Broome and Cape Leveque

I know that Broome is not everyone’s cup of tea but we found it was ours – we loved it!  A large part of this was due to our fabulous hosts. My cousin Bron and her family were the providers of everything from tourist information and washing facilities to auto electrical advice and Nutella pizza!  We felt so lucky to have Bron, Mick, Tom and Jack looking after us so well at Club Sanderson!  We indulged in sunset drinks on Cable Beach - just beautiful.  Gorgeous sunset, gassy lawn for the kids to play on, Bloody Marys and hot chips, it does not get much better for me!  It really was a lovely break from the dirt roads of the Kimberley.  We also managed to catch up with some of our other travelling buddies and even ran in to friends from home.  As a result it was a very social week for us.

Amongst the frivolity we managed to take a tour to see the “Horizontal Waterfalls” which was quite a spectacle.  The huge tides of the Buccaneer Archipelago rush in and out of narrow gorges creating a “waterfall” of sorts.  A seaplane dropped us off to a pontoon run by good looking backpackers and a charismatic jet boat driver named Adrian.  Apart from a fantastic boat ride through the falls it was very entertaining to watch our backpacking hosts hand feed the sharks (as you do) and take a tour to Adrian’s digs which is an old pearling barge complete with disco ball and a sound system that can ”shake the rust off the roof”!  We found it very entertaining and Jase and I both agreed that it was the kind of place that we would have liked to party…… if we were 15 years younger!  It was a fun day out we even managed to spot some whales frolicking in the ocean on the way home in the sea plane.

Of course, a trip to a major centre for the Woods family is not complete without some kind of repair work to the van!  This time it was relatively minor, a gas issue, however not the kind that Jase and I are used to dealing with!  We had to leave to van so we thought it was a good opportunity to visit Cape Leveque and stay in a cabin there.

Cape Leveque is on the Dampier Peninsula, North of Broome.  It is a stunning coastline of pristine beaches, clear water and red rock cliffs and is quite simply, beautiful.  We had heard several reports that access is difficult due to the 4WD only (mainly) dirt road however we found it was no problem at all, I think we are well seasoned after the Gibb!  We stopped off at Beagle Bay church to see the beautiful alter made of mother-of-pearl and then lunch and a swim at Middle lagoon.  Our accommodation was at Kooljaman resort in an open log cabin about 100m from the beach – all rather “Swiss family Robinson”!  The beach was excellent and one of the few that have rivaled home.  Similar to Shelly Beach at home without the wrinkly nudists!

One of the local Indigenous blokes, Eddie, took us to his place where we could watch him make a spear and go mud crabbing.  Off we traipsed through the mangroves and sand dunes.  The mud crabs seemed a little shy but we (well, Eddie) managed to dig one out much to our delight.  After such a successful venture Eddie took us for a drive over the dunes where we managed to get bogged.  After some deflating of tyres and a recovery of sorts I handed the wheel over the Eddie who proceeded to get us bogged again!   This made me feel much less dim witted however it did mean that we had to be dragged out by a lovely family from Adelaide driving a ……… Pajero!  This is apparently a rather shameful event for all committed Toyota drivers however I was relieved to be out of the dunes and back in time for lunch!   They graciously accepted the muddie in payment so crab was no longer on the dinner menu, not to worry!  A relaxing afternoon on the beach was a good antidote for the morning’s adventures.  We were lucky enough to run in to a group of lads returning from a very successful fishing expedition.  Although we missed out on the muddie we were lucky enough to dine on fresh Spanish Mackerel which was delicious.

The following day we visited One Arm point and Australia’s only Trochus hatchery.  We fed the greedy Barramundi and patted baby turtles.  We really enjoyed the area and would definitely make the trip back there again as it was a great family experience for us.

From Broome we made a very special trip over to Brisbane to celebrate Jason’s Nanna’s 100th birthday – Happy Birthday Nanna! We had a lovely weekend of family, food and celebration.  A lovely day for us all.

Back in Broome we picked up our gaseous van in our shiny, clean car!  Jack and Tom had been commissioned to give it a bit of a wash and vacuum.  Although the details are scarce I understand that it was quite a mission and I suspect Tom is still scarred despite the financial incentive!  Like all good relatives, we decided to stay a little while longer at Club Sanderson, it was just too good to leave.  We have threatened to return next year, hopefully this plan will come to fruition if Mick and Bron don’t try and move away or change the locks!  From here we head down the west coast and hope to take around a month to get to Perth.

We hope this finds you all well, we are great and very much enjoyed this part of the trip.  Take care all,

Love, Chippy xx