Brroome Brroome (part 3)

This morning our departure from the caravan park is a little different than usual. We pack the car with supplies, lock up the caravan and drive off to explore the Dampier Peninsula without the caravan in tow. The road we are taking is corrugated, sandy and is recommended for 4WD vehicles only. The first 100klms are as described as above, but the 2nd 100klms are bitumen. However any roads leading off the main road are all sandy and lots of fun. Did we mention the colour red? Did we mention that after some rain, the road conditions can be challenging? Or that one could end up driving through a rather enormous puddle and end up looking like one of the characters from Lightning McQueen!!  Below is a picture of some cars manouvering themselves around the rather enormous puddle.

Unfortunately, we were not as smart as others! Saw the puddle too late and rather than stopping and potentially getting bogged we floored it and went through in a mighty spray of red. Kids thought it fantastic, dad wondered how long this may take to clean up. It wasn't until we stopped at our first destination that we truly appreciated the full scope of the covering of red mud. 

Arriving at the old Beagle Bay Mission to see the Church and its famous mother of pearl oyster shell altar we saw what our car looked like with a complete respray.

This beautiful little sacred heart Church was consecrated in 1918. The mission itself was established in 1890 by French Trappists and the mission lease was transferred to its aboriginal inhabitants in 1972

After leaving Beagle Bay, and the amused looks of the locals at our cars appearance, we drove 21klms to the turnoff for Middle Lagoon. 33klms of soft red dirt later we arrived at our spartan lodgings for the night. Budget accomodation with million dollar views!!

Four walls of shade cloth, a ceiling fan, mosquito nets over the beds and a bar fridge was the very basic conditions, but with a magnificent beach all to ourselves we couldn't have been more pleased.

Time for some beach fishing, however the fish won this particular round!

Then time for a fire so we could cook our steaks and snags on the cast iron hotplate.

                                                           Goodnight everyone!!

The next morning we regretfully leave Middle lagoon to explore the rest of the Dampier peninsula. First stop was at the Cygnet Bay oyster farm where we enjoyed a most magnificent, and unexpected, breakfast at the Mantle Cafe. As we were a couple of hours early for the 11 o'clock tour we left there for One Arm Point, 10 mins down the road, for the tour of the trochus shell farm and aquaculture ponds.

These are some of the beautifully polished trochus shells which are sent mainly to Italy to be cut up for buttons. The local Ardyaloon community use the income from this venture to help finance their local school and other projects.

The school children also help seeding the reefs with the baby shells which are then later harvested.

Linda getting up close and personal with a barramundi who has just 'boofed' the fish from her fingers.

Then back to the Oyster farm for the tour. Tilly, our guide, explained the history of this place and the family who started and still run it. We also learnt about the whole farming process including how the South Sea Pinctada Maxima oyster is seeded to produce the pearls.

We were also told how the huge tides create the perfect growing conditions for the oysters as lots of water flowing past the oysters brings it more food.

                                                                               Cygnet Bay 

Then we were shown the different colours, lustres, shapes, grades and prices of pearls. Some of the strands shown here are worth over $12,000!! Of course we couldn't leave without a memento. If you just heard a scream it was Robbie's hip pocket!!

No, we didn't buy that strand but it sure looked good!!

After a smoothie and drinks at the cafe we left to have a swim at the aboriginal owned Kooljaman wilderness camp below the lighthouse at Cape Leveque.

After sighting whales in the distance and a quick swim at the stunning west beach, where the red cliffs meet the white sand and cobalt blue sea and sky, we reluctantly head back down the dirt road to our caravan back in Broome.

We avoided the big mud pond on the way back, much to the dismay of the kids, then we passed the protest camp at the turnoff to James Price Point where Woodside has a proposal for a large gas processing plant. To quote the ABC "If you're 'no gas' then the community is at grave risk from industrialisation. If you're 'pro gas' then this industry will build the community and help the disadvantaged. But in the meantime, the biggest threat to the Broome community is the ongoing argument, the anger and the abuse both sides are guilty of."  

So as we rejoin the bitumen and approach Broome the question remains....

Where do we find a carwash???