, we tried another beach in Dongara, and came across this sign for the skate park. The fine print describes the permitted activities on the skate park (supposedly) behind the sign.

Just behind the sign, there's a cliff drop onto beach. If there was a skate park there, it ain't there no more …

We took a day trip into Geraldton, and passed through Greenough. At Greenough there is what I regard as a modern-day Aussie homestead, with the classic roof and a verandah that goes all the way around the house. The triple garage doesn't look too bad either.

Near Greenough are the classic leaning trees. There's one beside the road, with a parking area so you can take a photo. There's a sign nearby that reads:

The "Leaning Trees" of Greenough belong to a native Western Australian species of River Gum. Their characteristic "lean" is caused by constant strong southerly winds that burn off growth on the windward side (flagging).

This eucalypt is known to be a hardy grower, though it has weak branches.

Just outside Geraldton there was a sign that made me laugh. Some real estate agent would have a field day with this one. I can just read the headlines now "classic fixer-upper". In the background is the remains of an old homestead, with only one corner of one wall remaining upright. The fine print in the ad "some attention required - renovators dream!"