Wednesday 26th August
Sadly, we had to part company with Brad and Denise this morning, they are staying another day before heading off to the De Grey river where they plan to meet with Brad’s daughter Tara and her family, whilst we are heading further north. They are good company and great travelling companions and hopefully we will get to travel with them again.
We got away in good time and there was very little traffic heading north one car and one truck passed us, a camper trailer passed when were having morning tea and a few more including two caravans whilst we had some lunch. By comparison the traffic southbound was almost a continuous stream of caravans and campers. What do they know that we don’t?
We had planned stop at a rest area called Goldwire tonight but we arrived there well before lunch and decided that we would get to Broome by early afternoon so kept going. We had decided on the Broome Gateway CP which is actually about 30ks out of Broome but it is reasonably priced and it is only a 20 minute run into town for the shopping that we have to do.
The park has plenty of space, not much grass but so long as it stays dry that’s no real problem. There are no power sites as everything is solar generated for the homestead and the amenities but plenty of water, another place where you’re encouraged to water the grass!
Having got ourselves established and had a shower in the unusual ablution block, (where you have a large room with a toilet, washbasin and a shower) we pour a couple of glasses and do some satellite spotting, which is made difficult with all the light from the nearly full moon. It was a really lovely evening, compared with the last few nights, it was pleasantly cool but we were able to sit out in T shirts and shorts until about 19.30. We spotted and verified 14 satellites!
Thursday 27th August
The shopping list has been written out and a sort of plan of action laid. The first thing on the list is getting a paper The Australian (for the Times cryptic) and then a cappuccino at the Green Mango. Two hours and a few ks later we have crossed most of the items off the list a so lunch is the next thing. We’re familiar with the Town Beach cafe and know we’ll get a good lunch there.
A picture from our table shows part of the Town Beach CP. The vans are so close together, not our cup of tea but relished by the people who book years in advance to get the same site every year for maybe three months. Quite often there is whole group of people who meet here every year. The irony is that often they only live a few ks from each other at home!
Whilst waiting for the meal I played around with the camera on the new phone I’ve had for a couple of months. This is my first ‘selfie’!
Lunch was good and another coffee, two in a day for people for whom one a week is closer to normal!
Then it was back to shopping again for a while but we eventually got back to the park in the late afternoon. Just time for a shower and then it’s time to meet the neighbours for a drink and a chat.
They turn out to be an interesting couple Rohan and Lyn who are South African but living and working in Perth now. They are fascinated by the fact that we are bellringers and Lyn thinks that she might go to Claremont and see what it’s all about.
Another beautiful evening but not great for satellites, we only managed two or three tonight.
Friday 28th August
Interesting day today. More shopping for us but meanwhile back in Karnup, Roger’s Dad is celebrating his 98th birthday!
And in the UK our friends who we going on ringing tours are having a lunch together because The Tour this year had to be cancelled due to the Covid19 situation.
we go back into Broome for a bit more shopping, on our way into town we saw a BT going the other way on the back of a tilt tray. Couldn’t see if there was any damage. It was fairly distinctive in that it had two narrow horizontal windows in the back, possibly indicating bunk beds.
Then it’s time for lunch and we decide on Zanders at Cable Beach. You can tell how few (relatively speaking) people there are around, it only took 4/5 mins to get a table and then it was just right, out the front, in the shade, looking over the ocean. We were here for dinner on Pat’s birthday last year, with Brad and Denise.
A enjoyed very leisurely, fishy lunch, with a glass of a very nice ssb from Single File. We raised our glasses to Dad as we had just received the text and photo of Dad and his cake from Lucy. Coffee followed and a drive back to CP by late afternnoon. Not much to do then except find a bit of shade with a breeze and finish a book.
We had a phone call from Brad and Denise, who sadly had to report that the De Grey river site that they were hoping to stay at had been shut off, presumably by the landowner. They were very disappointed as it was one of their favourite spots. They had ended up back at Yule River for the night. We’ve decided to stay here on Saturday night then leave on Sunday to head up to the Dampier Peninsula.
Another beautiful evening for us but satellites were hard to come by due largely to the moon, eventually we saw eight before going in for dinner.
Saturday 29th August
We just had a bit of a pottering day today, a few little jobs that we have been meaning to do for a while, Pat did a bit more washing and then read books and updated the blog. Not many satellites tonight.
Sunday 30th August
Set out about ‘half-past’ and we’re on our way to the Dampier Peninsula and Cape Leveque. We haven’t been up here before and we want to do it before the road is sealed all the way up the peninsula.
To begin with the road is good tar for about 30ks then the road works start. They are doing all 80ks at the same time so the old road is in use beside the new work. It is both narrow, sandy and corrugated and it lasts nearly to the Beagle Bay turn off, which we understand is still closed to us as part of the covid restrictions, like all aboriginal communities. After this the road is very good for the next 100ks up to the top. You can see nothing from this road because the trees are quite tall for this region, we have no horizon and do not know what to expect.
We are wondering where the turn to the campsite is and find a sign off to the left, just before the ‘road closed’ signs for One Arm Point come into view. What a vista greets us after a sandy 1.5ks;
We have a chat with one of the campers and at his suggestion we have a look round to see what’s available. We chose a place next to the edge of cliffs looking over the waters of King Sound. This place is run by the local indigenous people.
What a beautiful spot, there is even a nice breeze off the sea to keep the temperature down to something agreeable. We get settled in, a bit of reversing and shunting, plus a bit of civil engineering (digging) is required to get the caravan level. Off for a bit of a walk to get the feel of the place. Clearly the area has seen better days but there are still ‘al fresco’ showers here and there.
There are two toilets and two showers, labelled ‘womens’ but at first we did not realise the entrance to the mens block was round the back so treated them as communal! Here again there is no shortage of water. So having freshened up we settle down for a drink as the sunset and looked at the stars, but satellites are getting even harder to spot as the full moon approaches.
Monday 31st August
Roger decided to try some fishing this morning but could only catch small parrot fish, even though he kept using bigger and bigger hooks! So after a couple of hours he gave up. As he was walking back he spoke to a local indigenous lad who showed him a couple of very nice mud crabs which he had speared! I don’t think we’re allowed to do that.
In the rocks the local indigenous population have at some time in the past built a fish trap by constructing rock walls to trap the water and fish as the tide goes out. It is clearly quite old and because it hasn’t been maintained, no longer works but it is certainly a significant construction.
Later this afternoon we went for a walk to Squeaky Beach. The coarse white sand on many WA beaches does literally squeak when you walk on it but this is first time we’ve actually encountered one called Squeaky. I may well drive round here tomorrow and try fishing as the tide comes in and maybe put a drop net in the mangroves.
Tonight we invited the young couple next to us over for a glass of wine and had an interesting conversation with them, they are from Perth, one a Tasmanian, the other a Kiwi. After they had gone we looked for satellites but gave up at two!
Tuesday 1st September
We thought today we would go and check out a couple of the other camp sites up here at the top of the Dampier Peninsula.
The first is an hour’s drive south, a place called Gnylmarung, which according to Wiki it is a beautiful spot but with 30 odd ks of corrugations to get to it off the main road.
It is a nice spot but we decided that if we were going there we would have to stay long enough to make the trek in worth it.
The next place is not far from where we are camping called Kooljaman. This is an odd sort of place, there is camping but the sites are too small for vans like ours. There are several other types of accommodation around the point. There is a lighthouse but you can’t get near it. The beach too is strange, with a lot of unusual rock formations. This is an expensive resort, often used by the small planes or 4WD coaches doing tours as a lunch stop. We enjoyed a salad for lunch but no decaf coffee available here.
When we got back to our campsite we were surprised to see a sort of mobile cafe had been parked in the middle of the site and there were several utes, etc., parked around the place. One had a trailer with what looked like garden waste in it, we thought that the locals had been doing a bit of tidying up. As it got darker we became aware that numerous 4WDs were arriving plus a 4WD bus. Some of the vehicles had resort names on them so we guessed something was going to happen. At least half of the people turning up were local indigenous people. It then occurred to us that it might be something to do with moon as tonight is two nights before the full moon. The tides are very low of course and mud banks are exposed which provides the conditions for the famous ‘stairway to the moon’ experience that Broome is famous for.
This is the stairway to the moon, it really needs more channels across the mud flats to make the stairs but it was quite pretty.
However, the best was yet to come. They started putting chairs out, creating a sort of stage apron and we discovered that the ‘garden waste’ had in fact been used to create three bushes at the back of the apron.
We decided that we needed to go over and see what was happening, we were able to watch the aboriginal dancing which illustrated a story being told by a local gentleman.
I’m afraid the quality is not terribly good due to the flash not being strong enough to stop the movement.
The last shot is of the ‘ghost’ who gave the kids a scare.
Wednesday 2nd September
Roger went fishing again this morning but caught more of what he calls parrot fish!
Later this morning we went to Cygnet Bay Pearl farm, where we had a nice lunch, including pearl meat before going on a tour of the facility. We were the only people on the tour which I think our guide relished as much as we did. He was a local aboriginal but, by his own admission, had a considerable mix of genes, from Japanese, Indonesian, Malay, as well as the local blood. He was from the fourth generation of those descended from the pearl divers, although he did not dive, his father did. He had grown up at Cygnet Bay itself. He was very good and we learned a great deal about cultured pearls. We were even allowed (because there were only the two us) to go in and watch how they insert the seed into the clam, fascinating and a very fiddly operation, every single pearl having to be seeded by hand.
When we went out for our sunset wine and nibbles we realised that with tide out we would get a ‘stairway to the stars’ again but we were unprepared for the show.
Thursday 3rd September
We left Gumbanan this morning and headed south to Quandong. After about 40 mins we saw a car pulled over to the side of the road. In these remote areas we always slow down to see if everyone is OK. Did I have wheelbrace? He borrowed the HiLux from his mate and he had puncture, the ute didn’t have a wheelbrace! The jack he had was useless and he needed both mine to get the wheel high enough to change. Anyway they were very grateful – our good deed for the day!
We got to Quandong a bit later than planned but still had plenty of time to pick a site.
We found a good one, on top of the low red cliffs with a terrific vista.
Not much in the way of satellites tonight due to a very bright full moon.
Friday 4th September
Went into Broome this morning for some extra shopping to see us through the next 7-10 days. Nice cup of coffee before hitting the supermarkets, liquor store and fuel station.
Bit of reading and some blogging this afternoon, a walk on the beach at low tide, though nothing outstanding interest in the rock pools.
A spectacular satellite session tonight. We had seen 4 or 5 by about 6:30 when Pat spotted the Elon Musk, ‘string of pearls’ seven satellites very close together with one ‘tail end charlie’ bringing up the rear., brilliant but wait, there’s more, about 4 minutes later we picked up a satellite heading just south of east, followed by another and another and another and another ….. 13 in all, another Musk string. We did spot a few more non-musk ones after that but we were satellited out by then! What an amazing experience.
Saturday 5th September
Certainly a day with a difference! It started quite normally, breakfast and the Times Cryptic by the sea before a leisurely start to a trip up to James Price Point, a place on our bucket list because we have a picture of it on our family room wall. It is a very beautiful spot with a degree of starkness due to the bright red colour of the cliffs. We had thought about bringing the van up here but it’s another one of those places where you really want to get to and have to stay a while to make the journey worth it. Maybe another time we’ll come straight up here.
Having satisfied our bucket list we decided to venture further up the track. After about 15ks we stopped to take in the view and saw on the beach below us a car with a boat trailer bogged. You can’t drive away from someone in trouble out here, next time it might be you that needs help, so I walked down to have a look. This guy had driven his Prado through a pretty soft, narrow and steep gap in the dunes onto a very soft beach.
I had serious doubts about getting him out because the Prado does not have particularly good ground clearance and as is usually the case he was bogged on the diffs and door steps more than the wheels. We decided to take the boat and trailer off and pull that out of the way first, this went reasonably well and having dropped my tyre pressures to 25psi I was able to snatch him out. Having undone the snatch strap, he promptly got bogged again. We dropped his tyres to 10psi and dragged him out again.
So now he could get himself up the slope but the Prado wouldn’t pull the boat up, even without the engine! In the end I had to pull the boat up to the top of the cliff. he then went back and drove the car up.
I discovered that I’d split a tyre so now we have to go into Broome again to find a new one!
This all took nearly three hours and we didn’t get back ’til gone 1500! A shower, a cup of tea and a slice of banana cake and I was ready for an afternoon snooze!
There was a very nice sunset but it was a very quiet night for satellites, so we watched Endeavor!
We will be leaving here tomorrow but we were very lucky to be able to visit this year because when the new road is finished later this year we think that it will change and probably not for the better. At the moment there is no rubbish and no destruction of the natural vegetation.
Alloveroz 