22^nd July: Cape Leveque – Cygnet Bay

Actually, it is next morning as per usual. I am sitting in the car out of the mossies as the sun rises, drinking coffee. I went for a walk at dawn (in my nightie)and found the sea that I heard all night. I am now sitting in a cloud of insect repellant while the other two slumber on. Actually, I know Glen iks awake – I have disturbed him enough. We were in bed at 8.15 last night and so sleep eludes!

Firstly, about Monday. The Japanese cemetery was very interesting. All the gravestones were in Japanese of course and there had been a lot of destruction. But the Japanese consul and others had done a great job of restoring the dignity of the last resting place of what were mostly young divers, by replacing with obviously different stone the headstones of those missing or irreparable. Few were over 30 yrs of age and the statistics are appalling. The cemetery houses 700 plus graves and over 600 divers are recorded as having been drowned or suffering divers' paralysis since 1903. 33 men died in one year! The Chinese and Malay cemeteries were no way as well preserved. Chinese divers were regarded as less skilful and Malay and aborigines were the least highly regarded. There are still a lot of Japanese families in Broome as there are recent graves just outside the divers' cemetery.

Point Gantheuame features sedimentery rocks and there are dinosaur footprints from some huge beasts of that era (weighing 80 tonnes) in the sandstones, observable at very low tide. We saw none but some clay moulds of what is under water. But it is a lovely place: red sandstones and clear blue water with white sands on the beaches.

After lunch we went to Matso's brewery. Frantic with tourists! Glen surprisingly liked the Lychee beer and Chango ( a combination of Chilli and Mango beers.) I didn't like any but then I am not a beer drinker. So I drank a 90 ml glass of Lime and Ginger Cider. Bad decision! I didn't mind it but I know I can't drink cider. It upsets my system!! So I paid for it!

Dinner at Amanda's was lovely. Jason had cooked a lovely roast and we entertained Larni for a time. Amanda had some interesting things to say about her workmates packing shelves at Woolies. Mostly young pilots trying to get their hours up for bigger things. So much of Broome depends on the tourist season and it has been quite depressed of late! They worry about the ethics of the new gas fracking industry but recognise it could be helpful for the economy. They actually want out of Broome in a few years.

Well, Tuesday we left early for Cape Leveque. 91 kms of unsealed road to be exact. It is interesting that beyond 20kms north of Broome the road is unsealed for 91 kms until we reach Aboriginal owned land. Then it is sealed again with a normal width highway all the way to One Arm Point. I wonder about that. The dirt (one couldn't call it gravel as it was orange red soil and sand, hard packed in places and soft in others) road wasn't bad – corrugations in places, humps in others, deep sand in yet others- but it was like driving down the bottom of a narrow half-pipe. Years of grading had produced a rounded profile to the road and it was often difficult to see what the country was like, so deep was the road between the banks topped with tall flowering wattle trees. It was very pretty actually – intense blue sky, red, red soil and the green and gold trees! Passing cars was interesting as both were up the sides of the pipe! Too narrow in places for 2 cars down the bottom! Then we had to avoid the 4 graders working on the top 26 kms. That was fun!

We called in firstly to Beagle Bay and visited the Sacred Heart of Jesus church, built from 1916 by locals and the Pallottine monks who had taken over the mission established in 1888 by French Trappist monks. During WW1, the monks were under house arrest and this was when they began building. It is highly decorated inside with pearl shell in a most individual manner. Beagle Bay was also the site of the institutionisation of children of the “stolen generation”, placed by the government in the care of the Irish Sisters of St John of God. It is now the centre of a vibrant and hard working parish with a parish school which we were told is very successful.

We went on to Middle Lagoon over a very corrugated road which deteriorated further with a series of large humps and water-filled hollows. There were a dozen or so vans in the Caravan Park out there and so people do drag vans and boats to this retreat. A very affable local greeted us,took our money for the permit to enter, and told us that some people book 12 months ahead to get a top of ridge site to sit and enjoy the view! It is a truly beautiful place and although we wanted to swim, we had to move on. This is the land of Bushtracker vans and Campavans!

Gail particularly wanted to go to Cygnet Bay for the pearls and so that was our next stop. We travel along the reddest road I have ever seen. The dirt was vermillon and the dust covered everything! But Cygnet Bay which has only been open to the public for 4 years, was a great place to stay. We did the tour (very interesting with fabulous pearls) ,had a very civilized candle-lit, a la carte dinner with wine (in our shorts and sandals – our standards have slipped) and bush camped in a secluded nook on sandy soil. We did learn a lot more about pearls and the industry and the establishment of Cygnet Bay by James Brown as well as th development under his son Lyndon after the departure of the Japanese who had pioneered the cultured pearl business.

It was lovely camping out here. But you know, you get hoons everywhere. In bed by 8.30pm, we were woken at 10.00 by an idiot revving through the sandy tracks around the camps (they are in little pockets in the bush with a road threading between). Peace shattering! But it was a very nice evening!

24rd July: Cape Leveque – Ardyaloon & Kooljaman

After breakfast and another walk on the beach,we packed up, paid our dues and went on to One Arm Point or Ardyaloon, the community is called. Entry was $10 per person which we though was rather expensive until we realised this included entry into the Trochus Hatchery. We weren't planning to visit this but I am so glad we did. Trochus shell has always been important to the local people here and for the last few years they have bred shells, fish and other marine life to release back into the seas around the point to restock the depleted habitat very successfully. The trochus the people gather on the reefs and in the wet season they spawn and then they are releqsed back to the reefs. The spawn grow and in a year are ready for release. Likewise the clams, the fish and aenomes. Old shells are polished and sold. They have a contract with a button maker in Italy and are looking for more. Our tour was conducted by a young local girl who knew her stuff and was amusing in the way she attributed personalities to the fish. (Greedy, shy, cheeky etc.) Two guys were cleaning up shells – I don't think Work Place Health & Safety had audited the place ever. One of them was a local artist and he had just finished cleaning green shells, rare and highly prized- and so I was able to buy one!

We really enjoyed the visit and after watching the tide rip out – as it does- we drove back to Kooljamin at Cape Leveque. This is another community again and there is a great camping ground here. No vans allowed but lots of tents. We climbed up the hill past the lighthouse – now solar driven- and down for a lovely swim. The beach was white and beautiful, the water green-blue and crystal clear and the cliffs and rocks, red. Absolutely lovely! The water was very salty and cool but even Glen was inspired to swim. It was so refreshing. Lots of people camp down here in beach shelters and there are facilities. We climbed back up after a fresh water shower and Glen was hankering for some Calamari and Chips for lunch. So we sat down in the restaurant in our wet togs and ate a lovely lunch. Very cool!! We went down to the western beach to see the red cliffs. Spectacular! But very hot with very crumbly red mudstone looking extremely fragile.

We had no time left and so missed Lombadina. However, we had by this time, seen some fantastic beaches and, more importantly, seen some hard working, innovative and creative communities. I was impressed by the organisation, tidiness and community spirit of these urban areas. Lots of dogs but no kids on the street – all in school,no-one sitting around aimlessly and no drunks. I agree, Denis, that it is a pity that southern media don't highlight these aspects of the north.

We drove home; it took us 2 ½ hrs but there was very litle traffic on the road. Where the graders had been was brilliant and the rest was bearable. The long shadows made it more difficult but we all agreed it had been worth it! A lovely, lovely relaxing place. I wish we had had more time there.

22^nd July: Cape Leveque – Cygnet Bay

Actually, it is next morning as per usual. I am sitting in the car out of the mossies as the sun rises, drinking coffee. I went for a walk at dawn (in my nightie)and found the sea that I heard all night. I am now sitting in a cloud of insect repellant while the other two slumber on. Actually, I know Glen iks awake – I have disturbed him enough. We were in bed at 8.15 last night and so sleep eludes!

Firstly, about Monday. The Japanese cemetery was very interesting. All the gravestones were in Japanese of course and there had been a lot of destruction. But the Japanese consul and others had done a great job of restoring the dignity of the last resting place of what were mostly young divers, by replacing with obviously different stone the headstones of those missing or irreparable. Few were over 30 yrs of age and the statistics are appalling. The cemetery houses 700 plus graves and over 600 divers are recorded as having been drowned or suffering divers' paralysis since 1903. 33 men died in one year! The Chinese and Malay cemeteries were no way as well preserved. Chinese divers were regarded as less skilful and Malay and aborigines were the least highly regarded. There are still a lot of Japanese families in Broome as there are recent graves just outside the divers' cemetery.

Point Gantheuame features sedimentery rocks and there are dinosaur footprints from some huge beasts of that era (weighing 80 tonnes) in the sandstones, observable at very low tide. We saw none but some clay moulds of what is under water. But it is a lovely place: red sandstones and clear blue water with white sands on the beaches.

After lunch we went to Matso's brewery. Frantic with tourists! Glen surprisingly liked the Lychee beer and Chango ( a combination of Chilli and Mango beers.) I didn't like any but then I am not a beer drinker. So I drank a 90 ml glass of Lime and Ginger Cider. Bad decision! I didn't mind it but I know I can't drink cider. It upsets my system!! So I paid for it!

Dinner at Amanda's was lovely. Jason had cooked a lovely roast and we entertained Larni for a time. Amanda had some interesting things to say about her workmates packing shelves at Woolies. Mostly young pilots trying to get their hours up for bigger things. So much of Broome depends on the tourist season and it has been quite depressed of late! They worry about the ethics of the new gas fracking industry but recognise it could be helpful for the economy. They actually want out of Broome in a few years.

Well, Tuesday we left early for Cape Leveque. 91 kms of unsealed road to be exact. It is interesting that beyond 20kms north of Broome the road is unsealed for 91 kms until we reach Aboriginal owned land. Then it is sealed again with a normal width highway all the way to One Arm Point. I wonder about that. The dirt (one couldn't call it gravel as it was orange red soil and sand, hard packed in places and soft in others) road wasn't bad – corrugations in places, humps in others, deep sand in yet others- but it was like driving down the bottom of a narrow half-pipe. Years of grading had produced a rounded profile to the road and it was often difficult to see what the country was like, so deep was the road between the banks topped with tall flowering wattle trees. It was very pretty actually – intense blue sky, red, red soil and the green and gold trees! Passing cars was interesting as both were up the sides of the pipe! Too narrow in places for 2 cars down the bottom! Then we had to avoid the 4 graders working on the top 26 kms. That was fun!

We called in firstly to Beagle Bay and visited the Sacred Heart of Jesus church, built from 1916 by locals and the Pallottine monks who had taken over the mission established in 1888 by French Trappist monks. During WW1, the monks were under house arrest and this was when they began building. It is highly decorated inside with pearl shell in a most individual manner. Beagle Bay was also the site of the institutionisation of children of the “stolen generation”, placed by the government in the care of the Irish Sisters of St John of God. It is now the centre of a vibrant and hard working parish with a parish school which we were told is very successful.

We went on to Middle Lagoon over a very corrugated road which deteriorated further with a series of large humps and water-filled hollows. There were a dozen or so vans in the Caravan Park out there and so people do drag vans and boats to this retreat. A very affable local greeted us,took our money for the permit to enter, and told us that some people book 12 months ahead to get a top of ridge site to sit and enjoy the view! It is a truly beautiful place and although we wanted to swim, we had to move on. This is the land of Bushtracker vans and Campavans!

Gail particularly wanted to go to Cygnet Bay for the pearls and so that was our next stop. We travel along the reddest road I have ever seen. The dirt was vermillon and the dust covered everything! But Cygnet Bay which has only been open to the public for 4 years, was a great place to stay. We did the tour (very interesting with fabulous pearls) ,had a very civilized candle-lit, a la carte dinner with wine (in our shorts and sandals – our standards have slipped) and bush camped in a secluded nook on sandy soil. We did learn a lot more about pearls and the industry and the establishment of Cygnet Bay by James Brown as well as th development under his son Lyndon after the departure of the Japanese who had pioneered the cultured pearl business.

It was lovely camping out here. But you know, you get hoons everywhere. In bed by 8.30pm, we were woken at 10.00 by an idiot revving through the sandy tracks around the camps (they are in little pockets in the bush with a road threading between). Peace shattering! But it was a very nice evening!

24rd July: Cape Leveque – Ardyaloon & Kooljaman

After breakfast and another walk on the beach,we packed up, paid our dues and went on to One Arm Point or Ardyaloon, the community is called. Entry was $10 per person which we though was rather expensive until we realised this included entry into the Trochus Hatchery. We weren't planning to visit this but I am so glad we did. Trochus shell has always been important to the local people here and for the last few years they have bred shells, fish and other marine life to release back into the seas around the point to restock the depleted habitat very successfully. The trochus the people gather on the reefs and in the wet season they spawn and then they are releqsed back to the reefs. The spawn grow and in a year are ready for release. Likewise the clams, the fish and aenomes. Old shells are polished and sold. They have a contract with a button maker in Italy and are looking for more. Our tour was conducted by a young local girl who knew her stuff and was amusing in the way she attributed personalities to the fish. (Greedy, shy, cheeky etc.) Two guys were cleaning up shells – I don't think Work Place Health & Safety had audited the place ever. One of them was a local artist and he had just finished cleaning green shells, rare and highly prized- and so I was able to buy one!

We really enjoyed the visit and after watching the tide rip out – as it does- we drove back to Kooljamin at Cape Leveque. This is another community again and there is a great camping ground here. No vans allowed but lots of tents. We climbed up the hill past the lighthouse – now solar driven- and down for a lovely swim. The beach was white and beautiful, the water green-blue and crystal clear and the cliffs and rocks, red. Absolutely lovely! The water was very salty and cool but even Glen was inspired to swim. It was so refreshing. Lots of people camp down here in beach shelters and there are facilities. We climbed back up after a fresh water shower and Glen was hankering for some Calamari and Chips for lunch. So we sat down in the restaurant in our wet togs and ate a lovely lunch. Very cool!! We went down to the western beach to see the red cliffs. Spectacular! But very hot with very crumbly red mudstone looking extremely fragile.

We had no time left and so missed Lombadina. However, we had by this time, seen some fantastic beaches and, more importantly, seen some hard working, innovative and creative communities. I was impressed by the organisation, tidiness and community spirit of these urban areas. Lots of dogs but no kids on the street – all in school,no-one sitting around aimlessly and no drunks. I agree, Denis, that it is a pity that southern media don't highlight these aspects of the north.

We drove home; it took us 2 ½ hrs but there was very litle traffic on the road. Where the graders had been was brilliant and the rest was bearable. The long shadows made it more difficult but we all agreed it had been worth it! A lovely, lovely relaxing place. I wish we had had more time there.

22^nd July: Cape Leveque – Cygnet Bay

Actually, it is next morning as per usual. I am sitting in the car out of the mossies as the sun rises, drinking coffee. I went for a walk at dawn (in my nightie)and found the sea that I heard all night. I am now sitting in a cloud of insect repellant while the other two slumber on. Actually, I know Glen iks awake – I have disturbed him enough. We were in bed at 8.15 last night and so sleep eludes!

Firstly, about Monday. The Japanese cemetery was very interesting. All the gravestones were in Japanese of course and there had been a lot of destruction. But the Japanese consul and others had done a great job of restoring the dignity of the last resting place of what were mostly young divers, by replacing with obviously different stone the headstones of those missing or irreparable. Few were over 30 yrs of age and the statistics are appalling. The cemetery houses 700 plus graves and over 600 divers are recorded as having been drowned or suffering divers' paralysis since 1903. 33 men died in one year! The Chinese and Malay cemeteries were no way as well preserved. Chinese divers were regarded as less skilful and Malay and aborigines were the least highly regarded. There are still a lot of Japanese families in Broome as there are recent graves just outside the divers' cemetery.

Point Gantheuame features sedimentery rocks and there are dinosaur footprints from some huge beasts of that era (weighing 80 tonnes) in the sandstones, observable at very low tide. We saw none but some clay moulds of what is under water. But it is a lovely place: red sandstones and clear blue water with white sands on the beaches.

After lunch we went to Matso's brewery. Frantic with tourists! Glen surprisingly liked the Lychee beer and Chango ( a combination of Chilli and Mango beers.) I didn't like any but then I am not a beer drinker. So I drank a 90 ml glass of Lime and Ginger Cider. Bad decision! I didn't mind it but I know I can't drink cider. It upsets my system!! So I paid for it!

Dinner at Amanda's was lovely. Jason had cooked a lovely roast and we entertained Larni for a time. Amanda had some interesting things to say about her workmates packing shelves at Woolies. Mostly young pilots trying to get their hours up for bigger things. So much of Broome depends on the tourist season and it has been quite depressed of late! They worry about the ethics of the new gas fracking industry but recognise it could be helpful for the economy. They actually want out of Broome in a few years.

Well, Tuesday we left early for Cape Leveque. 91 kms of unsealed road to be exact. It is interesting that beyond 20kms north of Broome the road is unsealed for 91 kms until we reach Aboriginal owned land. Then it is sealed again with a normal width highway all the way to One Arm Point. I wonder about that. The dirt (one couldn't call it gravel as it was orange red soil and sand, hard packed in places and soft in others) road wasn't bad – corrugations in places, humps in others, deep sand in yet others- but it was like driving down the bottom of a narrow half-pipe. Years of grading had produced a rounded profile to the road and it was often difficult to see what the country was like, so deep was the road between the banks topped with tall flowering wattle trees. It was very pretty actually – intense blue sky, red, red soil and the green and gold trees! Passing cars was interesting as both were up the sides of the pipe! Too narrow in places for 2 cars down the bottom! Then we had to avoid the 4 graders working on the top 26 kms. That was fun!

We called in firstly to Beagle Bay and visited the Sacred Heart of Jesus church, built from 1916 by locals and the Pallottine monks who had taken over the mission established in 1888 by French Trappist monks. During WW1, the monks were under house arrest and this was when they began building. It is highly decorated inside with pearl shell in a most individual manner. Beagle Bay was also the site of the institutionisation of children of the “stolen generation”, placed by the government in the care of the Irish Sisters of St John of God. It is now the centre of a vibrant and hard working parish with a parish school which we were told is very successful.

We went on to Middle Lagoon over a very corrugated road which deteriorated further with a series of large humps and water-filled hollows. There were a dozen or so vans in the Caravan Park out there and so people do drag vans and boats to this retreat. A very affable local greeted us,took our money for the permit to enter, and told us that some people book 12 months ahead to get a top of ridge site to sit and enjoy the view! It is a truly beautiful place and although we wanted to swim, we had to move on. This is the land of Bushtracker vans and Campavans!

Gail particularly wanted to go to Cygnet Bay for the pearls and so that was our next stop. We travel along the reddest road I have ever seen. The dirt was vermillon and the dust covered everything! But Cygnet Bay which has only been open to the public for 4 years, was a great place to stay. We did the tour (very interesting with fabulous pearls) ,had a very civilized candle-lit, a la carte dinner with wine (in our shorts and sandals – our standards have slipped) and bush camped in a secluded nook on sandy soil. We did learn a lot more about pearls and the industry and the establishment of Cygnet Bay by James Brown as well as th development under his son Lyndon after the departure of the Japanese who had pioneered the cultured pearl business.

It was lovely camping out here. But you know, you get hoons everywhere. In bed by 8.30pm, we were woken at 10.00 by an idiot revving through the sandy tracks around the camps (they are in little pockets in the bush with a road threading between). Peace shattering! But it was a very nice evening!

24rd July: Cape Leveque – Ardyaloon & Kooljaman

After breakfast and another walk on the beach,we packed up, paid our dues and went on to One Arm Point or Ardyaloon, the community is called. Entry was $10 per person which we though was rather expensive until we realised this included entry into the Trochus Hatchery. We weren't planning to visit this but I am so glad we did. Trochus shell has always been important to the local people here and for the last few years they have bred shells, fish and other marine life to release back into the seas around the point to restock the depleted habitat very successfully. The trochus the people gather on the reefs and in the wet season they spawn and then they are releqsed back to the reefs. The spawn grow and in a year are ready for release. Likewise the clams, the fish and aenomes. Old shells are polished and sold. They have a contract with a button maker in Italy and are looking for more. Our tour was conducted by a young local girl who knew her stuff and was amusing in the way she attributed personalities to the fish. (Greedy, shy, cheeky etc.) Two guys were cleaning up shells – I don't think Work Place Health & Safety had audited the place ever. One of them was a local artist and he had just finished cleaning green shells, rare and highly prized- and so I was able to buy one!

We really enjoyed the visit and after watching the tide rip out – as it does- we drove back to Kooljamin at Cape Leveque. This is another community again and there is a great camping ground here. No vans allowed but lots of tents. We climbed up the hill past the lighthouse – now solar driven- and down for a lovely swim. The beach was white and beautiful, the water green-blue and crystal clear and the cliffs and rocks, red. Absolutely lovely! The water was very salty and cool but even Glen was inspired to swim. It was so refreshing. Lots of people camp down here in beach shelters and there are facilities. We climbed back up after a fresh water shower and Glen was hankering for some Calamari and Chips for lunch. So we sat down in the restaurant in our wet togs and ate a lovely lunch. Very cool!! We went down to the western beach to see the red cliffs. Spectacular! But very hot with very crumbly red mudstone looking extremely fragile.

We had no time left and so missed Lombadina. However, we had by this time, seen some fantastic beaches and, more importantly, seen some hard working, innovative and creative communities. I was impressed by the organisation, tidiness and community spirit of these urban areas. Lots of dogs but no kids on the street – all in school,no-one sitting around aimlessly and no drunks. I agree, Denis, that it is a pity that southern media don't highlight these aspects of the north.

We drove home; it took us 2 ½ hrs but there was very litle traffic on the road. Where the graders had been was brilliant and the rest was bearable. The long shadows made it more difficult but we all agreed it had been worth it! A lovely, lovely relaxing place. I wish we had had more time there.

22^nd July: Cape Leveque – Cygnet Bay

Actually, it is next morning as per usual. I am sitting in the car out of the mossies as the sun rises, drinking coffee. I went for a walk at dawn (in my nightie)and found the sea that I heard all night. I am now sitting in a cloud of insect repellant while the other two slumber on. Actually, I know Glen iks awake – I have disturbed him enough. We were in bed at 8.15 last night and so sleep eludes!

Firstly, about Monday. The Japanese cemetery was very interesting. All the gravestones were in Japanese of course and there had been a lot of destruction. But the Japanese consul and others had done a great job of restoring the dignity of the last resting place of what were mostly young divers, by replacing with obviously different stone the headstones of those missing or irreparable. Few were over 30 yrs of age and the statistics are appalling. The cemetery houses 700 plus graves and over 600 divers are recorded as having been drowned or suffering divers' paralysis since 1903. 33 men died in one year! The Chinese and Malay cemeteries were no way as well preserved. Chinese divers were regarded as less skilful and Malay and aborigines were the least highly regarded. There are still a lot of Japanese families in Broome as there are recent graves just outside the divers' cemetery.

Point Gantheuame features sedimentery rocks and there are dinosaur footprints from some huge beasts of that era (weighing 80 tonnes) in the sandstones, observable at very low tide. We saw none but some clay moulds of what is under water. But it is a lovely place: red sandstones and clear blue water with white sands on the beaches.

After lunch we went to Matso's brewery. Frantic with tourists! Glen surprisingly liked the Lychee beer and Chango ( a combination of Chilli and Mango beers.) I didn't like any but then I am not a beer drinker. So I drank a 90 ml glass of Lime and Ginger Cider. Bad decision! I didn't mind it but I know I can't drink cider. It upsets my system!! So I paid for it!

Dinner at Amanda's was lovely. Jason had cooked a lovely roast and we entertained Larni for a time. Amanda had some interesting things to say about her workmates packing shelves at Woolies. Mostly young pilots trying to get their hours up for bigger things. So much of Broome depends on the tourist season and it has been quite depressed of late! They worry about the ethics of the new gas fracking industry but recognise it could be helpful for the economy. They actually want out of Broome in a few years.

Well, Tuesday we left early for Cape Leveque. 91 kms of unsealed road to be exact. It is interesting that beyond 20kms north of Broome the road is unsealed for 91 kms until we reach Aboriginal owned land. Then it is sealed again with a normal width highway all the way to One Arm Point. I wonder about that. The dirt (one couldn't call it gravel as it was orange red soil and sand, hard packed in places and soft in others) road wasn't bad – corrugations in places, humps in others, deep sand in yet others- but it was like driving down the bottom of a narrow half-pipe. Years of grading had produced a rounded profile to the road and it was often difficult to see what the country was like, so deep was the road between the banks topped with tall flowering wattle trees. It was very pretty actually – intense blue sky, red, red soil and the green and gold trees! Passing cars was interesting as both were up the sides of the pipe! Too narrow in places for 2 cars down the bottom! Then we had to avoid the 4 graders working on the top 26 kms. That was fun!

We called in firstly to Beagle Bay and visited the Sacred Heart of Jesus church, built from 1916 by locals and the Pallottine monks who had taken over the mission established in 1888 by French Trappist monks. During WW1, the monks were under house arrest and this was when they began building. It is highly decorated inside with pearl shell in a most individual manner. Beagle Bay was also the site of the institutionisation of children of the “stolen generation”, placed by the government in the care of the Irish Sisters of St John of God. It is now the centre of a vibrant and hard working parish with a parish school which we were told is very successful.

We went on to Middle Lagoon over a very corrugated road which deteriorated further with a series of large humps and water-filled hollows. There were a dozen or so vans in the Caravan Park out there and so people do drag vans and boats to this retreat. A very affable local greeted us,took our money for the permit to enter, and told us that some people book 12 months ahead to get a top of ridge site to sit and enjoy the view! It is a truly beautiful place and although we wanted to swim, we had to move on. This is the land of Bushtracker vans and Campavans!

Gail particularly wanted to go to Cygnet Bay for the pearls and so that was our next stop. We travel along the reddest road I have ever seen. The dirt was vermillon and the dust covered everything! But Cygnet Bay which has only been open to the public for 4 years, was a great place to stay. We did the tour (very interesting with fabulous pearls) ,had a very civilized candle-lit, a la carte dinner with wine (in our shorts and sandals – our standards have slipped) and bush camped in a secluded nook on sandy soil. We did learn a lot more about pearls and the industry and the establishment of Cygnet Bay by James Brown as well as th development under his son Lyndon after the departure of the Japanese who had pioneered the cultured pearl business.

It was lovely camping out here. But you know, you get hoons everywhere. In bed by 8.30pm, we were woken at 10.00 by an idiot revving through the sandy tracks around the camps (they are in little pockets in the bush with a road threading between). Peace shattering! But it was a very nice evening!

24rd July: Cape Leveque – Ardyaloon & Kooljaman

After breakfast and another walk on the beach,we packed up, paid our dues and went on to One Arm Point or Ardyaloon, the community is called. Entry was $10 per person which we though was rather expensive until we realised this included entry into the Trochus Hatchery. We weren't planning to visit this but I am so glad we did. Trochus shell has always been important to the local people here and for the last few years they have bred shells, fish and other marine life to release back into the seas around the point to restock the depleted habitat very successfully. The trochus the people gather on the reefs and in the wet season they spawn and then they are releqsed back to the reefs. The spawn grow and in a year are ready for release. Likewise the clams, the fish and aenomes. Old shells are polished and sold. They have a contract with a button maker in Italy and are looking for more. Our tour was conducted by a young local girl who knew her stuff and was amusing in the way she attributed personalities to the fish. (Greedy, shy, cheeky etc.) Two guys were cleaning up shells – I don't think Work Place Health & Safety had audited the place ever. One of them was a local artist and he had just finished cleaning green shells, rare and highly prized- and so I was able to buy one!

We really enjoyed the visit and after watching the tide rip out – as it does- we drove back to Kooljamin at Cape Leveque. This is another community again and there is a great camping ground here. No vans allowed but lots of tents. We climbed up the hill past the lighthouse – now solar driven- and down for a lovely swim. The beach was white and beautiful, the water green-blue and crystal clear and the cliffs and rocks, red. Absolutely lovely! The water was very salty and cool but even Glen was inspired to swim. It was so refreshing. Lots of people camp down here in beach shelters and there are facilities. We climbed back up after a fresh water shower and Glen was hankering for some Calamari and Chips for lunch. So we sat down in the restaurant in our wet togs and ate a lovely lunch. Very cool!! We went down to the western beach to see the red cliffs. Spectacular! But very hot with very crumbly red mudstone looking extremely fragile.

We had no time left and so missed Lombadina. However, we had by this time, seen some fantastic beaches and, more importantly, seen some hard working, innovative and creative communities. I was impressed by the organisation, tidiness and community spirit of these urban areas. Lots of dogs but no kids on the street – all in school,no-one sitting around aimlessly and no drunks. I agree, Denis, that it is a pity that southern media don't highlight these aspects of the north.

We drove home; it took us 2 ½ hrs but there was very litle traffic on the road. Where the graders had been was brilliant and the rest was bearable. The long shadows made it more difficult but we all agreed it had been worth it! A lovely, lovely relaxing place. I wish we had had more time there.

22^nd July: Cape Leveque – Cygnet Bay

Actually, it is next morning as per usual. I am sitting in the car out of the mossies as the sun rises, drinking coffee. I went for a walk at dawn (in my nightie)and found the sea that I heard all night. I am now sitting in a cloud of insect repellant while the other two slumber on. Actually, I know Glen iks awake – I have disturbed him enough. We were in bed at 8.15 last night and so sleep eludes!

Firstly, about Monday. The Japanese cemetery was very interesting. All the gravestones were in Japanese of course and there had been a lot of destruction. But the Japanese consul and others had done a great job of restoring the dignity of the last resting place of what were mostly young divers, by replacing with obviously different stone the headstones of those missing or irreparable. Few were over 30 yrs of age and the statistics are appalling. The cemetery houses 700 plus graves and over 600 divers are recorded as having been drowned or suffering divers' paralysis since 1903. 33 men died in one year! The Chinese and Malay cemeteries were no way as well preserved. Chinese divers were regarded as less skilful and Malay and aborigines were the least highly regarded. There are still a lot of Japanese families in Broome as there are recent graves just outside the divers' cemetery.

Point Gantheuame features sedimentery rocks and there are dinosaur footprints from some huge beasts of that era (weighing 80 tonnes) in the sandstones, observable at very low tide. We saw none but some clay moulds of what is under water. But it is a lovely place: red sandstones and clear blue water with white sands on the beaches.

After lunch we went to Matso's brewery. Frantic with tourists! Glen surprisingly liked the Lychee beer and Chango ( a combination of Chilli and Mango beers.) I didn't like any but then I am not a beer drinker. So I drank a 90 ml glass of Lime and Ginger Cider. Bad decision! I didn't mind it but I know I can't drink cider. It upsets my system!! So I paid for it!

Dinner at Amanda's was lovely. Jason had cooked a lovely roast and we entertained Larni for a time. Amanda had some interesting things to say about her workmates packing shelves at Woolies. Mostly young pilots trying to get their hours up for bigger things. So much of Broome depends on the tourist season and it has been quite depressed of late! They worry about the ethics of the new gas fracking industry but recognise it could be helpful for the economy. They actually want out of Broome in a few years.

Well, Tuesday we left early for Cape Leveque. 91 kms of unsealed road to be exact. It is interesting that beyond 20kms north of Broome the road is unsealed for 91 kms until we reach Aboriginal owned land. Then it is sealed again with a normal width highway all the way to One Arm Point. I wonder about that. The dirt (one couldn't call it gravel as it was orange red soil and sand, hard packed in places and soft in others) road wasn't bad – corrugations in places, humps in others, deep sand in yet others- but it was like driving down the bottom of a narrow half-pipe. Years of grading had produced a rounded profile to the road and it was often difficult to see what the country was like, so deep was the road between the banks topped with tall flowering wattle trees. It was very pretty actually – intense blue sky, red, red soil and the green and gold trees! Passing cars was interesting as both were up the sides of the pipe! Too narrow in places for 2 cars down the bottom! Then we had to avoid the 4 graders working on the top 26 kms. That was fun!

We called in firstly to Beagle Bay and visited the Sacred Heart of Jesus church, built from 1916 by locals and the Pallottine monks who had taken over the mission established in 1888 by French Trappist monks. During WW1, the monks were under house arrest and this was when they began building. It is highly decorated inside with pearl shell in a most individual manner. Beagle Bay was also the site of the institutionisation of children of the “stolen generation”, placed by the government in the care of the Irish Sisters of St John of God. It is now the centre of a vibrant and hard working parish with a parish school which we were told is very successful.

We went on to Middle Lagoon over a very corrugated road which deteriorated further with a series of large humps and water-filled hollows. There were a dozen or so vans in the Caravan Park out there and so people do drag vans and boats to this retreat. A very affable local greeted us,took our money for the permit to enter, and told us that some people book 12 months ahead to get a top of ridge site to sit and enjoy the view! It is a truly beautiful place and although we wanted to swim, we had to move on. This is the land of Bushtracker vans and Campavans!

Gail particularly wanted to go to Cygnet Bay for the pearls and so that was our next stop. We travel along the reddest road I have ever seen. The dirt was vermillon and the dust covered everything! But Cygnet Bay which has only been open to the public for 4 years, was a great place to stay. We did the tour (very interesting with fabulous pearls) ,had a very civilized candle-lit, a la carte dinner with wine (in our shorts and sandals – our standards have slipped) and bush camped in a secluded nook on sandy soil. We did learn a lot more about pearls and the industry and the establishment of Cygnet Bay by James Brown as well as th development under his son Lyndon after the departure of the Japanese who had pioneered the cultured pearl business.

It was lovely camping out here. But you know, you get hoons everywhere. In bed by 8.30pm, we were woken at 10.00 by an idiot revving through the sandy tracks around the camps (they are in little pockets in the bush with a road threading between). Peace shattering! But it was a very nice evening!

24rd July: Cape Leveque – Ardyaloon & Kooljaman

After breakfast and another walk on the beach,we packed up, paid our dues and went on to One Arm Point or Ardyaloon, the community is called. Entry was $10 per person which we though was rather expensive until we realised this included entry into the Trochus Hatchery. We weren't planning to visit this but I am so glad we did. Trochus shell has always been important to the local people here and for the last few years they have bred shells, fish and other marine life to release back into the seas around the point to restock the depleted habitat very successfully. The trochus the people gather on the reefs and in the wet season they spawn and then they are releqsed back to the reefs. The spawn grow and in a year are ready for release. Likewise the clams, the fish and aenomes. Old shells are polished and sold. They have a contract with a button maker in Italy and are looking for more. Our tour was conducted by a young local girl who knew her stuff and was amusing in the way she attributed personalities to the fish. (Greedy, shy, cheeky etc.) Two guys were cleaning up shells – I don't think Work Place Health & Safety had audited the place ever. One of them was a local artist and he had just finished cleaning green shells, rare and highly prized- and so I was able to buy one!

We really enjoyed the visit and after watching the tide rip out – as it does- we drove back to Kooljamin at Cape Leveque. This is another community again and there is a great camping ground here. No vans allowed but lots of tents. We climbed up the hill past the lighthouse – now solar driven- and down for a lovely swim. The beach was white and beautiful, the water green-blue and crystal clear and the cliffs and rocks, red. Absolutely lovely! The water was very salty and cool but even Glen was inspired to swim. It was so refreshing. Lots of people camp down here in beach shelters and there are facilities. We climbed back up after a fresh water shower and Glen was hankering for some Calamari and Chips for lunch. So we sat down in the restaurant in our wet togs and ate a lovely lunch. Very cool!! We went down to the western beach to see the red cliffs. Spectacular! But very hot with very crumbly red mudstone looking extremely fragile.

We had no time left and so missed Lombadina. However, we had by this time, seen some fantastic beaches and, more importantly, seen some hard working, innovative and creative communities. I was impressed by the organisation, tidiness and community spirit of these urban areas. Lots of dogs but no kids on the street – all in school,no-one sitting around aimlessly and no drunks. I agree, Denis, that it is a pity that southern media don't highlight these aspects of the north.

We drove home; it took us 2 ½ hrs but there was very litle traffic on the road. Where the graders had been was brilliant and the rest was bearable. The long shadows made it more difficult but we all agreed it had been worth it! A lovely, lovely relaxing place. I wish we had had more time there.

22^nd July: Cape Leveque – Cygnet Bay

Actually, it is next morning as per usual. I am sitting in the car out of the mossies as the sun rises, drinking coffee. I went for a walk at dawn (in my nightie)and found the sea that I heard all night. I am now sitting in a cloud of insect repellant while the other two slumber on. Actually, I know Glen iks awake – I have disturbed him enough. We were in bed at 8.15 last night and so sleep eludes!

Firstly, about Monday. The Japanese cemetery was very interesting. All the gravestones were in Japanese of course and there had been a lot of destruction. But the Japanese consul and others had done a great job of restoring the dignity of the last resting place of what were mostly young divers, by replacing with obviously different stone the headstones of those missing or irreparable. Few were over 30 yrs of age and the statistics are appalling. The cemetery houses 700 plus graves and over 600 divers are recorded as having been drowned or suffering divers' paralysis since 1903. 33 men died in one year! The Chinese and Malay cemeteries were no way as well preserved. Chinese divers were regarded as less skilful and Malay and aborigines were the least highly regarded. There are still a lot of Japanese families in Broome as there are recent graves just outside the divers' cemetery.

Point Gantheuame features sedimentery rocks and there are dinosaur footprints from some huge beasts of that era (weighing 80 tonnes) in the sandstones, observable at very low tide. We saw none but some clay moulds of what is under water. But it is a lovely place: red sandstones and clear blue water with white sands on the beaches.

After lunch we went to Matso's brewery. Frantic with tourists! Glen surprisingly liked the Lychee beer and Chango ( a combination of Chilli and Mango beers.) I didn't like any but then I am not a beer drinker. So I drank a 90 ml glass of Lime and Ginger Cider. Bad decision! I didn't mind it but I know I can't drink cider. It upsets my system!! So I paid for it!

Dinner at Amanda's was lovely. Jason had cooked a lovely roast and we entertained Larni for a time. Amanda had some interesting things to say about her workmates packing shelves at Woolies. Mostly young pilots trying to get their hours up for bigger things. So much of Broome depends on the tourist season and it has been quite depressed of late! They worry about the ethics of the new gas fracking industry but recognise it could be helpful for the economy. They actually want out of Broome in a few years.

Well, Tuesday we left early for Cape Leveque. 91 kms of unsealed road to be exact. It is interesting that beyond 20kms north of Broome the road is unsealed for 91 kms until we reach Aboriginal owned land. Then it is sealed again with a normal width highway all the way to One Arm Point. I wonder about that. The dirt (one couldn't call it gravel as it was orange red soil and sand, hard packed in places and soft in others) road wasn't bad – corrugations in places, humps in others, deep sand in yet others- but it was like driving down the bottom of a narrow half-pipe. Years of grading had produced a rounded profile to the road and it was often difficult to see what the country was like, so deep was the road between the banks topped with tall flowering wattle trees. It was very pretty actually – intense blue sky, red, red soil and the green and gold trees! Passing cars was interesting as both were up the sides of the pipe! Too narrow in places for 2 cars down the bottom! Then we had to avoid the 4 graders working on the top 26 kms. That was fun!

We called in firstly to Beagle Bay and visited the Sacred Heart of Jesus church, built from 1916 by locals and the Pallottine monks who had taken over the mission established in 1888 by French Trappist monks. During WW1, the monks were under house arrest and this was when they began building. It is highly decorated inside with pearl shell in a most individual manner. Beagle Bay was also the site of the institutionisation of children of the “stolen generation”, placed by the government in the care of the Irish Sisters of St John of God. It is now the centre of a vibrant and hard working parish with a parish school which we were told is very successful.

We went on to Middle Lagoon over a very corrugated road which deteriorated further with a series of large humps and water-filled hollows. There were a dozen or so vans in the Caravan Park out there and so people do drag vans and boats to this retreat. A very affable local greeted us,took our money for the permit to enter, and told us that some people book 12 months ahead to get a top of ridge site to sit and enjoy the view! It is a truly beautiful place and although we wanted to swim, we had to move on. This is the land of Bushtracker vans and Campavans!

Gail particularly wanted to go to Cygnet Bay for the pearls and so that was our next stop. We travel along the reddest road I have ever seen. The dirt was vermillon and the dust covered everything! But Cygnet Bay which has only been open to the public for 4 years, was a great place to stay. We did the tour (very interesting with fabulous pearls) ,had a very civilized candle-lit, a la carte dinner with wine (in our shorts and sandals – our standards have slipped) and bush camped in a secluded nook on sandy soil. We did learn a lot more about pearls and the industry and the establishment of Cygnet Bay by James Brown as well as th development under his son Lyndon after the departure of the Japanese who had pioneered the cultured pearl business.

It was lovely camping out here. But you know, you get hoons everywhere. In bed by 8.30pm, we were woken at 10.00 by an idiot revving through the sandy tracks around the camps (they are in little pockets in the bush with a road threading between). Peace shattering! But it was a very nice evening!

24rd July: Cape Leveque – Ardyaloon & Kooljaman

After breakfast and another walk on the beach,we packed up, paid our dues and went on to One Arm Point or Ardyaloon, the community is called. Entry was $10 per person which we though was rather expensive until we realised this included entry into the Trochus Hatchery. We weren't planning to visit this but I am so glad we did. Trochus shell has always been important to the local people here and for the last few years they have bred shells, fish and other marine life to release back into the seas around the point to restock the depleted habitat very successfully. The trochus the people gather on the reefs and in the wet season they spawn and then they are releqsed back to the reefs. The spawn grow and in a year are ready for release. Likewise the clams, the fish and aenomes. Old shells are polished and sold. They have a contract with a button maker in Italy and are looking for more. Our tour was conducted by a young local girl who knew her stuff and was amusing in the way she attributed personalities to the fish. (Greedy, shy, cheeky etc.) Two guys were cleaning up shells – I don't think Work Place Health & Safety had audited the place ever. One of them was a local artist and he had just finished cleaning green shells, rare and highly prized- and so I was able to buy one!

We really enjoyed the visit and after watching the tide rip out – as it does- we drove back to Kooljamin at Cape Leveque. This is another community again and there is a great camping ground here. No vans allowed but lots of tents. We climbed up the hill past the lighthouse – now solar driven- and down for a lovely swim. The beach was white and beautiful, the water green-blue and crystal clear and the cliffs and rocks, red. Absolutely lovely! The water was very salty and cool but even Glen was inspired to swim. It was so refreshing. Lots of people camp down here in beach shelters and there are facilities. We climbed back up after a fresh water shower and Glen was hankering for some Calamari and Chips for lunch. So we sat down in the restaurant in our wet togs and ate a lovely lunch. Very cool!! We went down to the western beach to see the red cliffs. Spectacular! But very hot with very crumbly red mudstone looking extremely fragile.

We had no time left and so missed Lombadina. However, we had by this time, seen some fantastic beaches and, more importantly, seen some hard working, innovative and creative communities. I was impressed by the organisation, tidiness and community spirit of these urban areas. Lots of dogs but no kids on the street – all in school,no-one sitting around aimlessly and no drunks. I agree, Denis, that it is a pity that southern media don't highlight these aspects of the north.

We drove home; it took us 2 ½ hrs but there was very litle traffic on the road. Where the graders had been was brilliant and the rest was bearable. The long shadows made it more difficult but we all agreed it had been worth it! A lovely, lovely relaxing place. I wish we had had more time there.

22^nd July: Cape Leveque – Cygnet Bay

Actually, it is next morning as per usual. I am sitting in the car out of the mossies as the sun rises, drinking coffee. I went for a walk at dawn (in my nightie)and found the sea that I heard all night. I am now sitting in a cloud of insect repellant while the other two slumber on. Actually, I know Glen iks awake – I have disturbed him enough. We were in bed at 8.15 last night and so sleep eludes!

Firstly, about Monday. The Japanese cemetery was very interesting. All the gravestones were in Japanese of course and there had been a lot of destruction. But the Japanese consul and others had done a great job of restoring the dignity of the last resting place of what were mostly young divers, by replacing with obviously different stone the headstones of those missing or irreparable. Few were over 30 yrs of age and the statistics are appalling. The cemetery houses 700 plus graves and over 600 divers are recorded as having been drowned or suffering divers' paralysis since 1903. 33 men died in one year! The Chinese and Malay cemeteries were no way as well preserved. Chinese divers were regarded as less skilful and Malay and aborigines were the least highly regarded. There are still a lot of Japanese families in Broome as there are recent graves just outside the divers' cemetery.

Point Gantheuame features sedimentery rocks and there are dinosaur footprints from some huge beasts of that era (weighing 80 tonnes) in the sandstones, observable at very low tide. We saw none but some clay moulds of what is under water. But it is a lovely place: red sandstones and clear blue water with white sands on the beaches.

After lunch we went to Matso's brewery. Frantic with tourists! Glen surprisingly liked the Lychee beer and Chango ( a combination of Chilli and Mango beers.) I didn't like any but then I am not a beer drinker. So I drank a 90 ml glass of Lime and Ginger Cider. Bad decision! I didn't mind it but I know I can't drink cider. It upsets my system!! So I paid for it!

Dinner at Amanda's was lovely. Jason had cooked a lovely roast and we entertained Larni for a time. Amanda had some interesting things to say about her workmates packing shelves at Woolies. Mostly young pilots trying to get their hours up for bigger things. So much of Broome depends on the tourist season and it has been quite depressed of late! They worry about the ethics of the new gas fracking industry but recognise it could be helpful for the economy. They actually want out of Broome in a few years.

Well, Tuesday we left early for Cape Leveque. 91 kms of unsealed road to be exact. It is interesting that beyond 20kms north of Broome the road is unsealed for 91 kms until we reach Aboriginal owned land. Then it is sealed again with a normal width highway all the way to One Arm Point. I wonder about that. The dirt (one couldn't call it gravel as it was orange red soil and sand, hard packed in places and soft in others) road wasn't bad – corrugations in places, humps in others, deep sand in yet others- but it was like driving down the bottom of a narrow half-pipe. Years of grading had produced a rounded profile to the road and it was often difficult to see what the country was like, so deep was the road between the banks topped with tall flowering wattle trees. It was very pretty actually – intense blue sky, red, red soil and the green and gold trees! Passing cars was interesting as both were up the sides of the pipe! Too narrow in places for 2 cars down the bottom! Then we had to avoid the 4 graders working on the top 26 kms. That was fun!

We called in firstly to Beagle Bay and visited the Sacred Heart of Jesus church, built from 1916 by locals and the Pallottine monks who had taken over the mission established in 1888 by French Trappist monks. During WW1, the monks were under house arrest and this was when they began building. It is highly decorated inside with pearl shell in a most individual manner. Beagle Bay was also the site of the institutionisation of children of the “stolen generation”, placed by the government in the care of the Irish Sisters of St John of God. It is now the centre of a vibrant and hard working parish with a parish school which we were told is very successful.

We went on to Middle Lagoon over a very corrugated road which deteriorated further with a series of large humps and water-filled hollows. There were a dozen or so vans in the Caravan Park out there and so people do drag vans and boats to this retreat. A very affable local greeted us,took our money for the permit to enter, and told us that some people book 12 months ahead to get a top of ridge site to sit and enjoy the view! It is a truly beautiful place and although we wanted to swim, we had to move on. This is the land of Bushtracker vans and Campavans!

Gail particularly wanted to go to Cygnet Bay for the pearls and so that was our next stop. We travel along the reddest road I have ever seen. The dirt was vermillon and the dust covered everything! But Cygnet Bay which has only been open to the public for 4 years, was a great place to stay. We did the tour (very interesting with fabulous pearls) ,had a very civilized candle-lit, a la carte dinner with wine (in our shorts and sandals – our standards have slipped) and bush camped in a secluded nook on sandy soil. We did learn a lot more about pearls and the industry and the establishment of Cygnet Bay by James Brown as well as th development under his son Lyndon after the departure of the Japanese who had pioneered the cultured pearl business.

It was lovely camping out here. But you know, you get hoons everywhere. In bed by 8.30pm, we were woken at 10.00 by an idiot revving through the sandy tracks around the camps (they are in little pockets in the bush with a road threading between). Peace shattering! But it was a very nice evening!

24rd July: Cape Leveque – Ardyaloon & Kooljaman

After breakfast and another walk on the beach,we packed up, paid our dues and went on to One Arm Point or Ardyaloon, the community is called. Entry was $10 per person which we though was rather expensive until we realised this included entry into the Trochus Hatchery. We weren't planning to visit this but I am so glad we did. Trochus shell has always been important to the local people here and for the last few years they have bred shells, fish and other marine life to release back into the seas around the point to restock the depleted habitat very successfully. The trochus the people gather on the reefs and in the wet season they spawn and then they are releqsed back to the reefs. The spawn grow and in a year are ready for release. Likewise the clams, the fish and aenomes. Old shells are polished and sold. They have a contract with a button maker in Italy and are looking for more. Our tour was conducted by a young local girl who knew her stuff and was amusing in the way she attributed personalities to the fish. (Greedy, shy, cheeky etc.) Two guys were cleaning up shells – I don't think Work Place Health & Safety had audited the place ever. One of them was a local artist and he had just finished cleaning green shells, rare and highly prized- and so I was able to buy one!

We really enjoyed the visit and after watching the tide rip out – as it does- we drove back to Kooljamin at Cape Leveque. This is another community again and there is a great camping ground here. No vans allowed but lots of tents. We climbed up the hill past the lighthouse – now solar driven- and down for a lovely swim. The beach was white and beautiful, the water green-blue and crystal clear and the cliffs and rocks, red. Absolutely lovely! The water was very salty and cool but even Glen was inspired to swim. It was so refreshing. Lots of people camp down here in beach shelters and there are facilities. We climbed back up after a fresh water shower and Glen was hankering for some Calamari and Chips for lunch. So we sat down in the restaurant in our wet togs and ate a lovely lunch. Very cool!! We went down to the western beach to see the red cliffs. Spectacular! But very hot with very crumbly red mudstone looking extremely fragile.

We had no time left and so missed Lombadina. However, we had by this time, seen some fantastic beaches and, more importantly, seen some hard working, innovative and creative communities. I was impressed by the organisation, tidiness and community spirit of these urban areas. Lots of dogs but no kids on the street – all in school,no-one sitting around aimlessly and no drunks. I agree, Denis, that it is a pity that southern media don't highlight these aspects of the north.

We drove home; it took us 2 ½ hrs but there was very litle traffic on the road. Where the graders had been was brilliant and the rest was bearable. The long shadows made it more difficult but we all agreed it had been worth it! A lovely, lovely relaxing place. I wish we had had more time there.

22^nd July: Cape Leveque – Cygnet Bay

Actually, it is next morning as per usual. I am sitting in the car out of the mossies as the sun rises, drinking coffee. I went for a walk at dawn (in my nightie)and found the sea that I heard all night. I am now sitting in a cloud of insect repellant while the other two slumber on. Actually, I know Glen iks awake – I have disturbed him enough. We were in bed at 8.15 last night and so sleep eludes!

Firstly, about Monday. The Japanese cemetery was very interesting. All the gravestones were in Japanese of course and there had been a lot of destruction. But the Japanese consul and others had done a great job of restoring the dignity of the last resting place of what were mostly young divers, by replacing with obviously different stone the headstones of those missing or irreparable. Few were over 30 yrs of age and the statistics are appalling. The cemetery houses 700 plus graves and over 600 divers are recorded as having been drowned or suffering divers' paralysis since 1903. 33 men died in one year! The Chinese and Malay cemeteries were no way as well preserved. Chinese divers were regarded as less skilful and Malay and aborigines were the least highly regarded. There are still a lot of Japanese families in Broome as there are recent graves just outside the divers' cemetery.

Point Gantheuame features sedimentery rocks and there are dinosaur footprints from some huge beasts of that era (weighing 80 tonnes) in the sandstones, observable at very low tide. We saw none but some clay moulds of what is under water. But it is a lovely place: red sandstones and clear blue water with white sands on the beaches.

After lunch we went to Matso's brewery. Frantic with tourists! Glen surprisingly liked the Lychee beer and Chango ( a combination of Chilli and Mango beers.) I didn't like any but then I am not a beer drinker. So I drank a 90 ml glass of Lime and Ginger Cider. Bad decision! I didn't mind it but I know I can't drink cider. It upsets my system!! So I paid for it!

Dinner at Amanda's was lovely. Jason had cooked a lovely roast and we entertained Larni for a time. Amanda had some interesting things to say about her workmates packing shelves at Woolies. Mostly young pilots trying to get their hours up for bigger things. So much of Broome depends on the tourist season and it has been quite depressed of late! They worry about the ethics of the new gas fracking industry but recognise it could be helpful for the economy. They actually want out of Broome in a few years.

Well, Tuesday we left early for Cape Leveque. 91 kms of unsealed road to be exact. It is interesting that beyond 20kms north of Broome the road is unsealed for 91 kms until we reach Aboriginal owned land. Then it is sealed again with a normal width highway all the way to One Arm Point. I wonder about that. The dirt (one couldn't call it gravel as it was orange red soil and sand, hard packed in places and soft in others) road wasn't bad – corrugations in places, humps in others, deep sand in yet others- but it was like driving down the bottom of a narrow half-pipe. Years of grading had produced a rounded profile to the road and it was often difficult to see what the country was like, so deep was the road between the banks topped with tall flowering wattle trees. It was very pretty actually – intense blue sky, red, red soil and the green and gold trees! Passing cars was interesting as both were up the sides of the pipe! Too narrow in places for 2 cars down the bottom! Then we had to avoid the 4 graders working on the top 26 kms. That was fun!

We called in firstly to Beagle Bay and visited the Sacred Heart of Jesus church, built from 1916 by locals and the Pallottine monks who had taken over the mission established in 1888 by French Trappist monks. During WW1, the monks were under house arrest and this was when they began building. It is highly decorated inside with pearl shell in a most individual manner. Beagle Bay was also the site of the institutionisation of children of the “stolen generation”, placed by the government in the care of the Irish Sisters of St John of God. It is now the centre of a vibrant and hard working parish with a parish school which we were told is very successful.

We went on to Middle Lagoon over a very corrugated road which deteriorated further with a series of large humps and water-filled hollows. There were a dozen or so vans in the Caravan Park out there and so people do drag vans and boats to this retreat. A very affable local greeted us,took our money for the permit to enter, and told us that some people book 12 months ahead to get a top of ridge site to sit and enjoy the view! It is a truly beautiful place and although we wanted to swim, we had to move on. This is the land of Bushtracker vans and Campavans!

Gail particularly wanted to go to Cygnet Bay for the pearls and so that was our next stop. We travel along the reddest road I have ever seen. The dirt was vermillon and the dust covered everything! But Cygnet Bay which has only been open to the public for 4 years, was a great place to stay. We did the tour (very interesting with fabulous pearls) ,had a very civilized candle-lit, a la carte dinner with wine (in our shorts and sandals – our standards have slipped) and bush camped in a secluded nook on sandy soil. We did learn a lot more about pearls and the industry and the establishment of Cygnet Bay by James Brown as well as th development under his son Lyndon after the departure of the Japanese who had pioneered the cultured pearl business.

It was lovely camping out here. But you know, you get hoons everywhere. In bed by 8.30pm, we were woken at 10.00 by an idiot revving through the sandy tracks around the camps (they are in little pockets in the bush with a road threading between). Peace shattering! But it was a very nice evening!

24rd July: Cape Leveque – Ardyaloon & Kooljaman

After breakfast and another walk on the beach,we packed up, paid our dues and went on to One Arm Point or Ardyaloon, the community is called. Entry was $10 per person which we though was rather expensive until we realised this included entry into the Trochus Hatchery. We weren't planning to visit this but I am so glad we did. Trochus shell has always been important to the local people here and for the last few years they have bred shells, fish and other marine life to release back into the seas around the point to restock the depleted habitat very successfully. The trochus the people gather on the reefs and in the wet season they spawn and then they are releqsed back to the reefs. The spawn grow and in a year are ready for release. Likewise the clams, the fish and aenomes. Old shells are polished and sold. They have a contract with a button maker in Italy and are looking for more. Our tour was conducted by a young local girl who knew her stuff and was amusing in the way she attributed personalities to the fish. (Greedy, shy, cheeky etc.) Two guys were cleaning up shells – I don't think Work Place Health & Safety had audited the place ever. One of them was a local artist and he had just finished cleaning green shells, rare and highly prized- and so I was able to buy one!

We really enjoyed the visit and after watching the tide rip out – as it does- we drove back to Kooljamin at Cape Leveque. This is another community again and there is a great camping ground here. No vans allowed but lots of tents. We climbed up the hill past the lighthouse – now solar driven- and down for a lovely swim. The beach was white and beautiful, the water green-blue and crystal clear and the cliffs and rocks, red. Absolutely lovely! The water was very salty and cool but even Glen was inspired to swim. It was so refreshing. Lots of people camp down here in beach shelters and there are facilities. We climbed back up after a fresh water shower and Glen was hankering for some Calamari and Chips for lunch. So we sat down in the restaurant in our wet togs and ate a lovely lunch. Very cool!! We went down to the western beach to see the red cliffs. Spectacular! But very hot with very crumbly red mudstone looking extremely fragile.

We had no time left and so missed Lombadina. However, we had by this time, seen some fantastic beaches and, more importantly, seen some hard working, innovative and creative communities. I was impressed by the organisation, tidiness and community spirit of these urban areas. Lots of dogs but no kids on the street – all in school,no-one sitting around aimlessly and no drunks. I agree, Denis, that it is a pity that southern media don't highlight these aspects of the north.

We drove home; it took us 2 ½ hrs but there was very litle traffic on the road. Where the graders had been was brilliant and the rest was bearable. The long shadows made it more difficult but we all agreed it had been worth it! A lovely, lovely relaxing place. I wish we had had more time there.

22^nd July: Cape Leveque – Cygnet Bay

Actually, it is next morning as per usual. I am sitting in the car out of the mossies as the sun rises, drinking coffee. I went for a walk at dawn (in my nightie)and found the sea that I heard all night. I am now sitting in a cloud of insect repellant while the other two slumber on. Actually, I know Glen iks awake – I have disturbed him enough. We were in bed at 8.15 last night and so sleep eludes!

Firstly, about Monday. The Japanese cemetery was very interesting. All the gravestones were in Japanese of course and there had been a lot of destruction. But the Japanese consul and others had done a great job of restoring the dignity of the last resting place of what were mostly young divers, by replacing with obviously different stone the headstones of those missing or irreparable. Few were over 30 yrs of age and the statistics are appalling. The cemetery houses 700 plus graves and over 600 divers are recorded as having been drowned or suffering divers' paralysis since 1903. 33 men died in one year! The Chinese and Malay cemeteries were no way as well preserved. Chinese divers were regarded as less skilful and Malay and aborigines were the least highly regarded. There are still a lot of Japanese families in Broome as there are recent graves just outside the divers' cemetery.

Point Gantheuame features sedimentery rocks and there are dinosaur footprints from some huge beasts of that era (weighing 80 tonnes) in the sandstones, observable at very low tide. We saw none but some clay moulds of what is under water. But it is a lovely place: red sandstones and clear blue water with white sands on the beaches.

After lunch we went to Matso's brewery. Frantic with tourists! Glen surprisingly liked the Lychee beer and Chango ( a combination of Chilli and Mango beers.) I didn't like any but then I am not a beer drinker. So I drank a 90 ml glass of Lime and Ginger Cider. Bad decision! I didn't mind it but I know I can't drink cider. It upsets my system!! So I paid for it!

Dinner at Amanda's was lovely. Jason had cooked a lovely roast and we entertained Larni for a time. Amanda had some interesting things to say about her workmates packing shelves at Woolies. Mostly young pilots trying to get their hours up for bigger things. So much of Broome depends on the tourist season and it has been quite depressed of late! They worry about the ethics of the new gas fracking industry but recognise it could be helpful for the economy. They actually want out of Broome in a few years.

Well, Tuesday we left early for Cape Leveque. 91 kms of unsealed road to be exact. It is interesting that beyond 20kms north of Broome the road is unsealed for 91 kms until we reach Aboriginal owned land. Then it is sealed again with a normal width highway all the way to One Arm Point. I wonder about that. The dirt (one couldn't call it gravel as it was orange red soil and sand, hard packed in places and soft in others) road wasn't bad – corrugations in places, humps in others, deep sand in yet others- but it was like driving down the bottom of a narrow half-pipe. Years of grading had produced a rounded profile to the road and it was often difficult to see what the country was like, so deep was the road between the banks topped with tall flowering wattle trees. It was very pretty actually – intense blue sky, red, red soil and the green and gold trees! Passing cars was interesting as both were up the sides of the pipe! Too narrow in places for 2 cars down the bottom! Then we had to avoid the 4 graders working on the top 26 kms. That was fun!

We called in firstly to Beagle Bay and visited the Sacred Heart of Jesus church, built from 1916 by locals and the Pallottine monks who had taken over the mission established in 1888 by French Trappist monks. During WW1, the monks were under house arrest and this was when they began building. It is highly decorated inside with pearl shell in a most individual manner. Beagle Bay was also the site of the institutionisation of children of the “stolen generation”, placed by the government in the care of the Irish Sisters of St John of God. It is now the centre of a vibrant and hard working parish with a parish school which we were told is very successful.

We went on to Middle Lagoon over a very corrugated road which deteriorated further with a series of large humps and water-filled hollows. There were a dozen or so vans in the Caravan Park out there and so people do drag vans and boats to this retreat. A very affable local greeted us,took our money for the permit to enter, and told us that some people book 12 months ahead to get a top of ridge site to sit and enjoy the view! It is a truly beautiful place and although we wanted to swim, we had to move on. This is the land of Bushtracker vans and Campavans!

Gail particularly wanted to go to Cygnet Bay for the pearls and so that was our next stop. We travel along the reddest road I have ever seen. The dirt was vermillon and the dust covered everything! But Cygnet Bay which has only been open to the public for 4 years, was a great place to stay. We did the tour (very interesting with fabulous pearls) ,had a very civilized candle-lit, a la carte dinner with wine (in our shorts and sandals – our standards have slipped) and bush camped in a secluded nook on sandy soil. We did learn a lot more about pearls and the industry and the establishment of Cygnet Bay by James Brown as well as th development under his son Lyndon after the departure of the Japanese who had pioneered the cultured pearl business.

It was lovely camping out here. But you know, you get hoons everywhere. In bed by 8.30pm, we were woken at 10.00 by an idiot revving through the sandy tracks around the camps (they are in little pockets in the bush with a road threading between). Peace shattering! But it was a very nice evening!

24rd July: Cape Leveque – Ardyaloon & Kooljaman

After breakfast and another walk on the beach,we packed up, paid our dues and went on to One Arm Point or Ardyaloon, the community is called. Entry was $10 per person which we though was rather expensive until we realised this included entry into the Trochus Hatchery. We weren't planning to visit this but I am so glad we did. Trochus shell has always been important to the local people here and for the last few years they have bred shells, fish and other marine life to release back into the seas around the point to restock the depleted habitat very successfully. The trochus the people gather on the reefs and in the wet season they spawn and then they are releqsed back to the reefs. The spawn grow and in a year are ready for release. Likewise the clams, the fish and aenomes. Old shells are polished and sold. They have a contract with a button maker in Italy and are looking for more. Our tour was conducted by a young local girl who knew her stuff and was amusing in the way she attributed personalities to the fish. (Greedy, shy, cheeky etc.) Two guys were cleaning up shells – I don't think Work Place Health & Safety had audited the place ever. One of them was a local artist and he had just finished cleaning green shells, rare and highly prized- and so I was able to buy one!

We really enjoyed the visit and after watching the tide rip out – as it does- we drove back to Kooljamin at Cape Leveque. This is another community again and there is a great camping ground here. No vans allowed but lots of tents. We climbed up the hill past the lighthouse – now solar driven- and down for a lovely swim. The beach was white and beautiful, the water green-blue and crystal clear and the cliffs and rocks, red. Absolutely lovely! The water was very salty and cool but even Glen was inspired to swim. It was so refreshing. Lots of people camp down here in beach shelters and there are facilities. We climbed back up after a fresh water shower and Glen was hankering for some Calamari and Chips for lunch. So we sat down in the restaurant in our wet togs and ate a lovely lunch. Very cool!! We went down to the western beach to see the red cliffs. Spectacular! But very hot with very crumbly red mudstone looking extremely fragile.

We had no time left and so missed Lombadina. However, we had by this time, seen some fantastic beaches and, more importantly, seen some hard working, innovative and creative communities. I was impressed by the organisation, tidiness and community spirit of these urban areas. Lots of dogs but no kids on the street – all in school,no-one sitting around aimlessly and no drunks. I agree, Denis, that it is a pity that southern media don't highlight these aspects of the north.

We drove home; it took us 2 ½ hrs but there was very litle traffic on the road. Where the graders had been was brilliant and the rest was bearable. The long shadows made it more difficult but we all agreed it had been worth it! A lovely, lovely relaxing place. I wish we had had more time there.

22^nd July: Cape Leveque – Cygnet Bay

Actually, it is next morning as per usual. I am sitting in the car out of the mossies as the sun rises, drinking coffee. I went for a walk at dawn (in my nightie)and found the sea that I heard all night. I am now sitting in a cloud of insect repellant while the other two slumber on. Actually, I know Glen iks awake – I have disturbed him enough. We were in bed at 8.15 last night and so sleep eludes!

Firstly, about Monday. The Japanese cemetery was very interesting. All the gravestones were in Japanese of course and there had been a lot of destruction. But the Japanese consul and others had done a great job of restoring the dignity of the last resting place of what were mostly young divers, by replacing with obviously different stone the headstones of those missing or irreparable. Few were over 30 yrs of age and the statistics are appalling. The cemetery houses 700 plus graves and over 600 divers are recorded as having been drowned or suffering divers' paralysis since 1903. 33 men died in one year! The Chinese and Malay cemeteries were no way as well preserved. Chinese divers were regarded as less skilful and Malay and aborigines were the least highly regarded. There are still a lot of Japanese families in Broome as there are recent graves just outside the divers' cemetery.

Point Gantheuame features sedimentery rocks and there are dinosaur footprints from some huge beasts of that era (weighing 80 tonnes) in the sandstones, observable at very low tide. We saw none but some clay moulds of what is under water. But it is a lovely place: red sandstones and clear blue water with white sands on the beaches.

After lunch we went to Matso's brewery. Frantic with tourists! Glen surprisingly liked the Lychee beer and Chango ( a combination of Chilli and Mango beers.) I didn't like any but then I am not a beer drinker. So I drank a 90 ml glass of Lime and Ginger Cider. Bad decision! I didn't mind it but I know I can't drink cider. It upsets my system!! So I paid for it!

Dinner at Amanda's was lovely. Jason had cooked a lovely roast and we entertained Larni for a time. Amanda had some interesting things to say about her workmates packing shelves at Woolies. Mostly young pilots trying to get their hours up for bigger things. So much of Broome depends on the tourist season and it has been quite depressed of late! They worry about the ethics of the new gas fracking industry but recognise it could be helpful for the economy. They actually want out of Broome in a few years.

Well, Tuesday we left early for Cape Leveque. 91 kms of unsealed road to be exact. It is interesting that beyond 20kms north of Broome the road is unsealed for 91 kms until we reach Aboriginal owned land. Then it is sealed again with a normal width highway all the way to One Arm Point. I wonder about that. The dirt (one couldn't call it gravel as it was orange red soil and sand, hard packed in places and soft in others) road wasn't bad – corrugations in places, humps in others, deep sand in yet others- but it was like driving down the bottom of a narrow half-pipe. Years of grading had produced a rounded profile to the road and it was often difficult to see what the country was like, so deep was the road between the banks topped with tall flowering wattle trees. It was very pretty actually – intense blue sky, red, red soil and the green and gold trees! Passing cars was interesting as both were up the sides of the pipe! Too narrow in places for 2 cars down the bottom! Then we had to avoid the 4 graders working on the top 26 kms. That was fun!

We called in firstly to Beagle Bay and visited the Sacred Heart of Jesus church, built from 1916 by locals and the Pallottine monks who had taken over the mission established in 1888 by French Trappist monks. During WW1, the monks were under house arrest and this was when they began building. It is highly decorated inside with pearl shell in a most individual manner. Beagle Bay was also the site of the institutionisation of children of the “stolen generation”, placed by the government in the care of the Irish Sisters of St John of God. It is now the centre of a vibrant and hard working parish with a parish school which we were told is very successful.

We went on to Middle Lagoon over a very corrugated road which deteriorated further with a series of large humps and water-filled hollows. There were a dozen or so vans in the Caravan Park out there and so people do drag vans and boats to this retreat. A very affable local greeted us,took our money for the permit to enter, and told us that some people book 12 months ahead to get a top of ridge site to sit and enjoy the view! It is a truly beautiful place and although we wanted to swim, we had to move on. This is the land of Bushtracker vans and Campavans!

Gail particularly wanted to go to Cygnet Bay for the pearls and so that was our next stop. We travel along the reddest road I have ever seen. The dirt was vermillon and the dust covered everything! But Cygnet Bay which has only been open to the public for 4 years, was a great place to stay. We did the tour (very interesting with fabulous pearls) ,had a very civilized candle-lit, a la carte dinner with wine (in our shorts and sandals – our standards have slipped) and bush camped in a secluded nook on sandy soil. We did learn a lot more about pearls and the industry and the establishment of Cygnet Bay by James Brown as well as th development under his son Lyndon after the departure of the Japanese who had pioneered the cultured pearl business.

It was lovely camping out here. But you know, you get hoons everywhere. In bed by 8.30pm, we were woken at 10.00 by an idiot revving through the sandy tracks around the camps (they are in little pockets in the bush with a road threading between). Peace shattering! But it was a very nice evening!

24rd July: Cape Leveque – Ardyaloon & Kooljaman

After breakfast and another walk on the beach,we packed up, paid our dues and went on to One Arm Point or Ardyaloon, the community is called. Entry was $10 per person which we though was rather expensive until we realised this included entry into the Trochus Hatchery. We weren't planning to visit this but I am so glad we did. Trochus shell has always been important to the local people here and for the last few years they have bred shells, fish and other marine life to release back into the seas around the point to restock the depleted habitat very successfully. The trochus the people gather on the reefs and in the wet season they spawn and then they are releqsed back to the reefs. The spawn grow and in a year are ready for release. Likewise the clams, the fish and aenomes. Old shells are polished and sold. They have a contract with a button maker in Italy and are looking for more. Our tour was conducted by a young local girl who knew her stuff and was amusing in the way she attributed personalities to the fish. (Greedy, shy, cheeky etc.) Two guys were cleaning up shells – I don't think Work Place Health & Safety had audited the place ever. One of them was a local artist and he had just finished cleaning green shells, rare and highly prized- and so I was able to buy one!

We really enjoyed the visit and after watching the tide rip out – as it does- we drove back to Kooljamin at Cape Leveque. This is another community again and there is a great camping ground here. No vans allowed but lots of tents. We climbed up the hill past the lighthouse – now solar driven- and down for a lovely swim. The beach was white and beautiful, the water green-blue and crystal clear and the cliffs and rocks, red. Absolutely lovely! The water was very salty and cool but even Glen was inspired to swim. It was so refreshing. Lots of people camp down here in beach shelters and there are facilities. We climbed back up after a fresh water shower and Glen was hankering for some Calamari and Chips for lunch. So we sat down in the restaurant in our wet togs and ate a lovely lunch. Very cool!! We went down to the western beach to see the red cliffs. Spectacular! But very hot with very crumbly red mudstone looking extremely fragile.

We had no time left and so missed Lombadina. However, we had by this time, seen some fantastic beaches and, more importantly, seen some hard working, innovative and creative communities. I was impressed by the organisation, tidiness and community spirit of these urban areas. Lots of dogs but no kids on the street – all in school,no-one sitting around aimlessly and no drunks. I agree, Denis, that it is a pity that southern media don't highlight these aspects of the north.

We drove home; it took us 2 ½ hrs but there was very litle traffic on the road. Where the graders had been was brilliant and the rest was bearable. The long shadows made it more difficult but we all agreed it had been worth it! A lovely, lovely relaxing place. I wish we had had more time there.

22^nd July: Cape Leveque – Cygnet Bay

Actually, it is next morning as per usual. I am sitting in the car out of the mossies as the sun rises, drinking coffee. I went for a walk at dawn (in my nightie)and found the sea that I heard all night. I am now sitting in a cloud of insect repellant while the other two slumber on. Actually, I know Glen iks awake – I have disturbed him enough. We were in bed at 8.15 last night and so sleep eludes!

Firstly, about Monday. The Japanese cemetery was very interesting. All the gravestones were in Japanese of course and there had been a lot of destruction. But the Japanese consul and others had done a great job of restoring the dignity of the last resting place of what were mostly young divers, by replacing with obviously different stone the headstones of those missing or irreparable. Few were over 30 yrs of age and the statistics are appalling. The cemetery houses 700 plus graves and over 600 divers are recorded as having been drowned or suffering divers' paralysis since 1903. 33 men died in one year! The Chinese and Malay cemeteries were no way as well preserved. Chinese divers were regarded as less skilful and Malay and aborigines were the least highly regarded. There are still a lot of Japanese families in Broome as there are recent graves just outside the divers' cemetery.

Point Gantheuame features sedimentery rocks and there are dinosaur footprints from some huge beasts of that era (weighing 80 tonnes) in the sandstones, observable at very low tide. We saw none but some clay moulds of what is under water. But it is a lovely place: red sandstones and clear blue water with white sands on the beaches.

After lunch we went to Matso's brewery. Frantic with tourists! Glen surprisingly liked the Lychee beer and Chango ( a combination of Chilli and Mango beers.) I didn't like any but then I am not a beer drinker. So I drank a 90 ml glass of Lime and Ginger Cider. Bad decision! I didn't mind it but I know I can't drink cider. It upsets my system!! So I paid for it!

Dinner at Amanda's was lovely. Jason had cooked a lovely roast and we entertained Larni for a time. Amanda had some interesting things to say about her workmates packing shelves at Woolies. Mostly young pilots trying to get their hours up for bigger things. So much of Broome depends on the tourist season and it has been quite depressed of late! They worry about the ethics of the new gas fracking industry but recognise it could be helpful for the economy. They actually want out of Broome in a few years.

Well, Tuesday we left early for Cape Leveque. 91 kms of unsealed road to be exact. It is interesting that beyond 20kms north of Broome the road is unsealed for 91 kms until we reach Aboriginal owned land. Then it is sealed again with a normal width highway all the way to One Arm Point. I wonder about that. The dirt (one couldn't call it gravel as it was orange red soil and sand, hard packed in places and soft in others) road wasn't bad – corrugations in places, humps in others, deep sand in yet others- but it was like driving down the bottom of a narrow half-pipe. Years of grading had produced a rounded profile to the road and it was often difficult to see what the country was like, so deep was the road between the banks topped with tall flowering wattle trees. It was very pretty actually – intense blue sky, red, red soil and the green and gold trees! Passing cars was interesting as both were up the sides of the pipe! Too narrow in places for 2 cars down the bottom! Then we had to avoid the 4 graders working on the top 26 kms. That was fun!

We called in firstly to Beagle Bay and visited the Sacred Heart of Jesus church, built from 1916 by locals and the Pallottine monks who had taken over the mission established in 1888 by French Trappist monks. During WW1, the monks were under house arrest and this was when they began building. It is highly decorated inside with pearl shell in a most individual manner. Beagle Bay was also the site of the institutionisation of children of the “stolen generation”, placed by the government in the care of the Irish Sisters of St John of God. It is now the centre of a vibrant and hard working parish with a parish school which we were told is very successful.

We went on to Middle Lagoon over a very corrugated road which deteriorated further with a series of large humps and water-filled hollows. There were a dozen or so vans in the Caravan Park out there and so people do drag vans and boats to this retreat. A very affable local greeted us,took our money for the permit to enter, and told us that some people book 12 months ahead to get a top of ridge site to sit and enjoy the view! It is a truly beautiful place and although we wanted to swim, we had to move on. This is the land of Bushtracker vans and Campavans!

Gail particularly wanted to go to Cygnet Bay for the pearls and so that was our next stop. We travel along the reddest road I have ever seen. The dirt was vermillon and the dust covered everything! But Cygnet Bay which has only been open to the public for 4 years, was a great place to stay. We did the tour (very interesting with fabulous pearls) ,had a very civilized candle-lit, a la carte dinner with wine (in our shorts and sandals – our standards have slipped) and bush camped in a secluded nook on sandy soil. We did learn a lot more about pearls and the industry and the establishment of Cygnet Bay by James Brown as well as th development under his son Lyndon after the departure of the Japanese who had pioneered the cultured pearl business.

It was lovely camping out here. But you know, you get hoons everywhere. In bed by 8.30pm, we were woken at 10.00 by an idiot revving through the sandy tracks around the camps (they are in little pockets in the bush with a road threading between). Peace shattering! But it was a very nice evening!