Graham and Chris on Tour 2014 – Update #12 – Broome and the Dampier Peninsula.

On the morning of Friday the 1^st of August we left Derby for Broome, an easy 220km on bitumen.

Within 30km of Broome, having been pre warned of the huge number of caravans and travellers in Broome and the difficulty in getting into a caravan park we decided to spend a night at the Broome Gateway Caravan Park. It was very promising as when we checked in we were asked if we wanted to set up in the generator area or the solar area. Well of coarse the reply was “solar please”. So we were duly shown on the map where the generator area was and we asked to be as far away as possible. Having been allocated our “generator free site” we proceeded to our site. Well bugger me if there is not a damn generator on our site with a power cord leading to the large caravan across the path. Hmmm; so we decided to go back to the office and ask what the heck was going on. “Oh, we will go and speak to the occupant and see what’s up.”

So back to our site and hey, the generator is now missing from our site. The guy obviously twigged at our actions and hid the generator. He then also promised the lady from the office that he would not be using the generator again. The lady then came to us and told us of the good news. “Well what about the 5kva generator on the site just over there”, I say. “Oh that fellow is an exception to the rules” was the mumbled reply.

To cut a long story short, that night we were surrounded by 3, 5kva generators, 2, 1or 2kva generators and the main park gen set which ran all night. We were led to believe that the place ran on solar and that the generator was for back up only. The portable generators were turned off at 9pm. Needless to say we will be reluctant to return to that caravan park. It did have some redeeming features, mainly the ablutions and the excellent water.

It is obvious that people who use generators just don’t get it. They seem to think that it is a sleeping time issue. This could not be further from the truth. It is the quiet late afternoons when the wind dies down and the birds start to settle that is the most annoying. I cannot figure out why a generator needs to run more than a few hours a day. Say from 10am to 3pm, while still annoying, it would be somewhat acceptable. We have noticed however that most people who use generators sit inside their vans and watch bloody TV. No wonder they can’t hear their own bloody generator or their neighbours. Stay at home in the suburbs if you do not want to enjoy the delights of the outdoors.

All I can say is they are very selfish towards their fellow quiet campers.

Sorry for the rant; back to our movements. As we had arrived at the Broome Gateway Park late morning we set up camp and then headed into Broome (30km) for lunch and check out the Information office.

About 10kms out of Broome we noticed a sign pointing off to the left – “Broome Bird Observatory, Camping 15km” down a dirt track. Storing that away for future reference we continued into town. Had a great lunch at the pub, from where I rang Broome Toyota to book the car in for a service the following Thursday, 6 days away, the earliest booking I could get. We did a little shopping and had a bit of a look around Broome and Cable Beach and headed back out to our Caravan Park not quite sure how we were going to fill in the 6 days to the car service. One option was to go up the coast to some free camping at Quandong Point, off the Cape Leveque road, but that was 50+ kms up a dirt road and getting the car in for the service from there would have been problematic. So we were thinking that we would perhaps camp at Quandong for a few days then return to the Broome Gateway Park, despite the generator issue and use it as a base to get our car serviced the following Thursday. On our our return to the Broome Gateway we decided to drive into the Bird Observatory and check it out. Well it was a lovely small camp ground with reasonable facilities. We booked ourselves in for the following Monday and decided we would head out to Quondong Point for 3 days the following morning.

Quondong Point Camp Site – Sensational Views

As Quondong Point is a free camping area, it obviously in high demand. Heading out on a Friday morning to try and avoid the rush of the Broome locals heading up to the area for the weekend, we were lucky to eke out a reasonable camp spot with fabulous views of the coastline. Huge stretches of deserted beaches and rocky points to explore. We had a wonderful 3 days camped at Quodong. Monday morning we headed into the Bird Observatory. Now Birders are a lively bunch of people but a little different to us lot who love birds but don’t bird watch in a serious manner. To do that you need (apparently) to wear camouflage attire and assiduously record every bird sighting that you bare witness to. But to give the area it’s due, it is an incredible area for observing shore birds and it is recognised worldwide (apparently) for the vast variety of shore birds that abound in the area. So if you are a birder it is a “must visit”.

Some birdlife in the area of Broome and Dampier Peninsula

After getting the cruiser serviced on the Thursday we packed up on Friday morning to head north. We had decided to head back up the Dampier Peninsular to Middle Lagoon. On the way we rang and booked for a night just to be safe.

We checked into Middle Lagoon late morning and after some issues with our allocated non powered cam spot and some portable generator issues (again) we eventually settle into a great spot, albeit some distant from the beach and from the main camp ground. Meaning of course we did not have ready access to the ablutions. However this was far preferable than having to listen to a crescendo of generators all day as there were no restrictions on the use of generators despite the fact there were powered sights available. I do not understand a park that has power then allow people to provide their own power with a generator.

Our Middle Lagoon Site – not near the beach but no generators either. Very much in our own secluded spot.

Now don’t get me wrong, Middle Lagoon is a lovely spot, but in early August it was a very busy place to camp. We have not had any respite from the crowds since arriving in Kununurra on the 2^nd of July and were fed up with caravans, generators and hoards of people. This area of Australia in the months of June July and August are particularly busy.

Despite our unease with the crowds at Middle Lagoon we ended up staying 3 nights. On the first day we headed to Cape Leveque for the day, just to see what all the hullabaloo and rave reviews were all about. The camp ground and facilities at Cape Leveque we must say were excellent, and the beaches were perfect, but we could not see what all the fuss was about, and all the rave reviews we have read and been told by others about Cape Leveque. When one considers that to get in during the month of July and most of August you have to book 12 months in advance just to camp there. Amazing!

On our return from Cape Leveque to Middle Lagoon we dropped into Whale Song camp ground and Café. What an absolute find that place is. We asked if we could check out the camp ground only to be told “we respect the privacy of our guests and we therefore do not allow people to wander into the camp ground simply to check it out”. While disappointed, it was a great indicator to us that this might be a camp ground that we would like. Then when we were told the generator rules, 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon albeit reluctant on the owners behalf that they allowed generators at all, we thought “hmmmm!, this is for us”; the clincher being that there were only 5 camp sites (6 at a stretch) so we advised that we would be coming to stay on the following Monday.

So on the Monday morning we packed up at Middle Lagoon and did the long trek to Whale Song, all of 6 km arriving at around 5min past 9 in the morning. We have now broken our previous record of the shortest distance travelled in a day, the previous record being 12 km in 2008 at Gregory National Park.

Images from Dampier Peninsula

After checking in we drove into the camp ground to find a bloke and his wife and daughter packing up. They were from New York (he was an ex Aussie and had lived in the US for 20 odd years and married to an American woman). They had been set up in the pick of the sites and suggested to us that we should wait for them to leave. Then out of the blue he advised that at another camp spot he had been taken fishing by a local Aboriginal man and had caught more fish than they could eat. “Would you like some?”; “Well, yes if you are sure you cannot eat it yourselves”. So we had our dinner that night provided by the good will of a fellow camper.

It took us all of 5 minute at Whale Song to decide that we would stay an extra 2 nights. While the swimming beach was not fantastic, the place was a treasure with fabulous views, fabulous café (great coffee and sensational home made cheese cake) and unique facilities, particularly the open air shower – amazing.

Shower is Available.

Open air shower – Whale Song Camp Ground

As I write this we are still camped at Whale Song and head off tommorrow, Thursday 14^th August, and will reluctantly set up at Broome Gateway Caravan park, despite the generators, it is positioned conveniently and has great water for filling up our water tanks. Once set up we will head into Broome for supplies then head out the following day for Barn Hill station stay, a little further down the coast.