I awoke slightly hung over due to the last nights consumption of two bottles of wine.....oh well, at least l would be in the car all day. Unfortunately in our preparations to getting ready for Cape Leveque l hadn't remembered that the bottle-o's in WA didn't open on Sundays until after 11am and l had also drank my wine last night. So to Marty's disgust we had to hang around town until the bottle shop opened. So we headed to Town Beach and the girls had a play on the playground to waste some time and then headed to Macca's to have an early lunch and hopefully get rid of this lingering hangover. Finally, the bottle shop opened, l replenished my stock and we were on our way.
First stop was to James Price Point for two nights, only 70 km out the road. As soon as we turned off onto the dirt corrugated Cape Leveque Road we were hailed over by the local cops to do a breathalyzer test. The last thing we would have expected....Anyway, after having a chuckle we continued on, the drive on the dirt road being very corrugated, Marty only being able to stick to 50-70km/hr. We turned off to James Price Point and continued for a few kms on a narrow and more corrugated road, finally arriving in the early afternoon. It was amazing, red rock coastline as far as you could see. It felt like we were on Mars or something, there was amazing red rock formations that lined the cliffs. For a free camp it was totally amazing. There were only two other cars around camped, so it felt like we had the place to ourselves. We decided to take a drive thru the bush before we set up. The small drive ended up to be over an hour as we meandered thru a narrow dirt road with dense grass and bush lining the road. Can totally see why the fires recently in Cape Leveque burnt out of control if this is how dense the scrub is around the area. As the road became more narrower, Marty decided it was time to turn around and head back to set up camp. We found the most perfect spot up on top of the small cliff overlooking the ocean, we even had a bit of shrubs and grass around so we could discretely set up the "thunder box" hiding it perfectly. If anyone doesn't know what our "thunder box" is, its a fold up bush toilet that you have to dig a hole and place it over. The comfortable way to do your business in the bush!
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| The Cape Leveque road.... |
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| Spectacular James Price Point... |
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| The great and easy camp set up for testing! |
Our two nights at James Price were spent mostly finding shade behind the car due to the area having no shade. Probably the worst thing about the camp was that you were right in the elements of the sun and heat, and seeing my first day was spent being slightly hung over, it wasn't the easiest place to be. We did however spend alot of time down on the beach were the girls splashed about in the shallows, unsure weather it was croc country or not? Marty paced up and down the beach for the best part of two days searching for even more bloody shells to add to his collection. Have no idea what we are going to do with all these shells. Reckon he found at least 50 or more Carrie shells, Maybe hes going for a world record?? Surprisingly we had a few humid days so the beach was helpful in providing a cool breeze. The best was at night when we all sat around marvelling at the awesome night sky. I have an app on my phone so l tried to teach the girls the star map. They were fascinated, we were able to locate Mars and even Saturn!!! Although this was a spectacular spot, at night the tide came in so it became a very noisy place to try and have a peaceful sleep. I wasn't used to hearing waves crashing so close, it was so loud. Our first few nights at James Price were a good gauge on how our car awning tent system was going to be on this trip. We had purchased the awning tent, which clips onto the car awning, in Geraldton and apart from set it up. we hadn't used it. We also can only fit three mattresses in it so we were interested to see how we would fit and if it would be comfortable. Well l can safely say that our awning tent rocks! It not only takes next to no time to set up, but we all fit in quite comfortably, thank god for the tiny little one (Meg)! We had also found that in my post drunken, slightly hungover haze, that we had forgotten to pack a few items. Thank god they were essential, but they would have made the trip easier. A few things that were left behind accidentally were our wash up tub and our invert er being the main ones. Whoops. Anyway, James Price Point was great and so glad that they fought to keep the gas plant from being built off shore from here. Such a magical place and would be a shame to destroy it!!! The two nights was enough, we were all well rested and relaxed, time to head off again.....below is a visual summary of our two days...
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| Mars or earth??? |
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| Crab tracks on the beach..... |
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| Marty's artistic talent.... |
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| Looking, looking, looking...... |
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| Girls loved the hermit crabs, which were in abundance btw! |
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| Loved the deep orange of the rock formations at sunset.....totally transformed. |
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| Don't get sick of the West sunsets.... |
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| Marty's shell collection after day one at James Price Point.... |
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| Trying to make a run for it!!! LOL |
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| Time for dinner....camp style. |
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| Trying to hold onto the sun.... |
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| Always the poser... |
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| As is Boo!!! |
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Sky comes alive and burns at the end
of the day!!! |
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| Camping under the stars.... |
We spent the next two days at Middle Lagoon which was fantastic. On the was up we called into a little aboriginal community, Beagle Bay, which is famous in these parts for its amazing church. Our mates "The Cronans" had spent a little time up here teaching at hte school so we were interested to check this little community out. The church was amazing!!! Decorated with beautiful mother-of-pearl shells, originally built in 1918 by the the Pallotine monks. You get the feeling by the cleanliness of the community that Christianity is a big way of life.
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Meg coming back after
a bush toilet spot on the way. |
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| The use of pearl shells was absolutely stunning.... |
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Close up of the artwork on the cross...
the community culture strong. |
After looking around, we headed off to Middle Lagoon. The road into Middle Lagoon was a little slow going with heaps of dirt speed humps, but at least it wasn't too long. We got a nicely shaded spot in a bush setting, was $30 per night unpowered but at least their were flushing toilets and solar showers. I was looking forward to some peaceful nights sleep seeing we weren't near the ocean and were away from the sounds of the waves crashing.
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| Wildlife on the road in.....hey donkey! |
For two days we pretty much just lazed on the beach while the girls splashed around in the water body surging and jumping the waves. Marty again combed the beaches for shells. The girls even found some mates to play with, Chloe and Jake, who were staying at Middle Lagoon for four months. Apparently they have been doing it every year for over 10 years! Was nice to have some peace and quiet from the girls. Been a while since we have been by ourselves and we had forgotten how loud the girls are and how they are always talking!!!! One good thing we did pack was the Loom bands which kept them both amused on the mat for hours. Boo even made good use of the leaves on the ground making dress up head dresses and skirts!!! Seeing we hadn't been in the tent for so long we had forgotten how tiring camping is. We wake as soon as the sun comes up, being around 5:30 am, and after trying to fill in all the day we are knackered and ready for bed by 7 or 8pm!!! Feel like nomads, lol.... One thing l made sure l wasn't going to miss out on was a sunset viewing. I am never over seeing sunsets, so l made sure on our last night that l trekked up to the cliff ledge to watch the magic..... We were so spewing that we had already booked our nights at Kooljamen as we would have liked to stay longer here at Middle Lagoon, such a fantastic lazy beautiful place...
As soon as we turned left from the Middle Lagoon road onto the Cape Leveque road it was bitumen all the
way! We called into another aboriginal community, One Arm Point, for the only reason, apart from needing bread and fuel, that l wanted to check it out as to see what it was like as l looked after a patient in Greenough who was from there. It was pretty clean and tidy, the supermarket was run by the aboriginal community and from what l could see, the town looked like it took pride in itself. We dodged the permit fee of $10, seeing we had purchased fuel l thought that was enough to let us look around. We took a quick drive out to the beach which looked like a tropical oasis with beach shelters scattered throughout. As we veered off to a dirt track towards the hatchery, Marty decided the road was too rough and that he couldn't be bothered, so we turned around. Later on we have found out that we missed an awesome place were they shine and buff the shells, a really good education experience for the kids. Oh well, have put it on our list to do on the second lap!
The Woods were here so the girls raced over straight away to their hut which was a few up the road, so glad we smoothed things over in Broome as it would've been a bit awkward in such a small place. The view from our hut wasn't what l would exactly call "beach views" more like beach glimpse. But the beach itself was beautiful, the water looked heavenly, pity it was pretty cold in and rocky in parts. The water was crystal clear, just a shame on our first day that it was blowing a gale and we got sandblasted on the beach! The kids didn't care, they were happy to swim in the water. Later that day, Vicki and Craig turned up with there three kids, Lilly, Zoe and Zane. The girls took a shine to them all straight away. Meg and Lilly were the same age and it was so nice to watch Meg play with someone her own age for once. While the kids all played together, Marty and l chilled out in the shade of the beach shelter. I enjoyed the peace and quite catching up on some reading. That night Marty got the fire going, so nice to finally have a fire. He was in charge of cooking that night while l moseyed off and took some sunset photos at the famous red rock cliffs. If you ever see photos of Cape Leveque, that's what its famous for, the stunning red illuminating rocks as the sun sets. I hiked up the stairway and virtually ran to the cliffs just in time as the sun was setting. I forgot to take my tripod, but am still happy with what l shot. On the walk back l noticed the lighthouse behind us actually was still working, lucky it wasn't too bright that it would keep us awake. When l got back to the hut, Marty was serving up. We enjoyed the night sitting around the fire while the kids played, the stars were amazing, shining bright in the dark sky.
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| The 'luxury' camp site at Kooljamen.... |
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Couldn't believe we passed this truck on the
sandy track.. |
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| Our beach at Kooljamen......pretty nice! |
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| Girls loving the beach once again.... |
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| Panoramic of our views...... |
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| Had some fun alone playing with the camera.... |
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| The stunning "red cliffs" lining the shores at Cape Leveque... |
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| Another day gone.... |
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| You got it....Marty doing dinner! |
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| Long day of fun.....all tuckered out! |
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| Love having the fire to sit around and watch the night sky.... |
We had a good nights sleep, only having to take Boo to the toilet once which was good. I woke early though and caught a glimpse of the sky and jumped out of bed to catch a stunning sunrise. The horizon was colored in gold above the ocean with dark blue spreading the sky above. I got to enjoy it all to myself, which is not surprising as only the crazy ones would be out of bed at 5:30 in the morning!!! Lol... Again the day was spent lazing around, reading and hanging under the beach shelters. The Woods headed off and we were left with Vicki and Craig and the kids. Was nice to hang out with them one on one. Always good to get to know new people. The girls had a ball with the other kids. Love how all these travelling kids along the way just get along and play so nice together, no one ever being excluded or made fun of. We all took a quick dip, bit chilly still which is such a shame because the water looks so pristine. In the arvo, Craig wanted to go and check out a fishing spot the local boys had told him about so we all headed off for a stroll. The walk thru and over the massive boulders lining the shore was fun and the kids all had a blast. We got to the sandy island and within five minutes of Craig casting his rod out he was pulling in a big fish. The kids stripped off to their undies and had a swim, the water being a bit warmer. We had found out this place was nicknamed "Shark Alley" and we found out it was true with Craig later telling us that on another day he was out fishing after we had left, he was standing there and suddenly he felt something nudging him. He later worked out that it was nudging him due to the bait in his pocket!! Lol..... Anyway, l decided that l wanted to try some more cliff sunset photos, so l raced against the clock to get back to the beach shelter to get my tripod and camera and make my way around to the cliffs. I got a bit annoyed as l was trying to line up my pics of the cliffs and all the tourists were bloody sitting on them watching the sunset. Now as l said earlier, all pics of Cape Leveque are of these bloody red cliffs, not a sun setting over the ocean, so why would you sit on them while people are trying to take photos of them??? Anyway, l was still happy with what l got and the sunset was, as always, stunning!
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| Loved the colored cockies!!! |
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| Time to start the day....sunrise finally! |
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| Best shot of the whales l could get :( |
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| Love the girls doing the dishes... |
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| Wake wake Meg.... |
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| Boo, Zoe, Lily and Meg.... |
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| Time for a walk.... |
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| Girls having a dip in "shark alley"!!! |
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| Boo's turn at leaving our stamp... |
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| Trying to keep the fish alive.....unfortunately no luck... |
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| Forgot the bathers....whoops! |
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| Time for last sunset pics.... |
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| Trying long exposures for night shots..... |
After 6 nights in total, it was time to head back to Broome. Our trial of the awning tent was a success, we now know that we can do this set up on the Gibb River Road. We had had an amazing and relaxing 6 days in this northern paradise. Great to see all the aboriginal communities building their towns and working in them. I had interacted with the aboriginal rangers a little at Kooljaman and l was very impressed with the pride they took in maintaining the camp sites. Overall though, it was pretty pricey for what it was at Kooljaman and now that we have done it, l don't think l would return. Think Barn Hill has everything that Cape Leveque has to offer and all in the one place. Think we will return one day but do it differently staying at a more intimate aboriginal run camp site. Now know of a few thanks to other travelers, and they are a bit cheaper too. Having said that, we have loved our mini camping trip away from the caravan and have had heaps of fun, now it was time to get back to Broome and plan our next leg of our journey. We were missing the "HardFirms" too!!!
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| Cape Leveque family shot on the beach.... |
Bell Xxx
