The Morcom's Grand Adventure.: Broome and Cape Leveque

Broome

Arriving in Broome , you need to understand that things are different here. Some people are in a hurry, others are not. We set up the van and then drove into town and I bought the Pigrum Brothers first album. We put it on permanent rotation on the car stereo and joined those not in a hurry, simple as that.

We are in Broome to relax, restock, replenish and reload for the next major leg of our trek to Kunnunurra. We thought four days would do it but we are still here a week and a half later! The first few days we did the usual Broome things, Chinatown, Cable Beach Sunset as well as learning a bit about local history at the museum. We visited the Jetty a couple of times for a fish and spotted turtles, sea snakes and were amazed by the tides coming in and out.

We were lucky to coincide our visit with the full moon and the ‘Staircase to the moon.’ This occurs when a full moon rises over Roebuck Bay at low tide and reflects of the mudflats. Quite an amazing sight and thousands turn up to see it. We visited the markets first for dinner and enjoyed the Asian food on offer, with Jim taking himself to new comfort levels with an amazing seafood luksa.

Enjoying the Staircase to the Moon markets

Cape Leveque

We headed to Cape Leveque for two nights in the middle of our Broome stay. Driving out of Broome we had 100km of the unsealed Cape Leveque Road ahead of us - with it’s corrugations , bulldust and wildlife. It was not great but with some tyre deflation and patience it was fine and we made it to our base for two days. We booked into Banana Wells Getaway where our hosts were Karen and Ray along with their hounds, Dora and Axel. It is funny what amuses children sometimes, we have a beautiful pool at the Broome Caravan Park but the boys had tons of fun at the Banana Wells aquatic centre. We also went mud crabbing down at the inlet and saw a croc as soon as we arrived. After a couple of hours, with fellow travellers David and Jill from Echuca in Victoria we headed home with four mud crabs for dinner. Both nights at Banana Wells were quite funny with the wild donkeys firing up at night. Kurt was sure that one was right at his window which we thought was a little far fetched until we saw the hoof prints outside his window! We were also able to buy fresh eggs and frozen mango from Karen and that was popular with Chrissy and our resident fruit bat - Will .

Banana Wells Pool

Mud crabbing

Mango Man!

The next day saw us visit the Cygnet Bay Pearl farm and learn about what they do to produce 70,000 pearls a year. It was very interesting and a very busy place. We declined the offer to purchase a $22 000 string of pearls.....

Chrissy with a $22000 necklace

Gold, imperfect and perfect pearls

The One Arm Point Fish and Trocus shell hatchery was a hit with everyone. We took it in turns feeding the 35kg barramundi as they ‘boofed’the food from our hands. We also saw turtles, clown fish, anemonies and an incredibly cute 17 day old turtle, rescued from birds on a beach. From there we travelled to Cape Leveque itself for an ice-cream and ice-coffee. It was an amazing view from the end of the Dampier Peninsula.

At Cape Leveque

Our 17 day old friend

Clown fish bred at the hatchery

Jim getting 'boofed' by a 35 kilo Barramundi

Kurt's turn.

Mother of Pearl Altar, Beagle Bay Church

Our final day on the Dampier Peninsula saw us head up to Middle Lagoon, a place visited regularly by my uncle Kevin Morcom. After being warmly greeted by traditional owner Tamara we went for a swim in the Lagoon and fossicked for shells. We then met a friend of Kevins and had a chat over a cold drink from their campsite overlooking the ocean on a cliff. One of the best caravan sites in Australia with a truly amazing view. From there we went to the Whalesong Cafe at Pender Bay. Once again in an amazing spot and spotted whales as we drank our smoothies and coffee. Just amazing scenery in an amazing place.