Enter the land of sunsets over the beach

2-3 June, Cape Leveque

So the Gibb River Rd has been conquered and now our efforts turn to the West Coast. First on our agenda is Cape Leveque about 200km north of Broome on the Dampier Peninsula. The last time we were here about 100km of the Cape Leveque Rd was unsealed and pretty hard going. Very sandy, with deep ruts and bone shaking corrugations . Since then the road has been sealed, and apart from a small stretch being repaired following damage from heavy rains associated with Cyclone Seroja, the road was pretty easy going, which meant that the 400 odd kilometres from Derby could be easily achieved in one day. In fact we had intended interrupting our journey with a visit to Beagle Bay about 90km south of Cape Leveque, but in a now all too familiar scenario, we got close, but no cigar. The access road is closed, not because it is damaged, but because of concerns with aboriginal communities being exposed to COVID infection risk. This is certainly disappointing because Beagle Bay is a really interesting place to visit. One more to add to the list.

Again we have been a little bit unsure of our movements because C&S’s daughter was planning to meet up with us in Broome and continue on with S when C flew home, but these plans had been scuppered at the last moment by a new COVID issue in Victoria. Also unavailability of attractions on the GRR means that we are travelling a little ahead of schedule. So our decision to head straight to Cape Leveque from Derby is made quite late, and certainly way too late to secure a camping spot at the Kooljamon Resort, which is the main tourist centre on Cape Leveque. Instead we settled on a smaller, less resort style camping ground about 20km up the road called Gambanan Bush Camp. Nothing pretentious about this place. Basic facilities, unkempt sites, and general signs of maintenance neglect. But the outlook was magnificent, our campsite sat on a high rocky bank with delightful views out over the water. Well worth the shortfall in amenities. This was also a great place for wildlife, providing us with our first snake encounter of the journey (a monstrous beast at least 30cm long and 10mm in diameter - terrifying) and a delightful performance from a mass of tiny barred finches enjoying an early morning bath in a leak from a water tank. There was of course also the routine warnings about crocodiles hiding in the mangroves, so although the lovely clear water and sandy beach were enticing, the mangrove fringes were a bit of a deterrent to taking a dip.

Gambanan was lovely, but it didn’t have coffee and it didn’t have the gorgeous red hued cliffs with the contrasting white sand, turquoise water and brilliant blue sky which defines Cape Leveque. The coffee situation was easily fixed with a visit to the Cygnet Bay pearl farm just down the road, and the red cliffs situation was addressed by a visit to the Kooljamon resort where we had a lovely long walk through the coastal scrub out to and along the beach.

Kooljamon beach

The outlook at Gambanan

Gambanan

Kooljamon

Standard work vehicle at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm - clapped out cruiser

A pair of long tailed finches

Kooljamon

Fierce snake- Gambanan

Kooljamon

Tempting mangrove fringed beach - Gambanan

Kooljamon

Group of double barred finches

Kooljamon

Sunset - Gambanan

4 June, Middle Lagoon

Middle Lagoon is a lovely little camping spot not too far south of Cape Leveque. Just 60km of smooth bitumen road and then 30 km of unmade road to the campground. “Unmade road” is an interesting and non specific epithet which can mean anything from gravel super highway to goat track. In this case it meant narrow, very sandy track, which is hard enough to negotiate with just you and your camper, but quite frightening when you throw in other obstacles. Remember those very large caravans and land cruisers which caused me angst bouncing across the Gibb River Road? Well, just about all of them have owners who think it is a wonderful challenge to move as quickly down narrow, sandy tracks as possible and to exert their superiority over lesser road users through intimidation. Meeting these monsters head on demanding more of the road than it is possible to give them is somewhat daunting.

Once in the campground at Middle Lagoon the tension eases significantly. It is a very pleasant sleepy little place on a picturesque stretch of beach interrupted by outcrops of composite rock. Beth is very impressed because rocky outcrops on the beach provide excellent walking opportunities. I am more excited by the fact that out here in the middle of nowhere is a cafe. Happily we both get to indulge our passions, but I think the excellence of the walking far surpassed the excellence of the coffee and cake. Although it is fair to say that it is not always the quality of the fare which determines the quality of the experience, and although the coffee was mediocre, the experience was not.

The other happy surprise at Middle Lagoon was 2 bars of Telstra mobile reception. Enough for a chat with our daughter in London and to catch up on news from home.

5-6 June, Broome

Leaving Cape Leveque, we quickly discussed whether or not we should refuel, knowing that we had a detour to Middle Lagoon en route to our next available fuel at Broome. We checked the fuel gauge, and distances and did the quick arithmetic which suggested that we should be able to make it with 50k to spare. What we didn’t factor into our calculations was the 60 sandy kilometres into and out of Middle Lagoon which caused our poor Jeep to gulp down the fuel. As a consequence, despite driving conservatively we arrived in Broome with the car running on the vapours from an empty tank and the lights on the dashboard insisting that the car needed a drink. Running on empty is not a nice feeling, and one which I said to Beth I did not want to repeat. Next time I am in two minds whether to refuel or not, I will err on the side of caution. But in the end no damage done. A big drink on the outskirts of Broome and all is good.

Broome is unashamedly a tourist town in very high demand by grey nomads, Bali boguns, and just about every other breed of traveller (except of course for internationals and Victorians at the moment). As a result it is very important to book accommodation well in advance. But because this level of organisation does not match our free spirited wanderings, again we are late into the booking game. We had hoped to stay at the Broome bird observatory, but that of course was booked out. Happily though, the second caravan park we rung could accommodate us. The many motor homes we observed in the Cable Beach car park with washing hanging on the line indicated either we were very lucky to secure a site, or that the car park campers were disinclined to pay the very high price for the use of a very small plot of land in the caravan park.

Despite Broome being infested with tourists it is enchanting. Cable beach is a delight, and it is just so easy to wander and wander and wander, so long as you keep your eye out for passing motorists, camels and beach attendants of all sorts on their little quad bikes. It also has probably the most photographed sunset in Australia. Unfortunately we are not here on the full moon so we are unable to observe the famous staircase to the moon where the moon casts shadows over the undulating waters of Roebuck Bay resembling a staircase, but we happily substituted with a staircase to the sun over Cable Beach at sunset.

Although I love outback Australia, I have to admit to being a little bit thrilled by the hustle, bustle and general civilisation of busy Broome. The supermarkets have everything you could possibly need, the coffee is very good, and there is something nice about there being plenty of people about.

Our caravan park is perhaps not in the very nicest of Broome locations (which may help to explain the easy booking), and certainly not ideal for our early morning exercise walks. However we did manage satisfactory walks to the Japanese cemetery where many early pearl divers are interred and to a lookout over the southern end of Cable Beach. The Japanese cemetery was really interesting. All of the headstones, which were basically chunks of local sandstone, were inscribed in Japanese, so dates, names and epitaphs were lost to us, but what was interesting was comparing the general tenor of the Japanese cemetery with the adjacent Chinese, and mixed Christian cemeteries. The Japanese cemetery seemed peaceful by design, unpretentious and meticulously maintained. Nothing was out of place and it was respectful in a humble way. The Chinese and European cemeteries on the other hand were a mixed bag, some plots well maintained and others not, and headstones by and large reflective of the wealth and status of the interee. Grand tombstones and poetic epitaphs for the wealthy and powerful, more humble markings and words for the poor and lowly.

Broome has been very nice, but also sad, because C leaves us here to head back to Melbourne and work, leaving just S, Beth and me to continue the journey.