Fishing finished for the day
We decided to head for Cape Leveque which is a remote area on the tip of the Dampier Peninsula north of Broome. It is jointly owned by Djarindjin and One Arm Point aboriginal communities. We had heard a lot about it and we certainly weren't disappointed!! It has the most awesome rugged red cliffs, white sandy beaches which go forever and tourquoise blue water. The road there is a bit of a challenge - 95 ks of dirt/sand etc and then about 100 ks of bitumen.
On our way to Cape Leveque we stopped at Beagle Bay aboriginal community and viewed the beautiful Sacred Heart church which is famous for its pearl shell altar. The work which must have gone into this altar is amazing. There are also shells inlaid around the stained glass windows and in other areas of the church.
After having coffee here we headed up to Kooljiman at Cape Leveque where we were staying in "luxury" accommodation - our mini safari tent. Actually it was great - it came with a slat double bed, chest of drawers, fan and lamp plus outside chairs so we could sit and admire the view of the ocean from our deck!! We explored the western beach which is amazing and this is where the Qantas ad with all the children singing was filmed.
We also visited One Arm Point aboriginal community and visited the aqualculture Hatchery where they grow and harvest the trochus shell as well as turtles, barramundi, mangrove jacks, and all sorts of coral life. It was very interesting and we saw them polishing the trochus shell. This is the only place in Australia where it is grown and is the only place legally allowed to polish the shell. A lot of it is exported to Italy.
Then we went to Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm and had a tour there. Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm is the oldest Australian and family owned pearl farm and has been operating since 1946 and has only recently opened to the public so it was great to actually see a working pearl farm in operation rather than just a tourist attraction. It still leads the industry with the largest pearls in the world. It was a great tour and I really had no understanding of how a pearl is grown and how time consuming the whole process is. We were then shown the most beautiful pearls and it was explained how pearls are graded. Of course I bought one - well its in the rule book - do a pearl farm tour - BUY A PEARL!!!!
The next day we drove down on the beach on the eastern side and Charlie did some fishing and I did some swimming, pottering around in the rock pools to see what I could find, reading, and just lazing in the wonderful warm sunshine.
After some great meals cooked in the camp kitchen, great chats with other people, amazing sunsets clutching a glass of wine and nibbles, whales frolicking just off shore it was time to hit the dirt road again and back to Broome. I'm really glad we went, lots of people said the road was too bad and we should go on a tour but I'm glad we didn't listen to them. We had a ball.
That's all for now - Adieu from The Wandering 2s.
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WOOOOOWWWWW! Beautiful!
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