Cape Leveque surrounds

There is a lot to do around Cape Leveque. There is of course the many tours offered from Kooljaman that range from Cultural Tours, Spearmaking, Fishing, Mudcrabbing and Flights but also the surrounding communities such as One Arm Point and Lombadina. We headed out to One Arm Point as we had heard about the well stocked store and Hatchery. You can buy long life milk to washing machines at the store. I got so excited that when I went to the cashier I brought our little trolly onto the wrong side (right beside the cashier)- anyone would think it was my first time shopping. To enter One Arm Point you don't have to cut off one of your arms as Michael kept telling the girls (another Dad joke) but you do have to buy a day permit which is $10 per adult, which also included entry into the Trochus Hatchery.

Trochus Hatchery. The Trochus shells are absolutely beautiful and are a cone like shell all polished up. Our neighbour on the beach shelter bought us one as we gave him some spare parts for his car. We love it.

As you can see Olive was thrilled to be there and was lucky to not get her fingers taken off by a hungry barra at feeding time. She was however very excited to see Brian again as he was on a tour and arrived at the Hatchery the same time.

Lion Fish was one of the fish in the tanks. The reef just a km offshore at the Hatchery had some amazing giant clams, huge rock oysters, blue ringed octopus and some lovely Salties. You can walk out to the reef only if you know what you are doing as the tides come in so so quickly and of course there are a few crocs!!!

This is the view from our beach shelter which was home for 4 glorious nights.

Our beach shelter came with a shower (far right hand corner), water, picnic table, fire pit and timber for fire.

We went to Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm for lunch as they had a new cafe/restaurant open and it was really busy. The food was great as was the Mango Beer. It's a fairly remote area and so it's always surprising after driving along a bumpy sandy track to find such a vibrant little place. We got chatting to another family there also having lunch and ended up spending the next day with them as Michael went out fishing with Corey in his tinny and us girls swam and made shell necklaces.

On our last day we had one last swim in the beautiful beach just out the front of our shelter and made tracks to Lombadina. Lombadina is a beautiful indigenous community with neatly clipped lawns and gardens, art and craft shop, unique church, general store, bakery and cabin accommodation. We fuelled up and as well as bought a few things from the store.

Beautiful hand crafted timber used in the building of this Church.

Lombadina school

Fig roots.

On the bitumen to Derby we were flagged down by a mate from Michaels work and so we all pulled over on the side of the road to have a chat- many thousands of Kilomteres from home and it's amazing who you meet.

We are on our way to Derby to meet my Mum and Dad and to spend a few days with them at Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek. We are then on the Gibb River Road for about 3 weeks where we are assuming there will be no internet coverage, so if you see a post within the next few weeks it may mean that we have blown a shock, diff or some other car part that I don't know about on the GRR and have been towed to Kunnunurra.Hopefully our next post will find us safe and sound and lots of new stories on the other side of the Gibb.

Magic Mudcrabbing day

Our day started with a beautiful sunrise before 6am. The girls didn't even stir as we crept out of the camper to watch it. We made a coffee and watched the sun rise in the comfort of our camp chairs. We get the same view from our bed as our camper is high off the ground but it's also soooo nice to be "up" with the sun.

We had a swim before brekky, did a quick load of washing (1machine for all of Kooljaman so there is a queue) and then headed to reception to meet Brian, our Mudcrabbing tour man. Brian is a proud Bardi man and is a wealth of knowledge. We were mesmerised by  his stories of dreamtime, history and everyday life.

 It is a tag-a-long tour so we drove behind and followed Brian up the  beach into a no access part of Kooljaman for cultural reasons and he showed us a great swimming spot. 

We were swimming, the girls were swimming over and under the little waves and Brian remarks "oh there's a shark" !!! Michael grabs Rubes and puts her up on his shoulders and asks if we should get out of here...."Nah, he's not interested in us", as the shark swam away.

Brian was digging up some beach crabs

Two girls had driven past the 'no access point' on the eastern beach and got themselves bogged. The tide came in and sank the Prado, then the surf lolled it around until it was beached and someone rescued them a couple of days later. No car insurance is going to cover that! The log books were still sitting on the front seat.

The girls followed Brian wherever he went. This is Hunter Creek where we went Mudcrabbing and fishing.

Brian speared 3 Mangrove Jack in about 20mins. Beautiful clear creek. There are Salties here and he did see one last week so we were keeping a keen eye on the water and banks.

Olive and Brian looking for Mudcrab holes

We got one!

It took at least 20-30mins to get the crab out of its hole so the girls had a swim and play with Brian, whilst Michael and Rick had a go at getting the Muddy out. I am still keeping a keen eye out for crocs.

Now that's a Mudcrab!

At the start of the tour, the girls could not even pick up a soldier crab and at the end of the day Rubes was happy to even put a knife through the crab to kill it, in prep for the open fire!

The girls chased these little soldier crabs, which were in their thousands and picked them up and played with them and were just so happy to be playing in the creek, helping Brian and wading through the water.

It lost its claws in the process.

What a memory! Collecting firewood to cook our Mangrove Jack and Muddies. Soooo happy right now!!!

A little Muddie.

Rubes prepping the crab for the altar.

Not a bad lunch feed. The girls ate Mudcrab like they were paddle pops, and ate hot fleshy Mangrove Jack fish laid out on a "table" of mangrove leaves.

Olive sharing her muesli bar with her new bestie!!

What a day! We were so proud of our girls today. They got over their initial fear of crabs, let alone crocodiles, and had the best day. Brian was also very smitten with our girls and our half day tour turned into a full day tour. Our day finished with a swim back at our beach and we had to drag our girls out of the water (5:30pm) as happy hour and sunset was calling. 

 If you are ever up on the Dampier Peninsula, you must book on Brian Lee Mudcrabbing Tour. It was a day we will never forget!!

Cape Leveque

Wow! Picture this...... You arrive at the farthest north westerly point in Australia and there is a cafe/restaurant,  campground, vibrant red pindan rocks and cliffs, and amazing water to swim in. It's called Cape Leveque. We had booked a few months ago a beach shelter at $90 a night, which means you have your own private shelter on the beach front, complete with shower, table, fire pit and fresh water. It was certainly worth it as our first day, actually hours after arriving we watched the start of the whale migration. 2 whales were having a whale of a time out there and we watched it all from our beach shelter. How wonderful!! 

Whale spout.

The water is like a bath,clear and beautiful and just so refreshing. We don't feel like we are constantly looking out for dark shadows as it is just so safe. We feel it is the pinnacle of our trip and we are not even halfway through, let alone spent one night!  We thought Middle Lagoon was beautiful but this place just blows your mind. Maybe we are a little excited at having good coffee and having someone else cook and wash up for us? The main campground is a drive away to the beach but they do get the better sunset view, however having the beach shelter means much easier access (20m away) and you don't need even to take towels as you can duck back to shelter for showers and drying off. It's actually that hot that you dry off on walk back. As it is a Cape, we can watch the sun rise over the water from our campsite and walk around headland to watch the sunset over the water.

I look across to Michael( shorts n singlet) who has Ruby asleep in his arms, fire is crackling, pizza in weber, a million stars above, waves lolling in distance and I'm not the bit scared of any brown snake that may come slithering out from the Pandanus right beside me as I'm just soooo content. Life could not get any better here. 

We are off Mudcrabbing today with a local indigenous man, Brian Lee.

Sunrise.

We are here for four nights 

Middle lagoon

Yep, we have finally reached Rancho Relaxo! Hello Middle Lagoon!  The drive from Broome to Middle Lagoon is a bumpy, sandy, corrugated (hold into your chest) type of road but your destination to virtually any campsite up on Dampier Peninsula is a rewarding one. It took us about 2.5hrs along Cape Leveque Rd to Middle Lagoon Rd, and that was with a repair of Ruby's bike rack shaking loose. Michael's engineering skills came to the for, with cable ties tying it down.

We stopped at Whalesong Cafe and Campground as we were starving and had, had no lunch. Whalesong is simply amazing, as when you are driving there, you wonder how they carved the road in such a remote location, let alone put in a organic cafe with fair trade coffee from East Timor. We had our beautiful pizza overlooking Pender Bay and you can just imagine migrating Whales coming into calf as they are so renowned for, in this Bay.

Middle lagoon

We arrived at Middle Lagoon and it is absolutely beautiful. The beach and lagoon is great for swimming, fishing and general relaxing. The sunset that evening on arrival was sensational as it was the first one with a bit of cloud cover. Fisheries were hosting a free BBQ that night near the amenities block, so as young grey nomads that we are, we go along for a free feed, and to hear some valuable information on fish limits per day etc. We have secured a great camp site right above the beach, called the "ridge" and it is the best spot for sunsets, and easy access via a sandy track down hill to beach. 15steps away. Love love love!!!

The next day at Middle Lagoon was spent exploring the camping area and the lagoon, as well as spending at least 2.5hrs down the beach. We lost track of time and forgot that we had only one night more booked here. We took a drive to G.............. to see if it was worthwhile camping there but realised as soon as were driving away from Middle Lagoon that we wanted to go back.Rubes and olive have found a great little friend in Maddie (who looks very much like rubes friend from school who is also a " Maddie"). 

Cooking smarties cookies.

The girls will spend hours looking for crabs , shells, and any other special "cool" thing on the beach. They will spend at least an hour in the water jumping over/ under the little waves, singing 'Frozen' songs and then playing crocodile or any other 'Kimberley ' danger game. Both beaches/ bays at Middle Lagoon are great for swimming and we were told by the local indigenous family about a rock to jump off. It's called Eagle rock. With a lot of hesitation and trying to be brave in front of kids I swam out and rushed up on Eagle Rock. Halfway through my jump after I cleared the rocks, I crumbled, and performed the biggest belly flop and then only to swim very fast back to the kids and Michael to say " See, it's not so bad you scaredy cats"! 

Middle Lagoon is such a reward for anyone who travels the Cape Leveque Rd. We can understand how the long term stayers love it here with their simple life of catching small yellow crabs in the tidal change as bait, that they will then use to catch for their dinner. I love everything about Middle Lagoon/ to the dirt roads meandering around each campsite, the low lying Eucalyptus and the have I told you how beautiful the beaches were?? On our last day we were hoping to go into Beagle Bay to see the Church and buy some bread/ pies from Bakery but we forgot which day it was and most services in the Kimberley shut down on Saturday afternoon. Luckily we could still view the beautiful white church which is ordained with Mother of Pearl. 

Luckily, Whalesong Cafe was still open for smoothies, coffee and a decent slice of apple / blueberry cake. They also had a seashell book and we've identified Rubes fave shell as , Top Shell. I can't believe Ado, how useful that seashell book you bought so many years ago would've come in handy!! If only we brought it !!!

We had found a great dirt road at the back of the camping area which was such a highlight in our stay. Pandanus lined the rugged coast with red pindan cliffs. It was a very photogenic drive and all finished off with a quick swim before sunset nibbles. We have chatted to quite a lot of people in campsite and we were offered on our last night by 3 different people if we would like some fish for dinner. So on our last night we cooked up fresh fish( not sure what type ) that had already been gutted and filleted. We shallow fryed it in a runny beer batter and it was a very fitting way for us to end our time here at the Lagoon . 

Middle Lagoon

Yep, we have finally reached Rancho Relaxo! Hello Middle Lagoon!  We are here for the next 4 nights. The drive from Broome to Middle Lagoon is a bumpy, sandy, corrugated (hold into your chest) type of road but your destination to virtually any campsite up on Dampier Peninsula is a rewarding one. It took us about 2.5hrs along Cape Leveque Rd to Middle Lagoon Rd, and that was with a repair of Ruby's bike rack shaking loose. Michael's engineering skills came to the for, with cable ties tying it down.

We stopped at Whalesong Cafe and Campground as we were starving and had, had no lunch. Whalesong is simply amazing, as when you are driving there, you wonder how they carved the road in such a remote location, let alone put in a organic cafe with fair trade coffee from East Timor. We had our beautiful pizza overlooking Pender Bay and you can just imagine migrating Whales coming into calf as they are so renowned for, in this Bay.

Middle lagoon

We arrived at Middle Lagoon and it is absolutely beautiful. The beach and lagoon is great for swimming, fishing and general relaxing. The sunset that evening on arrival was sensational as it was the first one with a bit of cloud cover. Fisheries were hosting a free BBQ that night near the amenities block, so as young grey nomads that we are, we go along for a free feed, and to hear some valuable information on fish limits per day etc. We have secured a great camp site right above the beach, called the "ridge" and it is the best spot for sunsets, and easy access via a sandy track down hill to beach. 15steps away. Love love love!!!

The next day at Middle Lagoon was spent exploring the camping area and the lagoon, as well as spending at least 2.5hrs down the beach. We lost track of time and forgot that we had only one night more booked here. We took a drive to Gnylmarung camping area to see if it was worthwhile camping there but realised as soon as were driving away from Middle Lagoon that we wanted to go back.

We made smarties cookies in the Weber.

Rubes and Olive have found a great little friend in Maddie (who looks like Rubes friend from school who is also a Maddie). The girls will spend hours looking for crabs, shells, and any other special 'cool' thing on the beach. They will spend at least an hour in the water jumping over/under the little waves, singing "Frozen" songs and then playing crocodile or any other 'Kimberley' danger game.

I wonder if West Australians ever tire of these beautiful sunsets?

Mother of Pearl ornately decorated in the Beagle Bay Sacret Heart Church.

 It wasn't a Sunday obviously but is heavily connected to the school- Sacret Heart School.

The Beagle Bay Church is pure white and restored nicely. It's obvious that it is in good use.

Once we realised we had got the wrong day( Beagle Bay Bakery and Community store are only open til 11am on Saturday)and were starving, we high tailed it to Whalesong Cafe and were treated with this view! They had also had a seashell book and we've identified Rubes fave shell as a Top shell. I can't believe Ado, how useful that seashell book you bought me so many years ago, would've come in handy. If only we brought it with us !

This is the view of our campground at Middle Lagoon.

We were told by the local indigenous family about a rock to jump off. Its called Eagle Rock. With a lot of hesitation and trying to be brave in front of the kids I swam out and rushed up on Eagle Rock. Halfway through my jump after I cleared the rocks, I crumbled and performed the biggest belly flop and then only to swim very fast back to the girls and Michael. " see it's not so bad after all, you scaredy cats"!

This stunning drive that we took late afternoon on our last day was such a highlight to find so many little bays and photo spots. Pandanus lined the rugged coast with red pindan cliffs. We finished off with a quick before swim before sunset nibbles.

Great spot for a bush wee and to take it all in!!!

We have chatted to quite a lot of people in our campsite and we were offered on our last night by 3 different people if we would like some fish for dinner? That's the kind of fishing I like! So on our last night we cooked up fresh fish which had already been gutted and filleted. We shallow fryed it in a runny beer batter and it was a very fitting way for us to end our time here in Middle Lagoon.

Middle Lagoon is a great reward for anyone travelling the Cape Leveque Rd. We can understand how the long term stayers love it here with their simple life of catching small yellow crabs in the tidal change to use as bait to catch their dinner. We love everything about Middle Lagoon- from the dirt roads meandering around each campsite, the low lying Eucalyptus and the stunning beaches.