Had a leisurely day packing up and leaving the “big smoke” that is Broome behind. No more neighbouring caravans with their TVs blaring while the occupants sit in their annex entertaining their new best friends. No more late night footsteps crunching in the gravel as caravaners and campers take a stroll to the amenities. No more questions like “where have you come from” or “where are you headed”? In some cases I suspect the more elderly are questioning the meaning of life and not making idle travel gossip. At least that’s what it could be mistaken for.
A quick stop at an ATM in Broome to get sufficient cash to cover us during our time on the Dampier Peninsula, and we were back on the open road. Not far out of Broome the Cape Leveque turnoff took us northward, firstly on a sealed road then eventually on a sandy and recently muddy but now dusty track. We somehow ended up at the tail end of a group of vehicles travelling in the same direction as us. It proved useful as the lead vehicle was calling out oncoming traffic and track hazards on their UHF radio. This made it easier for us as we could rely on others paying attention while we looked around.
We took a side trip into Beagle Bay (named after the ship Charles Darwin sailed on in 1838) to view a quaint old church that was established as part of a Catholic Mission and subsequently Trappist Monks around 1890. The present church was commenced in 1915 and built from hand made and locally fired bricks. Inside, the church features extensive use of the local pearl shell and other beach shells. We stopped in the shade of some trees for morning tea after checking out the church.
We returned to our journey, back on a sealed road before turning onto another red sandy track signposted to Middle Lagoon. We travelled in a straight line for 13 kms (it is flat out here and there is little need for corners in such situations) before spotting the turnoff to the Munget Community that would take us to our destination at Mayoor Campground overlooking Pender Bay. We learnt from our hosts Jacinta and Lenny why the track in was the way it was. Recent rains had dropped 188mm of rain on the region in 48 hours, just 5 days ago. We also learnt that last night was the first of a cold snap that they took to signal the start of the dry season. The overnight minimum had dropped to 15C!
After checking in, which was an informal affair, we drove the short distance to the camping area perched on cliffs of deep red ochre colours overlooking the bay. We had the pick of the sites and selected one with 180 degree views of the ocean and gradually exposed reef (the 9 metre tide proceeded to empty much of the bay as the afternoon progressed). We are still only sharing the views with a few bush flies and the resident bird population. Our camp is positioned so we will get to see the sun come up without having to get out of bed.