We drove north to the Dampier Peninsula, famous for its scenic untouched locations owned by the local indigenous population. We drove up its corrugated roads for 170km and stayed at one of the northern campgrounds – Gunbarnum – run by a local aboriginal family. We were looking forward to this because as a family we hadn't met many aboriginal people or hand any real exposure to their culture outside of Crocodile Dundee films.
Our first stop on the corrugated road was the aboriginal town of Beagle Bay. This town appeared mostly deserted, with a few kids on bicycles ambling around. We stopped to visit its pretty white church set up by the Order of St John of God. This pretty white church is famous for its interior with a mother of peal decorated alter and interior.
We caught up again with Nick, Brigid & their kids and stayed at a spot that they had saved for us next to them and we shared a campfire for the next few days. The spot was well shaded, though a little small for us – with our tent a little squished around the edges – but who's complaining!!
The poorly attached Warn winch control box on our 4WD finally shook loose, with the brackets fractures finally giving way and we had to strap it on with plastic ties. Thanks Nick for the ties and help! Also, the hand-brake cable of the camper-trailed had snapped – it had worn through so I had to crawl under the camper-trailer to remove it until it could be fixed. I'll try to see if I can reattach it myself....
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| Frayed brake cables! |
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| Plastic ties holding on winch control box - no gaffa tape! |
We visited Cape Leveque (Kooljaman) on the northern tip of the peninsula. At this very fancy resort we went on a ½ day tour lead by Brian, a local aboriginal leader who was also a director of Koojaman. We went on a great tag-along 4WD across beautiful sandy beaches and turquoise blue seas. We stopped for some hear some aboriginal stories and try our hand at fishing. Brian tried some spear-fishing in crystal clear creek waters, but we didn't do any mud-crabbing as the tide was too high. That was a real disappointment as it was to be a highlight of the tour. We have to try somewhere else. Anyway, we even ripped off the head of a bird and sucked out it juice – not to worry it was the nectar of green bird flower.
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| Story-telling |
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| Fishing |
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| Building drip-castles |
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| Jordan Dundee! |
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| Brian spear-fishing |
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| Green bird-flower |
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| 4WD'ing along beautiful beaches |
We visited the fish hatchery at One Armed Point where they grown small tcrochus shells and release them on local reefs to ensure sustainable harvesting. We saw some amazing fish there including some huge 17 year old barramundi, which showed themselves as powerful predators when it was feeding time. The kids felt corals, strange looking starfish and something I think called pencil star-fish?
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| Barra-feeding frenzy |
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| Turtles |
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| Clown-fish |
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| Jasmine holding a clam |
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| Ben with a starfish |
Sun-rise and sun-set at Gunbarnum was particularly beautiful. The kids busied themselves playing amongst the trees. We cooked up some nice dinners on open fires using the camp-oven and tripod. Many games of scrabble, boggle and risk were played as we all relaxed. Brigid is the undisputed queen of Boggle while I made a claim for scrabble. We made the fire big enough for both families to cook on, and some nice dinners and deserts were had made in a camp-oven.
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| Camp-site at night |
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| Plum crumble and custard |
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| Campfire with tripod |
Robyn visited the Cygnet Bay Peal Farm, the oldest family run farm in the world with Jordan. Jordan enjoyed they trip with mum, learning about the categories that described peal quality: lustre, size, shape, colour and texture. Luckily, she didn't buy any here..... at least that's what she told me!
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| The one that got away |
The beaches were nice to swim on but the rocks underneath took away some of the pleasure.That – and having to keep an eye out for the crocs was a bit disconcerting!
