Best Term 2 Ever: 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?