Cape Leveque (By Simon)

We left Broome feeling very relaxed but a little nervous about the next leg of our journey as for the previous few weeks we had heard varying reports on the poor state of the Cape Leveque Road. As we crossed from bitumen to dirt we stopped to lower the air pressure in our tyres and then set off at speeds varying between 20 and 80kph depending on the corrugations and wash outs. The reports were correct... the road was bad.

Part way along the road we called in at the Beagle Bay mission. The church building at the mission is a sight to see with much of the building, floors and altar inlaid with pearl shells.

Back on the road for another hour we made it to our campsite a Kooljaman (minus a small bracket and a broken cupboard handle on the camper). A post card we saw summed it up perfectly "I survived the Cape Leveque Road, now I'm in Paradise!"

Kooljaman is located right on the tip of the Dampier Peninsula at Cape Leveque and is an Eco Camp owned and operated by the local Indigenous communities. It is very low key with accommodation including camping, small cabins, beach shelters and safari tents. The location is stunning with red cliffs on the western side and white on the eastern side and the 9 metre tides mean that the coastline is constantly changing. We were constantly amazed by the shear volume of water that moved through the area each day.

 

Much of our time at Cape Leveque consisted of us driving along the eastern beach, finding a nice isolated stretch and swimming, snorkeling, fishing and exploring the rock pools. The water was warm, crystal clear and the fishing good (we often saw schools of fish and the odd shark or two cruising by).

We also went on a "tagalong" tour with Brian Lee, a local indigenous man who shared with us the history and secrets of his land. We enjoyed some great fishing with Nath and Sarah each landing a good size Golden Trevally.

We also waded through a mangrove creeks (crocodile infested according to Liz) looking for mud crabs.

The day finished with us cooking our catch of sea snails, fish and crab over the fire.

While staying at Cape Leveque we also dropped by the indigenous communities at One Arm Point and Beagle Bay. We were pleasantly surprised by the state of the communities (clean and well maintained) and also the desire of the people to develop sustainable industries and be self sufficient. Both these communities and Kooljaman work together to promote the wonderful natural assets of the Cape Leveque which is a "win-win" for both the communities and tourists.

Another first for us at Cape Leveque was sharing showers... not with each other... with these guys. Don't they know it's rude to stare?

Oh, I almost forgot... as each day ended we headed over to Western Beach to see the sunset!

Cape Leveque is one of our favorite places so far. Too beautiful to describe with words so we added a few more pictures below.

 

 

 

 

Travel Log:
Broome to Cape Leveque: 215 km
Total Trip: 9347 km



Broome (By Simon)

We left Eighty Mile Beach early and completed the 300 odd kilometer trip to Broome by midday. Arriving at Broome was a bit of a milestone for both Liz and I as we have been wanting to come here for quite some time and Broome did not disappoint.

We stayed in Cable Beach Caravan Park which is set in very lush tropical gardens and has a great swimming pool which we all enjoyed.

The caravan park is also just a short walk from the famous Cable Beach. Cable beach is fantastic with white sand and turquoise water stretching from the red rocks at Gantheaume Point at one end and out of sight the other. We walked down to Cable Beach quite a few times during our stay for a walk on the beach, a swim and to watch the camels during sunset.

Broome and surrounding area has a huge cultured pearl industry and the main street of Broome is littered with exclusive pearl jewelry shops. In one shop the girls were able to try on a necklace.

I thought I'd get them one each until I saw the price!

Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park:
Another "must see" while at Broome is the Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park (most Aussie kids growing up in the 80's watched Malcolm Douglas wild life documentaries on TV). The park is very basic (definitely not Steve Erwin's Australia Zoo) with two lagoons holding about 70 mature crocodiles each and a lot of pens holding large crocodiles which had been relocated to the park after becoming a nuisance to towns around northern Australia (some attacking boats, horses and people). There where also some American Alligators (which our guide referred to as "puppy dogs" compared to the saltwater crocodiles) and an assortment of other Australian wildlife ranging from birds, lizards, snakes, emus, kangaroo's and dingo's. Behind the park is the crocodile farm which has about 7000 crocodiles whose skins are exported to Europe and end up as expensive handbags, belts and shoes!

However, the main attraction and what we had come to see was the crocodiles and the tour. The tour started with us being able to hold some baby saltwater crocodiles which was a first for us all.

The feeding time at the first lagoon. It certainly was a sight to see 20 or more large crocodiles jostling for position lunging for the chicken held over their heads.

It was a little disconcerting standing next to a 5 metre crocodile with only a mesh fence between us (this is as close as Nath would get)!

 

Gantheaume Point Dinosaur Foot Prints:
We had been told that there were dinosaur footprints in the rocks around Gantheaume Point which are only exposed on extremely low tides. So picking our time carefully we headed out to the point and clambered down the rocks looking for large footprints. As there are no signs showing directions most of the tourists had no idea where or what to look for. However, getting right down to the water level we did find some pretty amazing prints... funny to think we were standing right where a dinosaur had walked!

Gantheaume Point also has some pretty spectacular rock pools and scenery too!

Being in Broome we were also able to catch up with a couple of friends. The first was Jas, a friend who I had gone to Uni with and who also worked at Holden. He too has left work and is travelling around Australia. The second was Olivia who we know from Ocean Grove. We had dinner (awesome Fish Taco's) with Olivia & Steve on Cable Beach while watching the sun go down.

We have loved our time here in Broome and it's nice to think we'll be back next weekend! For now it's on to Cape Leveque!

Travel Log:
80 Mile Beach to Broome: 366 km
Total Trip: 8844 km