We've found paradise...Middle Lagoon (Dampier Peninsular WA)

There are certain parts of our trip that I've really looked forward to and the Dampier Peninsular is one of those. 

Broome - Cable Beach

Our stay at the Cable Beach Caravan Park was meant to be 7 nights but we ended up extending an extra night (for a very important reason) so we could watch the State of Origin at the Divers Tavern. (Fantastic food there by the way). So it was worth the extra night with a great win by the Blues!

Broome is great.  Cable Beach is stunning and the sunsets of course are the best ever. We watched the sun sink into the sea from all possible aspects. Driving down onto the beach was probably our favorite, picking a spot away from everyone else, setting up our chairs at the back of the car with some cheese and dips and of course the eski at easy reach....cant beat that!  We also spent a couple of nights at the Cable Beach Club Cocktail bar overlooking the beach. We sat on the dune one night, and went to Matso's (Broomes Boutique Brewery) over the other side of the peninsular, overlooking Roebuck Bay. Here are some of our Sunset photos.....

Our favorite cafe was the Shady Lane Cafe in China Towns, Johnny Chi Lane.  The Barramudi Burger was delicious and the chef was really switched on about the kids allergies which makes the whole meal so enjoyable for us.

Pearls, Pearls, and more pearls......so many little shops to look at showcasing what placed Broome on the map.  Interesting and beautiful but out of my price range.  Hannah and I preferred the Broome markets at Carnarvon Street on Saturday and Sunday.  Yes we bought a few things and I enjoyed a great organic cappuccino and Hannah a Mango ice cream (dairy free of course).



Croc feeding at the Malcolm Douglas Wilderness Park was a hit with the kids and us.  We really enjoyed our afternoon here, practically having the park to ourselves.



Our fishing expeditions were not very successful. We tried the Jetty first. I managed to catch three juvenile snapper and we spotted a turtle. Unfortunately we broke our record of always catching something when we came up empty handed fishing off Cable Beach!  Hopefully we'll have better luck up North.

The kids wouldn't let us leave Broome without a Camel ride along Cable Beach!  Scott was a bit dubious but we managed to get him to come along.  We spent a morning at Town beach and a day out at Gantheaume Point with its classic red cliffs....a photographers heaven.

North of Broome are the pristine Northern beaches. We spent a day up at Quondong point making a detour to Willie Creek along the way. Willie Creek is known for its Pearl Farm, but the highlight for us was the incredible turquoise blue waters.  I was interested to have a look at Quantong Point as I'd read about the free camping and great fishing.  The camp sites were spaced apart in little off shutes from the main track and were very private, most with amazing views over the beach.  It was low tide so we spent a while wondering over the rock pools finding all sorts of things including a blue ringed octopus!

Broome has been our longest stay at any destination yet, and we really feel like we know the place quite well.  Even I with my not so good sense of direction can get in the car an go anywhere here without getting lost! So tomorrow we will be heading up the Dampier Peninsula for a 5 night stay in Middle Lagoon, then another 5 nights in Bully's Bush Camp before arriving at Cape Leveque for at least 4 nights.  I'm assuming we wont have Internet coverage up there or along the Gibb River Road so this might be our last post for over a month.  We'll look forward to catching up after then!   

The Tanami Test - Shake Rattle and thankfully no Roll!

The Tanami Road/Track...1032kms from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory to Halls Creek in Western Australia was a test on our equipment, and our physical and mental endurance.  We completed the journey in two days, the second a 9hr marathon with the fuel light flashing as we entered Halls Creek! (thank Goodness for Scott's mathematical calculations along the way re-assuring us we'd make it) Talk about cutting it fine...."We didn't cut it fine (Scott's saying) we still had a 20ltr jerry can!"

                                                                                                                Goodbye bitumen

Gorges and 4WDriving in the West Macdonnells (Red Centre)

Hi everyone, we are currently in the Kimberlies at Fitzroy Crossing enjoying WA's warm balmy weather! ......After having to race back to Alice again.. for Ben's tooth issue we decided to stay put for a couple of days and do day trips instead of camping out there.  The first day we drove out to Redbank Gorge. This was  where we were meant to be camping. The campsites were basic bush camps, one called the woodlands down the bottom and one up on the ridge which had nice views. The walk was about 1hr return along the dry river bed to the gorge. 

Next we stopped at Glen Helen. They have a ,bar and restaurant here.  The gorge is more open and the kids ventured into the cold water on a tyre tube.  We stopped into Ormiston gorge but realised that the walks were too long to start late into the afternoon, so we headed off to Serpentine Gorge and climbed up the steep track to the lookout.  It was a great day and a beautiful drive back into Alice looking at the ranges change colour as the sun sunk behind us.

Spectacular Kings Canyon....and another emergency exit!

We were so impressed by Kings Canyon in the Watarrka National Park. After an easy 3hr sealed drive from Uluru, we did the 1km Kings Creek walk. Looking up at the 270m sheer walls towering above us, the excitement was building about doing the canyon rim walk the next day.

Majestic Uluru

Uluru what a view! During our 4 night stay at the Ayers rock resort camping ground we pretty much took in every view of the giant Monolith possible. To start with we could see the rock in just a short walk up the sand dune from our campsite. Sunset out at the viewing area was amazing. It was beautiful watching the changing colours of the rock as the sun went down.