Through fire and smoke to a campsite beside the sea

A bushfire delay on the red, red road along the peninsula.

And so we left Broome, after almost two weeks there. We’d had a great time, and best of all, our house batteries had been replaced and everything was working well.

We’d heard there had been bushfires on the Dampier Peninsula, north of Broome, and in fact had seen some when flying over it almost a week before on our way to the horizontal waterfalls. The road was closed because of the fires the day before we left, but open when we started.

The first 14km or so are sealed, then there’s 80+km of fine red sand and corrugations, then 115km of sealed road, linking a lot of Aboriginal communities.

We were about two-thirds along the dirt section when we saw lots of smoke ahead, then flashing lights, and a Rural Fire Service vehicle was parked across the road, stopping traffic. The chap told us there’d be a short wait while they did a bit of back-burning along the road, so a minor convoy  

Waiting in line.

formed behind us and eventually we were led through a fairly smoky bit by a small fire tanker.

Even further on, there was another smoke cloud and the fire was right beside the road, but once past that, the air cleared and soon we were on the big stretch of bitumen.

We bypassed lots of little communities that offer camping, heading for Cape Leveque, then turning right towards the final settlement. Just near a pearl farm we spotted the turnoff we sought: Gambanan. Like all the campgrounds on the cape, it is Aboriginal land and cared for by a particular family, who’ve put a caretaker there to collect fees, clean the toilets etc. He’s a bloke from Bonny Hills, near Port Macquarie, who’s been on the road for two years in a camper trailer with his wife. They each work at the nearby Kooljaman Resort, Theo as a chef and Pam in the resort cafe.

This is a very simple campground with basic facilities like flush toilets and cold showers. The ground is all fine grey sand (where it’s not fine red sand!) so we have a bedtime ritual of washing our feet.  

The serenity of Gambanan.

The campground is only separated from the sea by rocks and there is a small sandy beach about 15 minutes walk away.

Theo warned us not to swim as a croc has been spotted there so we enjoyed a walk but didn’t venture in.

It’s been pretty multicultural, with an adventurous Italian family packing up to leave this morning. They are on a month’s holiday in Western Australia. Last year they had a month in Queensland. They have a hire vehicle and tents and after leaving here, will tackle the Gibb River Road, which is one of the roughest, most gorgeous parts of the Kimberley. The afternoon they arrived they were starting to dive into the water from the rocks until Theo spotted them and told them about the croc risk.

A Dutch couple were near us and as the sun set, he tried out the didgeridoo he’d bought somewhere. It all sounded just right for the surroundings, with lots of the signs around the campground in the language of the local Bardi people.

We’ve seen spectacular sunrises over the sea, as Gambanan faces east but this morning, a  

Spectacular sunrise.

combination of smoke and sea fog gave a spectacular show. Broome boasts of its Staircase to the Moon, but we had a staircase to the sun today.

It’s quite eerie when the tide is full as the bay is full of deep turquoise water, not making a sound. It’s only when there’s wind and a bit of a chop develops that one can hear the waves slapping on the rocks. Otherwise the tide just comes in and goes out, noiselessly.

Customised coil holder.

The sandflies have been merciless and I’m their particular favourite so am itching and scratching and trying all kinds of remedies. We had mossie coils but only one holder, so John devised another from a fork whose handle had become a bit dodgy. He bent one tine up to hold the coil, and two down to poke into the ground  . . . and one broke off! It is most effective.

We left our chairs, ground mat and bits and bobs on our site at Gambanan to go exploring. First was One Arm Point, the local aboriginal community (called Ardyaloon). We had to pay $10 each to enter the community, which seems well-organised and prosperous. Right at the end of the peninsula is the local trochus hatchery and aquaculture centre. It all seemed a bit ramshackle and the South African girl in charge just told us to have a look around, with a tour scheduled in about an hour when a bus arrived. We duly looked around, found one large circular tank obviously breeding trochus and some of the others had one or two fish in them, but nothing as we had imagined it. There were some polished trochus shell for sale . . . but we’re certainly not taking up shell collecting at our ages.

 

One of the signs at Gambanan.

Then we drove back along the road to the Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, about the only privately-owned bit of land on the end of the Dampier Peninsula. One family, the Browns, have been cultivating pearls there since 1946 and they have a glorious gallery full of wonderful pieces of pearl jewellery.

About the only one that really appealed was a twisted rope of gold and white baroque pearls for just $20,000 . . . so that stayed firmly in its display case. We inquired about camping there, as it does have a small campground, but sadly, our vehicle is too high for the fairly bushy approach road.

On we went to the Kooljaman Resort, jointly owned by two of the Aboriginal communities and featuring a range of accommodation (but once again, we were considered too large for the campground) from cabins to safari tents.

The swimming beach at Kooljaman.

So we hightailed it back the 14km to Gambanan, which was almost deserted and gloriously serene. We watched the tide go out, further than we had seen it in previous days, as we’re starting to get the tidal difference of about eight metres. We’ve decided to stay at least two more nights, then will head south along the peninsula, trying to stay at some of the other community-run campgrounds.