Where are we now?

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Warroora Station – Ningaloo Reef.

Currently camped right on the beach, could not get any closer and looking forward to a great sunset. Waroora is a working station and they allow bush camping along their 51kms of Nigaloo Reef pristine coastline. You need to be totally self sufficient with water etc and must have a chemical toilet (they do hire them $10/night). Turquoise blue water, white sand and the waves crashing on the distant reef. Get the picture!

As I have been lax in keeping my blog up to date a brief rundown of where our travels have taken us so far. After The Gibb River Road we stopped off in Derby for a couple of days, mainly to get the ARB underbody stuff refitted to the Prado. Apparently “down south they don’t know how to do it for the conditions up here”. Great sunset at the wharf, and there is a nice restaurant called “the Catch “. Make sure you visit the old gaol site if in Derby, and read about the treatment of the Aboriginal prisoners in the early days and you learn things they don't teach you about Australian history in school.

A couple of nights bush camping on the Fitzroy River, the insects drove us inside the camper at night they were so bad, talking to the people camped down from us the next morning we learnt that if we had collected some dry cow dung (which there was plenty of around) and let it smoulder it kept the bugs at bay. No luck with the fishing by the way (Bob hooked 2 nice Barra at first light but lost both at the bank). Leaving we headed off to Broome. We could not get into a caravan park (as expected) so stayed at the Pistol Club, which is an overflow camp spot. Great spot, lots of secluded camp spots amongst the trees and quite close to town in fact we came back here after Cape Leveque it was so good. We were in time for the Saturday markets which are a must for travellers all sorts of things you really don't need live music great atmosphere. Booked a Kayak fishing trip for later in the week, which took us under the wharf and surrounds at sunset, did not catch any fish. Before heading off to Cape Leveque we arranged for the camper to be fixed (shock absorbers refitted) on our return in a weeks time. Broome is famous for Cable Beach, sunsets on the beach, camel rides and its great weather in the winter people just come and stay here for a couple of months, that is why it is so busy. It has a great past history with Pearling industry and a visit to the Willie Creek Pearl Farm is a must (no purchases by us). This is our third visit to Broome and it gets more touristy each time which is a shame I much preferred the old Broome of 25 years ago. But that’s progress!!

Cape Leveque more corrugated, red sandy/dusty road. But for some reason they have bituminized the top bit! We camped at two spots on the cape, Chile Creek and Middle Lagoon. Chili creek is owned and run by a local family and is a quiet spot, great beach access although you need to drive from the camping area. You can drive along the beach and also to the mouth of Chile Creek. Bob and Ron caught our first mud crab at Chilie Creek it only just fitted in our biggest saucepan. It was quite a performance to get it tied up without getting your fingers bitten by their big front claws. We did a few day trips from here. We visited Lombadina another community that is obviously well cared for, we were told you cannot live here unless you work within the community. You drive through Lombadina to access the other side of Chile creek where Bob caught his 2 GT’s (Giant Trevally). We drove all the way to the tip (One Arm Point), stopping off at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm on the way back, what a treat a lovely restaurant to have afternoon tea at. Our next camp was Middle Lagoon a lovely spot, safe swimming in the lagoon and great sunsets from the cliff tops. We drove out to the Whale Song Café (after being told to by my bother) and what a great find that is. Make an amazing pizza, good coffee and catered for Ron who is gluten intolerant and Bob can recommend the Mango Smoothie. Oh! and it is perched on top of a cliff so great views and if lucky can watch the whales out in the distance. I should mention that we have seen many whales, as it is this time of year that they are migrating along the coast.

On the way back down Cape Leveque, we stopped off at the Beagle Bay community, there is a lovely church here for which the community is quite famous. The alter and church are decorated with mother of pearl shells.

Back to Broome for a couple of days while the camper is repaired (we spent one night in the tent)! We have taken lots of photos but I don’t think we can ever do justice to this amazing coastline. The red rocks against the white sands, and blue, blue sea is amazing. Following is just a sample of the many we have taken.

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Photos

Cable Beach
Sunset camel rides

Barking Owl
visited us at our camp at the Pistol Club

Broome
Sunset on Cable Beach

Quirky Sign
Must be owned by a sailor

Comments

[David Small]

Fantastic Adventure
Good to see you are back on-line. Enjoying following your expedition to some glorious places. Great photos.