Week Commencing 25.07.10

Sunday 25.07.10 – Up early and put the van in storage so we could head off on another Camping adventure. On the road early and we were both very excited about this trip. First stop was Whalesong Bush Camp. To get to this beautiful place we had to leave the bitumen and travel 100kms on dirt road, reasonable condition. Turn off to Whalesong took us on another half an hour on a sandy road to the campsite. We were not disappointed when we arrive, very eco friendly. There was only four other campers so very quiet and private. We set up camp at the top of a cliff which overlooked the bay. Stunning views. Not long before the whales gave us a special show. After setting up camp we headed to the cafe of a nice cuppa – which I must say was delicious – yum hot chocolate. We then went for a walk along the beach, as it was low tide the rocks were exposed and we were able to climb over them. It seemed that we were the only humans on this beautiful beach. Back to camp to this time watch the moon come up and this was fantastic. Even the shower was something to remember, a bush shower which was delightful. The toilet was different also, the whole place was great. See the pictures attached. John got the fire going and once again cooked meal a fantastic meal. I think I am the only traveller out here who has her own special chef nearly every night. I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful husband. Love him so much. Thanks Johnny for all you give me.
Description of Whalesong Cafe, Campground
Whalesong, Cafe, Campground and Camels Munget Aboriginal Community;c/- Cape
Munget Aboriginal Community is located on the Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia. It is the largest bay on the western side of the Peninsula; there are whales, sea eagles, migratory birds, water birds, beautiful shells and hermit and ghost crabs. There are spectacular views of the coast line with pindan cliffs and amazing sandstone formations. Join them as you ride the camels through the bush to the beach; learn from local guides about bush tucker, the trees and their uses to Aboriginal people. Experience the country - learn the culture.


Monday 26.07.10 – After breakkie we decamp and continue on our adventure. Today we are heading to Cape Leveque Resort for two days. Once again we travel back down the sandy track to continue North to Cape Leveque. We arrive and this time we find ourselves at a full one resort environment. Here they have cabins on the beach, cabins, camp sites. We are given a site on the cliff edge overlooking the ocean. We are very pleased to hear this, until we see our site, no shade, not a tree in site. Here we are 30degs and no shade. Anyway we set up camp in the heat and then head to the beach. The Western beach is not available for driving you can drive down to the rocks but not on the beach. John tries his luck at fishing but once again unsuccessful. I enjoy the afternoon walking along the beach collecting shells and sitting the shade of the car reading my book. (I am very proud of myself that I am reading books). We drive over to Eastern beach, you can drive on the beach here. We find a shelter and I make a nice lunch, we are joined by an 84 year old lady who is on a tour and doesn’t want to do the walk along the beach. We share some of our water with her and spend the next hour listening to her life story. You met all sorts of folks out here in the world of travel and holidays. She was a lovely lady and both John and I enjoyed her stories. We then decided to go for a swim and a walk. We walked for about an hour, over rocks and found a little rock pool to have a swim. Just lovely! John then wanted to head down to the beach to once again try his luck at the fishing. I spent the afternoon collecting shells and reading. John caught himself a nice flathead which we enjoyed for dinner that night. When the sun was on its way down we headed off back to Western beach to catch the Sunset. This was one of the most beautiful sunsets we have seen so far. We headed back to camp to cook dinner shower and hit the sack, it had been a long hot day. We were awaken about 4 hours after we went to bed to find that the airbed had a leak, so John had to get up and pump it up. Four hours later he had to do the same thing. Bugger!!!
Tuesday 27.07.10 - We awoke to find there had been a very heavy dew and everything was wet. Eventually the sun came over and dried things. We were out of camp by 9am as it was very hot and we had no shade. We spent the morning on the beach fishing and reading, walking and collecting more shells. We then came back to camp to have lunch at one of the joint shelters, while we were enjoying our lunch the whales decided to put on a show for us, even though there is no shade at our camp it is a very nice place. We started talking to an English couple who came to Australia in 2003 and decided to buy a 4WD, campervan do a 4WD drive and travel around Australia until they found somewhere they would like to live. They have a house at Paroo (near Tin Can Bay) they tell us they work for a few months and then take to the road again. This has been their life since arriving in Australia. It was great talking to them as Denis knew alot about fishing and they also gave us some information about place down the west coast. We then headed off to at place called One Arm Point, now when we arrived here they wanted $10 each to just drive through the town. John thought this was crazy so we turned around. We then took a track into another campsite just for a look and was told it would cost us $5 each to drive around the campsite. Once again we declined. Anyway we had a nice afternoon and returned to camp to see another beautiful sunset.
Description of Cape Leveque

Kooljaman at Cape Leveque is a wilderness style luxury camp which is surrounded by a diversity of natural wonders. The amazing wildlife, the vast array of marine life and a stunning coastline which allows unrestricted views of magnificent sunrises and sunsets, makes this a truly unique experience.
Kooljaman is the Bardi Aboriginal name for the land at the tip of the Dampier Peninsula north of Broome. The two surrounding indigenous communities of Djarindjin and One Arm Point jointly own Kooljaman and have developed the facility in line with the community’s aspirations and their inherent knowledge of the land. Kooljaman at Cape Leveque has been established for 20 years and has won numerous state tourism awards and recently won four Australian Tourism Awards.

Wednesday 28.07.10 – Today we decamp and head to Middle Lagoon. Middle Lagoon is about an 1 hour south along the bitumen and then along the same sand track we took to Whalesong, they are neighbours. Arriving a Middle Lagoon we were hoping for a shady spot. When shown our campsite we were delighted, shade shade and more shade, not much grass but we could live with that. We set up camp in no time and headed straight to the beach for a swim. The water was fantastic, it was very salty and we both just floated and enjoyed the cool. We spent the afternoon exploring the area. You could not drive on any of the beaches here but we found some great tracks up on the cliffs. We found a bay with a beautiful beach, John walked down but I gave up halfway as it was very steep. John found another way down and we decided we would come back here tomorrow and fish. Back to camp and then an hour walk along the beach to complete the afternoon. John collected some wood so we could have a fire after dinner. Once again a fantastic meal and then a few drinks around the fire before bed.
Thursday 29.07.10 – Up nice and early as the bed isn’t as comfortable the one in our van. Also John had to pump up again during the night. After breakfast we headed to our private beach we had found the day before. John had some luck here fishing, caught about five fish in all, unfortunately they were all undersize and we had to kiss them and give them back to grow bigger. Anyway I had a happy Johnny as he said he really enjoyed bringing them all in. Especially one fish called a Long Tom, they are very long fish with very sharp teeth, but John says they are fun catching. We spent about four hours here, really a nice place. Back to camp and headed straight to the lagoon for another swim before lunch. We spent the afternoon reading, collecting wood for yet a bigger fire and watching the going ons of the camp. We got some new neighbours, about 12 people from a cattle station on a two day broke. They were lovely people, made themselves known to us. The guys dressed in their jeans and riding boots and then later changed into board shorts and tee-shirts. They headed off to do some fishing and the kids played footy on the beach. We also met another couple who were farmers from the big Tam (Tamworth), they were a real nice couple on a three month holiday in a 4WD and tent. We enjoyed dinner and then we had a huge fire for our last night. All in all it was a fantastic five days. Really like the camping thing.
Friday 30.07.10 – Once again up early and heading back to Broome as we have the car in for a Ming service at noon. We have a good trip back along the 100kms of dirt road, sure is nice to hit the bitumen. Back to Broome Caravan park, move van to site and tackled the washing etc. Busy afternoon.
Saturday 31.07.10 – Still washing, nearly finished. John and I head off to buy me a fishing rod as we will be fishing all the way down the coast and I thought I should get in on the act. Dropped John at the TAB and I headed to town to once again check out the markets and do the shopping for our next adventure.
Description of Middle Lagoon
Middle Lagoon is an Aboriginal operated camping area. Wulgarding is the name of the dream-time snake that protects the area. Middle Lagoon is also the name of the Aboriginal Corporation.

Located approximately 182 km from Broome via the Cape Leveque Road & 65 km from Beagle Bay, Middle Lagoon is 31 km off the tar along a sandy track. The 20 hectare camping area is located on a black rocky headland overlooking beautiful crystal clear water.

Commonly referred to as "Natures Hideaway", Middle Lagoon has great fishing with boat launching access, Accommodation includes a few cabins, beach shelters and bush camp sites some with water nearby. You could set up on the dune overlooking the beach but to avoid the wind there are sites among the trees, this is truly a Kimberley cruising getaway!