Cape Leveque

My Western Australia wilderness adventure continues: Peter and Toni kindly lent me their own car so I could go by myself on a two-day trip to explore the area north of Broome, the Dampier Peninsula.

The first photo is Cable Beach at Broome. This is the Indian Ocean. The beaches at Australia's west coast are differerent from those at the east coast: they are usually much longer stretches of beach uninterrupted by bays, headlands and rivers. Cable beach is 22 km long, so it will take you a while if you want to walk it... Further south is Eighty Mile Beach, which is actually not 80 but 140 miles (220 km) in length!

I enjoyed driving the four-wheel-drive Nissan Patrol! The 2.8 tons car ran smoothly and was comfortable (with automatic gear and air-con) and good fun to drive. I had everything I needed with me for this expedition: water, a tent, air mattress and blanket, a battery-powered refrigerator, food and drink, a gas cooker, a foldable table and chair.

I camped the first night at the very remote Middle Lagoon, a tranquil and picturesque campsite by the sea managed by an aboriginal family. I saw a most beautiful sunset there while collecting firewood, so I hurried back to get my camera!

The second day I reached the very tip of the peninsula, called Cape Leveque, and stayed at the popular tourist resort Kooljaman. I also visited the aboriginal villages Lombadina and One Arm Point (with a hatchery where you can see how they breed fish, shells and turtles).

Look at those marvellous red-white sandstone rocks, eroded by time, wind and water. The weather turned overcast and rain kept coming and going from Thursday on, so swimming and walking was a bit limited. I returned to Broome on Friday because the weather forecast had predicted heavy rains and I've been warned that the roads might then be flooded and hard to drive on. It turned out I was very lucky to have come back in time: today (Saturday) Cape Leveque Road has been closed for traffic, and I would have been stuck up there!