Time at James Price Point (JPP)

My good mate Watto and I decided to spend a day visiting this spectacular destination on the Dampier peninsula. We got away fairly early and turned onto the road to the Dampier peninsula and JPP. When we left the bitumen and rode onto the red dirt the immediate impact was sensory. The color of the sky and the landscape changed and became more vivid. One also noticed immediately that the bush was dry. Much of West Australia is enduring a prolonged dry spell.

James Price Point shot to prominence when Woodside Petroleum wanted to level hundreds of acres here to build a harbor and gas refinery. It caused an international outcry and many hundreds of people involved themselves to either protest, camp and obstruct at the site, lobby politicians or collect signatures to send to their local members of Parliament. Even Sea Shepherd was  involved.

As you can see from the pics this place has stunning colors, has a thriving marine life and is close to the breeding ground of Southern Right Whales. At the southern end of this area turtles emerge during winter to lay their eggs on the beach at night, see pic.  Beautiful reefs exist just 50 meters from the beach where a multitude of shells live. I have seen massive clams, textile cones and many cowries when I dived there 2 years ago.

And this is the area that politics and business were happy to sacrifice for profit when there are alternate options available!!!

On this visit, my third, there are  signs still standing, maintained by dedicated protesters / campers who come here year after year to relax, soak in the natural beauty and just chill. I am sure they keep an eye on things too.

As this was my first visit in two years it was interesting to see the changes from the heyday of the protests. The major camp at the turnoff to JPP had totally disappeared. The smaller camp 2km from the coast had fallen into neglect. It had been used by campers during the winter season but was empty now. Campers fill this area during the winter months year after year. At JPP itself a few campers remained. By end of September it is getting quite hot already and the winter campers, who came to enjoy the benign weather, had gone back south over the last month.

We saw a Fish Eagle sitting in the tree and it was in no way concerned by us. The aboriginal elder / spokesperson (Janet) was no longer at JPP. She had left the place months earlier to return to Broome to live with family. I have included pics of the great spot she had used for years. Only a broken down panel van remains.

Our friend Dave still remains. He has been coming here for 9 years I think. He still rates this as one of the top spots in this area. See pics of his camp. He is known for finding dinosaur footprints amongst the rocks at low tide. There are some really good fishing spots in this area. Dave manages to catch a feed quite often.

We drove north along the coast on the gravel road to explore more of JPP. Pics of some of the stunning coastline below. At low tide many reefs emerge from the water and reveal great fishing spots. There is vehicle access to a great beach which leads to the next rocky point 9 km up north.

Also see this link:   https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=144528419227958&set=ms.c.eJw9ybkRACAMA7CNOOw43%7E%3B6LUQQodYLkLJlXK2gL1%7E%3BQAez%7E_zyWzP73k8Y74OgNsQCw%7E-%7E-.bps.a.105255276488606.1073741827.100010124012478&type=3

Unfortunately I had to head back home after two more days. It was great to catch up, catch some fish and recharge my batteries.

By then it is pretty warm up here. We had 36 C most days but a cool breeze drops the temp by a bit at night. Pic below is at the turnoff to the Dampier peninsula and Cape Leveque.

I made a bean and beef curry the other night that went down with the  housies. Last night I made a massive fresh salad and we all had some chunky T-bone steaks and/or Rump steaks. Looks like we struggled to finish the meal. We had ice cream after; yum.

In the footy finals the wrong team won. Thankfully there is always next year.

Went fishing with my friends at Broome Port on the long jetty that services the port. The Broome tidal variance is up to 10 meters, so there is substantial depth at the right times. We caught some Queen fish. They came through for a time and we managed to hook a few. Back at home Jacko managed to convert the fillets into some beautiful sashimi (hope spelling is ok). This was enjoyed by all of us the next evening.

There is some big stuff swimming around the pier. We saw a massive shark jump out the water twice. It must have been 3meters +. There are some very big groupers at the jetty as well. They grab your fish if you don’t reel them in fast enough. The largest one is said to be the size of a VW Beetle.

Yesterday morning we did a spot of fishing on Cable Beach at low tide. It was very quiet, but I managed to reel in a massive stingray. It had green dots on its wings. We released it before we thought of pics. So sorry.   Back here in Broome it is beautiful to see the Boab trees that are grown on nature strips and in gardens.

I rode to the Cable Beach Club Resort to have a look at their accommodation options. I had been asked by good friends to find out more about the level of luxury and price for their premier accommodation. This resort is known as the best and most luxurious facility in Broome. I was not disappointed and walked away very impressed with their offerings. I thought I’d share some pics of the Suite here:

The Villas here

One of the four restaurants here.

I have had a lovely flight to Broome soaring above the clouds (check pic). There is an area south of Broome where the dunes in the landscape below look like a milky color sea. The dunes below look like the swells on the sea. I tried to take pictures, but they did not come out at all. After an uneventful flight we landed at Broome.  My mate Jacko picked me up at the airport and got me settled in at his house.

It’s good to be visiting the guys again. I said hello to the dogs and the bar fridge, haha!

Once I had unpacked things we went to Cable Beach Club for a sundowner and some pizza. It is a truly spectacular sight to watch the sun set over the ocean. The sun seems to float down to the horizon and then appears to stop, hesitate and then slip below the horizon leaving behind an afterglow that slowly fades through shades of pink until darkness. All of this against a backdrop of Palms and Frangipani trees; Wonderful!

When we got back home again we had a yarn about the old times, caught up with the other roomies and had a good few games of darts (compulsory).

The next morning I walked around Broome town, past the pearl shops and through China Town. Around the back is a jetty that leads into the mangroves and is used by anglers that are feeling lucky. It is known as ‘Streeter’s jetty’ and was used by the pearl luggers of years gone by to unload their pearls and pearl shells before they re-provisioned and headed back out to sea. This part of town is in line with the approach to the runway of Broome airport. So the jets come screaming across the rooftops of China town with bellies nearly scraping the ground. It is quite a sight!

I really liked the efforts by the shire to preserve local history. Statues have been erected honoring founding citizens of the pearl industry. One statue is of a diver in diving gear.

We sat on Broome beach and enjoyed a salad sandwich each and drank some bottle water.

Gantheaume Point

This morning it was low tide at 6:30am. I had wanted to go to Ganth point as it is known for the dinosaur fossil footprints that are  visible at the spring low tide. I had never seen them before. The tracks were laid down by dinosaurs more than 130 million years ago when they walked across the mud flats of that time. Whilst I looked at the tracks I got this feeling of vertigo, realizing that I had fallen into a time warp that took me to events of at least 130 million years ago; goosebump stuff. (see link and  pics below)  Look at the colors.

https://www.google.com.au/?gws_rd=ssl#q=broome+gantheaume+point

A side note is that there are numerous dinosaur prints at James Price Point some 50km up the coast. I have included pics from a previous trip.

Anastasia’s Pool

A special feature at Gantheaume Point is Anastasias Pool.

In Broome, see Anastasia’s Pool, a natural rock pool which is part of the history of the town and tells a touching story.

The pool was modified by a former lighthouse keeper, to make it easy for his wife, Anastasia, to access.

Anastasia suffered badly from arthritis and found relief in the warm water of the Indian Ocean which filled the pool at high tide.

Anastasia’s Pool is on the north side of Gantheaume Point which is well worth a visit for its dinosaur footprints.

Thought to be 130 million years old, the footprints can be seen at very low tides.

You can find out the times of the tides by contacting the Broome Visitor Centre.

For pics see link below.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=broome+anastasia%27s+pool&biw=1366&bih=639&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CEAQsARqFQoTCLuT04uo_scCFaNdpgodrHUHSA&dpr=1

I had not been to this most beautiful part of Australia for 2 years now. The time has come to visit some good mates up there once more. It is generally accepted that Broome is the southern end of the Kimberley region in the north west of Australia. For my money the Kimberley region is the most magnificent region in Australia. It is one of the few regions in this country that is still largely untamed. It is stunningly beautiful. It has a great diversity of landscapes from 320 million year old coral reefs that stand as mountain ranges to billion year old, ochre colored mesas that are crumbling to dust and reflect mind blowing colors at sunrise and sunset.

This will be my fourth visit to this area. I look forward to time spent fishing, camping on the beach, boating, yarns around the camp fire and the odd beverage. Broome is the southern delimiter of the Dampier peninsula which sports a number of Aboriginal settlements and has the famous Cape Leveque as its westernmost tip. Broome itself owns the world famous and stunning Cable Beach. I cannot wait!

OK, I will confess. I am sitting at Perth airport waiting for my connecting flight to Broome. Look at my destination pic below; the magnificent Cable Beach, Broome