We hit the beaches - Derby to Quondong

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Day 31 – Monday 30^th July – Derby to Quondong via Broome

Even the kids made use of the brand new shower block at the caravan park this morning but once we had packed up the tent again we had managed to get ourselves a light dusting of red dirt as usual, from the cover of the trailer. We camped next to a German family who work for the WHO in Laos and were on holiday in Oz. They were making the most of the proximity to Australia for a holiday before their new posting to Uzbekistan in December. Glad it’s not us having to go and work there!

We treated ourselves to cakes from the local bakery for breakfast before we hit the road to Broome. It is very comfortable to be driving on sealed roads again. We made a very quick stop at the prison Boab tree just outside Derby, which was used in the late 1800s as a prison for aboriginals accused of killing the pastoralists cattle. Two hours later we arrived in the civilisation and tourism of Broome. First stop was the tourist information office, which was full of grey nomads collecting brochures, looking for places to stay in their caravans. We had a bit of a wander around, picked up a few fresh groceries in Coles, got some fuel and bait (still hoping to catch a fish!) and checked out the famous Cable Beach (sent a photo of us at the beach to the guys at work!) before driving 30 km north to try to find a free camping spot at Quondong Beach overlooking the Indian ocean.

The first 15 mins were spent driving on normal roads then we hit the red dirt again, bouncing along over the bumps and corrugations for 40 mins until we reached the dunes of Quondong. Being mid afternoon most of the spots were already taken but luckily we got a tip from a couple of campers about a great little pitch for a camper trailer, with views of the ocean and our own little path down to the beach. Pefect! Mark and I put the tent up while the kids explored the beach. The tide was quite a way out and there were lots of rock pools to explore and fishing spots to scope out. We hung out the washing that we had done at the Derby Caravan Park between two trees and sat down on the beach with a beer to enjoy the beautiful sunset.

Daytime temperatures have been constant at 28 - 30 degrees all the way along the Gibb River Road, and the same here. But as soon as the sun goes down the air cools down quickly and you need to put on long trousers and tops. We made a campfire and ate our spaghetti bolognaise around it to keep warm on our first night at the beach.

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