DONGARA   WA

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Resident:
Br. Ludwig Günther SAC
Br. John Phillis SAC
Br. Willem van Veen SAC
 

Postal Address:  
Pallottine Community
73 Brennand Rd
DONGAGA  WA   6525

Telephone: 
61 8 9927 1588   
Hostel Fax:
61 8 9927 2432

The Dongara Community was opened in 2007 as a retirement house for the Fathers & Brothers from Wandalgu - Tardun.

The house is 2.4 km north of the town of  Dongara. It is on the 2km long Brennand Road and was built in 1980s.

Brennand Road was named after Jack Brennand, who arrived in Dongara with his family in about 1937. Jack himself opened one of the first motor garages and was well known for his ability to carry out repairs to all types of vehicles. Naming streets after early pioneers or people associated with the area has been a long tradition in Dongara and Port Denison.     

In April 2008 Brother John’s Cabin was put in position with the entrance facing south, facing away from the entrance of the main house. The cabin came from Tardun.

The workshop you can see in the background.

At the back of the house the property extends about 25m back into the 8th sand dune. The eight sand dunes stretch for about 800 m. from the sea. There is no road over the sand dunes and in time the area between the sand dune behind the house and the sea will be developed for housing.

The nearest old building of Dongara is 1.2 km from our house. This Royal Steam Roller Flour Mill was built by Frank Pearse in1894. The imposing four-storied stone building was constructed of local material. It ceased operation in 1935.

In 1852 , a town site was surveyed and named “Dhungarra” (now spelt Dongara) It is a name given by local tribal People the “Wattandee” to indicate a “meeting place of seals”.

Our first contacts as Pallottines with Dongara was in January 1936 Father Albert Scherzinger went with six Brothers from Tardun for a week’s rest at the sea. The Dominican Sisters in Dongara  had invited them. They stayed in the School building.

When the Dominican Sisters from Dongara Sr. M.M. Teresa Mc.Quillan (Rose), Sr. Dominic Galvin (Catherine) and Sr.  M.Raphael Wood (Gertrude) looked after the children in Tardun 1949/50 the children went on St. Joseph’s Day 1949 on a picnic to Dongara by truck about 128km. It established a long tradition of regular trips to Dongara for picnics up to the close of Wandalgu Hostel on
11-12-2004.      

 The Irwin River dominates the town of Dongara. The Darling Plateau was elevated by successive uplifts during the Tertiary period lasting from 37.5-65 million till 3-5 million years ago to a total of about 300m in height.

There was sufficient young run-off streams forming such Rivers as the Hutt, Bowes, Chapman, Irwin and Arrowsmith Rivers.

By creating the Darling plateau, Tardun and surroundings became the catchments area of the new Irwin River. It is about 128km inland from the coast today.

This catchment area experienced unusually turbulent climatic fluctuation during the two million years of the Quaternary Ice Ages, and even more profound changes in the vegetation caused by the climatic changes leading to the advance and retreat of glacier and of the central deserts.

In 1839 while on his epic journey from the Murchison River to Perth Lieut. George Grey crossed the river and named the Irwin River.

Today if there is a lot of rain in the big catchment area the river breaks its banks and opens the mouth of the river and can flood part of the town of Dongara It happened after Cyclone “Marvis” in 1971, when the Irwin River swelled beyond all previous records.

The mouth of the River controls the water level in the Estuary and the animals that live at and around it. The mouth can be closed and opened a number of times during the year, It depending on how much water is coming down the River. This has been going on well before any people settled near the river.

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