Best laid plans ... part 3

mcnovies
Aug 15
9 min read

Updated: Aug 16

I have to say, that this region (the Kimberleys), for its relatively modest size packs a punch as far as magnificent landscapes from gorgeous gorges to mountain ranges with sheer escarpments to desert plains and that oh so lovely shade of orange. The landscape is simply awesome. The oranges and reds of the soils; the lushness and variety of greens in the foliage are an awesome sight … and is before you even get to the coast to soak in the azure ocean contrasted in pearl white sand against a red backdrop of cliffs.

With that in mind we left Kununurra and headed the long trek to Broome … all 1000kms plus … through Halls Creek (again) and Fitzroy Crossing with a couple of overnight stops at free roadside camps. One was called Leycesters (so named after a 13 year old child who was killed in a car accident nearby). It was a massive area of about 2-3 acres on the banks of the river (now dry) … between 7.30am-8.00am 24 caravans moved out …

We had a night at Mimbi Caves followed in the morning by a guided tour of the caves by an indigenous guide complete with freshly cooked damper (non GF of course). We heard the stories of the land and its people before heading into the cave network where indigenous groups had previously lived … complete with carvings/scratching’s. The caves were formed some 350 million years ago and were a labyrinth of smaller caves/rooms. During the wet season, the water floods several metres high through the network. There were small fish in some of the clear water ponds in the caves. There is a large flat area not open to the public where the natural coolness of the caves became an area used for childbirth.

We then had a station stay outside of Derby (20km) at Birdwood Downs Station which is working cattle property where you can purchase their meat. The Rodeo was in Derby as where the cowboys and girls … we had two nights at Birdwood Downs and did a day trip up the Windjana Gorge (which is on the Gibb River Road) where we spotted a couple of small (3-4 feet) freshwater crocks and did a bit of a hike along the gorge (for as far as we could get). I can report that the Queensland Tourist was able to meet the challenge but still has her injury dressed.

Leaving Birdwood Downs Station we headed towards Broome – but due to changes in our schedule we had a couple of nights spare before our Broome booking … so we headed north along the Dampier Peninsula to James Price Point … from the highway it is a 36km rough as ... corrugated, sandy track to a free campsite overlooking the beach … we lucked a fabulous spot on the headland … a couple of metres above the sea … with high red sheer cliffs behind us … on arrival I was puzzled by the beauty of the white sand, the blue ocean and not one person in the water … a few hours later when the tide went out … it was all rocks for about 300m … I forgot … the tides rise and fall around 10m!

We had 2 nights here before heading into Broome for a restock, food, fuel and water and a car service.

We were treated to a “local haunts” tour by a couple that we met in Kununurra several weeks back who had been staying with their son in Broome (he was a Bull Catcher … among other things … so they went bull catching in the catching truck (?) complete with choppers and quad bikes doing the round up … anyway … I digress … before lunch we were treated to the non-tourist highlights of Broome … followed by a lovely lunch with Shona and Paul out at the golf club and what a view it has!

Broome is one of the very few places that has the unique phenomena called “Staircase to the Moon” where the (orange) moon paints from the shore across the water to the rising moon on the horizon … it happens three times a month around full moon time only at specific locations … a photographer’s dream … well … it was sorta a dud really …

After our sojourn in Broome, where we had the car serviced and finally the Christmas lights on the dashboard extinguished (another one appeared making 12 messages and lights on the dashboard – the dreaded “check engine light” – turned out to be a faulty DPF issue that was supposed to have been fixed in Alice Springs … a common issue in the 300 series Landcruiser that apparently Toyota don’t have a permanent fix for), we headed again north.

Next, we had a booking for a clifftop beach campsite at Pender Bay Escape on the Dampier Peninsula for 3 nights.

Along the way we called into the Aboriginal community at Beagle Bay (100km north of Broome). This is a heritage listed site built by the local Aboriginal people and the Pallotine Monks in 1917. The walls, floors are decorated with local pearl shells as is the altar. It is a stunning white building set among huge shady trees topped by an endless blue sky.

Leaving Beagle Bay, the road heads north to Cape Leveque and is a beautiful piece of bitumen carpet until we got to the turn off for Pender Bay … about 8 vans greeted us … the campsite was some 30kms down the unsealed, corrugated road … but …

There apparently, was a bushfire down the road … several large vans had been down and were at a bottleneck (the track turned out to be mainly single lane just wide enough for one vehicle at a time) … they were unable to turn around. Other vans had managed to turn around and come back out. Fire was on both sides of the track.

We waited nearly 2 hours for anyone to come back along the track … no one appeared and no one else headed down … no one knew when the track would be clear … deciding not to spend any more time sitting and waiting in the eventuality that it may not even open again that day, we headed 30kms back toward Broome to another camp location (Banana Well) … now bear in mind that we are with limited or no mobile coverage but we managed to get Starlink working from the car and found Banana Well ... and they had a vacancy!

Off we go …

Another sandy track 15kms into a wide open, nicely shaded and grassed (!!!!) camp area at Banana Wells … on the track in, we pass more fires literally along the side of the track.

After a long day, we sit and have a Gin, then about to start the evening meal having set up camp … embers start floating across (large embers at that), the sky goes from grey to intense orange and we start to hear the crackle of fire … (we are 30kms from the original fire earlier in the day). It is dark ... with a vibrant orange right near us ...

A farm ute approaches, so I wander over to ask about fire in the immediate area … yep … it’s just over there … is that you camped there (pointing at our setup)? … yep … can we get out down the road? You could try but probably not … we’ve got two houses up the road with fire heading for them … you're near a firebreak ... you should be ok … but I’d suggest you move to the other side … over there … we’ll get the sprinkler cart out onto that road there (next to us) …

So, in the dark ... with embers and ash now raining on us and the crackling getting much louder ... and the sky more orange, we move and setup camp again … anxiously checking surrounds ... strangely the stars are out ... but we are only about 200m from where we previously set up.

Before going to bed we get a bag of clothes together just in case we need to suddenly head for the highway … depending on time … the van stays and we go … we wake up the next morning … clear blue sky … no smoke. We have breakfast, pack up, get a txt from the Manager of Pender Bay Escape saying that the road is closed due to fire and that the fire services will inspect later today … do not drive down the road!

Talking to one of the locals just before leaving (he was the passenger in the ute from the previous night) ... they think that the fire was started by a cigarette butt ... he reckoned that the fire had travelled about 250m in 15 minutes.

We head out of the track … for 6kms there is burnt ground to the edge of the track … parts are still smoking … ok … can we get into Pender Bay ... 30kms up the highway?

We get to the turnoff to Pender Bay to find about 8 cars and vans and boats all sitting at 3 signs on the road that say “Do not Enter”, “Emergency Workers Ahead”. We explain to a couple of people that there is a fire down the road and the contents of the txt from the Pender Bay Manager. They decide to get out of there. The larger group just say thanks and continue solving the problems of the world. We decide to explore the more northern part of Cape Leveque and drive off.

There really isn’t a great deal to see (nor is there the opportunity to get off the main road) but we get to One Arm Point (Ardyaloon). We pay our $11 each for admittance to the area and are provided with map; we are told that it takes at least 1.5 hours to complete the 3km tourist loop … along the way we would see the workings of a turtle shell hatchery and along the spectacular foreshore the various open air work stations … but they are probably closed today because an elder had died and most of the town had gone to Broome for the funeral ... but we still pay our $11 each to access the town ... this’ll be interesting anyway …

20 mins later we were ready to exit the area. (As I type this, doing my research … it was not a turtle shell hatchery we saw ... but a trochus shell hatchery!!!).

Okay … let’s go to Cape Leveque … I think there may be a lighthouse there … good idea! Garmin GPS can’t find us … Toyota GPS can’t find us either … Starlink to the rescue … it’s just down the road 7kms … we get to the turnoff … there are large boulders across the road and “Road Closed” signs … what does google say? “Kooljaman at Cape Leveque, a popular wilderness camp, closed in late 2021 due to deteriorating infrastructure that the operators, the Djarindjin and One Arm Point communities, could not afford to repair or redevelop…”

What else is in this area? Cygnet Bay Pearls … let’s get a coffee there … off the road we go … massive big water diversion bumps (?) cross the road every 40-50m – each about 18 inches high with a big dip in the downside all while heading down hill … we eventually find the café … closed … out we go again and back down the highway to hopefully Pender Bay.

We eventually get to the Pender Bay turnoff just as one van is heading down the track and another can be seen in the distance from its dust trail … the signs are stills there … well either everyone has gone somewhere else or they have gone through …

We air down and off we go … it is narrow, lumpy, sandy, corrugated road where anything much bigger than us would have gotten their fair share of pinstripes … about 10kms in ... we come to a stop … the smoke is getting thicker and blacker …

On the UHF there are 3 vans directly in front of us stopped … they are conversing with a emergency services worker (fire) who instructs us to follow him and he will lead us through the smoke … the fire is on the edge of the road … they are hoping to have it sorted by today or tomorrow (apparently it has been burning for 3 days) … we finally get to Pender Bay … across the huge bay we can see large plumes of smoke probably several kms wide … to our right we can see larger black plumes of smoke wider than the other …

As night rolls on, we can see on the otherside of Pender Bay as massive fire ... it is fascinating to watch the changing smoke patterns and the different shapes.