And so we left Derby and headed back in the direction of Broome then up onto the Dampier Peninsula - which is a bit confusing since the town of Dampier is quite a bit further south.  When we'd checked out this area the previous week we'd decided that somewhere along Quandong Point would be a good spot.  We found a brilliant spot high on the cliffs above the beach with a little track down to the beach. There was only our two vans and one other.  

So we spent the next couple of days doing the odd beach walk, having a dunk in the ocean though not too far in lest we encounter sharks and generally just relaxing.  We'd a great campfire going both nights and cooked our tea on the hot coals whilst sipping deliciously wickedly strong margaritas made by Carol.  It was such a pretty spot though sometimes quite breezy being so high.  We kept scanning the horizon for whales who frequent this area at this time of year but had no luck.

After two nights there we headed further north to Pender Bay Escape which is Aboriginal owned and operated.  Its quite a unique camp with well spaced out little nooks and crannies along and down the cliffs which are the individual sites.  Since we hadn't booked we were in a couple of the overflow campsites which were well situated for the only two toilets and showers and but still had a bit of a seaview.  Had we been staying longer we might have been able to get into one of the ocean view sites but two nights let us check out and enjoy the two magnificent beach areas including the one with the huge "heart rock" as well as the clifftop lookout.  On the second day we took a drive over to Middle Lagoon where there is another campsite and this one has a dump point which we needed to use!  We also had a swim at the beach there and then enjoyed a delicious fish and chip lunch at the little cafe there before heading back to Pender Bay and yet another swim before sundowner drinks on the beach - we actually managed three swims in the ocean that day as well as seeing a whale way in the distance and a little pod of dolphins playing not far from us.

The Pender Bay and Middle Lagoon sites are about 30km in from the main Broome to Cape Leveque road over an unsealed road which is only suitable for 4WD and is really quite deep sand in places.  The recommendation is for caravans to be up and on the road and out before about 10.30 and for incoming vans, camper trailers etc to wait till after that time as in many places there's not a lot of room to pass.  Unfortunately one guy towing a camper trailer didn't get that memo and this resulted in he and Nudge getting their vehicles up close and very personal as you can see from the picture.  It took about an hour with lots of help from people behind us, letting down tyres even further and digging out trenches in the sand then some pushing power and eventually they were able to safely pass each other without any damage. Another adventure!

We then headed further north to Gumbanan Wilderness Retreat - another Aboriginal owned and operated camp.  The camp is again situated high above the beach and on arrival the water looked gorgeous.  However once we were set up we discovered that the beach in front of the camp was very rocky and although there was another little beach area about a kilometre away - it had a lot of mangroves and generally didn't look that inviting.  Carol and I went in up to our knees and that was it.  We'd booked there for two nights and so yesterday we set off to explore a bit more and hopefully see the Cape Leveque lighthouse.  To get there you have to go to Kooljaman camp - also Aboriginal owned and operated.  We would have stayed there but their site sizes precluded that as they're limited to 6m x 4m and neither of us once drawbars are taken into account would fit into that.  However unless you're booked into their campsite they charge $20 per person to access the beach and get up close to the lighthouse.  $20 a couple I would have worn but we all felt the $40 was a bit much.  We managed to spot the top of the lighthouse through the trees and had a glimpse of a rocky cliff heading down to the beach and contented ourselves with that.  

Since we'd saved all that money we headed to Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm where they have a lovely restaurant and an infinity type pool which you can use without charge.    We had an absolutely delicious lunch - Nudge and I had salt and pepper squid with kewpie aioli served with a salad which had the most incredibly flavours - just fantastic.  After duly digesting our lunch we adjourned to the pool area and had a quick dip then lounged round the pool with an afternoon beverage for an hour or so before heading back to camp. We escaped without buying any more pearls!  

There's a little cafe at the camp and she sells burgers and hot chips from 5 to 7 so since we weren't very hungry we just shared a couple of boxes of chips while Carol rustled up some crumbed prawns and squid.  We were tired after our day out and all headed to bed early.

Today we've driven back down to Broome Gateway caravan park which is about 30km out of Broome.  Its an ideal spot for a couple of nights as it's almost at the turn off where we head south towards Eighty Mile Beach.  So this afternoon I've stripped the bed and got all the sheets, towels, etc washed, dried and put away and Craig and Nudge have got the cars washed and the solar panels washed.  Tomorrow we'll head into Broome and stock up again before starting our gradually journey south on Friday.  Back soon!