Barn Hill to Cape Leveque
Friday, May 6th to Tuesday, May 10th
Fond farewells, exchange of phone numbers and on the road again. Stock feed lots on the wide plains towards Broome, lush green grasses and broad plains.
Broome seemed an interesting place, with its multi-cultural past and present visible in Chinatown, buildings of corrugated iron, huge mangrove swamp areas and tidal flats. However, this was the day for organising for Cape Leveque, collecting the 4WD and Wako and heading off up the unmade road.
Imagine our surprise as we drove down the main street and the phone rang and Lizzie Ciszik asked if we were in Broome.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Well, Joel is running down the street after you! Could you please send him back to eat his lunch!”
Amazingly, it just happened that Joel and Lizzie were in Broome for some presentations of awards to builders and were staying out of town at Cable Beach but had come in for lunch. Unfortunately, we needed to collect the car so that we could only chat for a short time but it was wonderful to see some familiar faces.
The trip up took about 2.5 hours to cover 200km. About half of the road was unmade and very sandy. At Cape Leveque, the Kooljaman wilderness camp was a surprise to say the least. The girl at the tourist info in Broome had recommended staying in a Beach Shack at $65 per night rather than camping at $36 per night. The shack Ungug turned out to be just a few posts with some palm fronds over the top! Admittedly, we were right on the beach .... but facing the direction of the prevailing winds! Our little tent was battered during the 2 nights there, the rain came down, our thin mattress meant that we had little sleep ... and it wasn’t as beautiful as Barn Hill! The Wako wouldn’t work, so we also worried about our food perishing! For our 3rd night we moved over to the campground which was more sheltered from the wind and offered a lovely view of the sunset, however we were pleased to leave and explore other places on the Dampier Peninsula. 
The highlight was One Arm Point, where we visited the aquaculture centre and learned about the trochus shell trade with Italy and the restocking of the reefs in the Buccaneer Peninsula. The community was clean and tidy, the people well groomed and everything was well presented. I visited the school, met Carol the Principal, and we vowed to return to work in this region ASAP! Boisterous but respectful was Carol’s description of the kids J It seems that the community really supports the school and involves staff in cultural activities too. We ended up buying a book about the culture of the people there that had been published by Magabala Press. Carol kindly gave me a school calendar and an application form for registration to teach in WA!
As we headed back towards Broome, we visited the very well kept Lombadina Community and Hunter’s Creek campground, although we couldn’t find the creek! We also went to Beagle Bay to see the church built by missionaries and their stolen generations of people. The building was simple and beautiful and the alter was covered in mother-of-pearl. The arched windows had borders of large pearl shells. The night was spent at the pretty Quandong Point free camp, just a few kilometres from James Price Point where we later learned that the Aboriginal people had reached an agreement with Woodside for the establishment of an LPG hub on the pristine coast. Our night at Quandong was spent with the most persistent flies and mosquitoes that we had ever encountered and we were forced to take refuge in our tiny tent as soon as the sun had set! What a catastrophe of a journey it all was except for discovering that there could be plenty of relief work available if we provide our own accommodation (and 4WD vehicle – a new travelling outfit for 2012 and beyond will be needed). However, it is all part of the travel experience and a sense of humour is essential.
We were back in Broome early to escape mozzie attacks, so used the time with the 4WD to explore Cable Beach, where we saw camel trains; the lighthouse where eagles had built an enormous nest on a platform below the light; the racecourse where the beach polo teams were organising their horses; the deep water port and Chinatown. Our site at the caravan park on the town beach gave us a wide view of Roebuck Bay. I loved the sign that said not to walk on a particular part of the beach as it was a ‘reptile breeding area’ – no mention of the ‘C’ word!
Dinner at the Roey pub meant a no-cooking night but wasn’t worth it!
Wednesday, May 11th
A call from Anne & Brian led us to meet for coffee in town after doing the basics – washing, cleaning etc. After a couple of hours wandering into galleries, pearl and shell shops and lots of talking, we agreed to meet for dinner, so the rest of the afternoon was spent preparing for our departure for Derby and beyond.
Dinner at the Sunset bar & Grill at Cable Beach was awful! Expensive, poor quality food at the bar or $55 per head for a buffet and main course! We ate at the high tables and chairs outside but did not enjoy the meal at all. However, the company great!
No comments:
Post a Comment