Broome and Cape Leveque

From Cape Keraudren we continued north to have had a couple of days stopover in Broome, a night at Cable beach and then out to the Broome Gateway Caravan Park. Much prefer this park where we have room to breathe unlike being crammed into Cable Beach. We did the obligatory Cable Beach Sunset but have seen much better sunsets out in the bush. We had a wander through the Courthouse Market and then walked down to the “Roey” Pub for lunch in the open air courtyard. A lovely meal in a nice setting.

(P) I have visited Broome a few times over the years, the “Old world” charm of the Old town and China Town has almost disappeared with just a few of the old buildings left! Broome has become a popular “short stay” getaway, the local population of 14-15,000 swells with visitors bringing the population up to 50-70,000 in the town and the ever popular Cable Beach. There are many popular bars, clubs and restaurants to entertain the tourists. Whilst great to see Broome and Cable Beach, the sunsets and nature of the remote coastal areas we have been fortunate to camp at, to us are far superior than the hustle and bustle of hundreds trying to jockey for prime sunset viewing at Cable Beach. However I must mention how great the “Tenderspot” Butchery is – evidently I may have over spent there a little!)

We are leaving our van at the Caravan park and heading up to Cape Leveque with our rooftop Penthouse for a few nights. We have heard so many rumours about places being closed up here so not sure what we will find but we are here so we are not going to miss the opportunity to drive up and tick a few spots off our bucket list. Our first two nights are at Cygnet Bay Bush Camp, almost at the tip of the Cape, 200k north of Broome, on a mostly sealed road. The trip is nothing to write home about, being scrubby to the edge of the road, flood plains and flat most of the way. It’s not until you take the side roads, that you start to see the gorgeous coastline. Many of the aboriginal communities are closed but the camping areas are open and if you don’t have a camping spot booked you can just get a day pass to have a look around. We arrived at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm early afternoon and checked in. Drove out to the campground and set up. We have a beautiful little spot, shaded by big trees and sheltered from the hot sun. After lunch we walked down to the beach. This is not the most spectacular beach area but it’s a bush camp not a beach camp. We walked around the bay keeping a check out for crocodiles even though they said they hadn’t seen any for a few years. Then back to relax at our camp. Later in the afternoon we walked back to the beach to watch the sun set over the mangroves.

After breakfast we take the walking track around to reception in time for our Pearl Farm Tour.

This is the write up about where we re staying

“An epic story; the original Australian owned and operated pearl farm spans four generations of the Brown Family over more than 70 years.  Until recently, it has been an exclusive pearling village accessible only to our pearl farm team and the local Bardi people.  In an industry first, Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm “opened the gate” and invited travellers to share in this very special place, recently described as “one of the most unique destinations in Australia”.

The tour gives us an insight into the pearling industry up here and how this family has worked with the indigenous people to create a thriving industry here. We were shown how the oysters were seeded to produce pearls and then shown how they “birth a pearl” and have it assessed for quality, size, colour and lustre. It was a very informative tour. After the tour we wander back to our camp for a while before returning to the restaurant for lunch, which we enjoyed on the deck overlooking Cygnet Bay.

(P) I was all ready to purchase the said “new birthed pearl” for Judith but when I was ready to inspected the 10mm diameter shimmering “new born” some other male obviously keen to impress purchased it before I could fight my way through the moths in my wallet to extract the cash! Maybe another time Judith!!! )

Next day we pack up and head out to visit Kooljaman, another camping area and the tip of the Cape. This again is a lovely area with beaches on both the east and western side of the cape. The eastern side being the most sheltered today. White beach, sand dunes and blue waters and safe swimming. The western side is red cliffs, white sands, sharks and no recommended swimming. Such a contrast between each side. We payed $20 to have access to the area for the day, most worthwhile to be able to see what the area is like, we noted it for a camp spot next visit.

From here we head back down south until we reach the turn off to Middle Lagoon. We now have a 40 kilometre sand track into the campground where we booked yesterday for tonight. This bit of track could bring a few people undone if they didn’t know what they were doing. It was very sandy in places and a one vehicle track in but it was well worth the drive to come out at Middle Lagoon

Two lovely beaches to choose from. Sun set point to sit and watch the whales and the sunset from and warm water to swim in. We fitted in two swims, one at each beach.

Next day we have to leave as we have an appointment to keep in Derby. But we will be back this is a gorgeous spot.

(P) One would say Cape Leveque would have to rate highly as a place to revisit and spend more time. Whilst we ticked a couple of places off our bucket list, we added more!)