I was up before daybreak, packed up the tent and headed off back to the main road. I was well on my way at daybreak. Kununarra to Katherine is 510 km.  I had heard of the beauty of the Katherine Gorge and was keen to do the day tour on offer. Katherine is a small town on the Alice to Darwin road only around 300 km from Darwin. I thought about going on to Darwin as I had never been there. However being short on time I dismissed the idea as you cannot go to Darwin only, but  HAVE to visit Litchfield and Kakadu National Parks as well. Then there is the Roper River. All of this would take another 2 weeks. So I have shelved this for another trip.

This trip was done in 2018.

Once the sun was up I could see that the landscape was sub-tropical scrub and trees, but very dry. I went cruising along until I reached the great Victoria River at Timber Creek. Earlier I passed the sign/ entrance to Bullo River Station of Sarah Henderson fame. The Victoria River is known to harbor many Salties. Would not want to swim in there for any money in the world.

Victoria River

I reached Katherine early in the afternoon and proceeded to The Caravan Park at the Katherine River resort. The resort is situated on the banks of the Katherine river has great facilities including a huge salt water pool.

The next morning I joined the Tour of the Katherine Gorge. The gorge is gorgeous (J) with steep rock walls rising on both sides of the river. In places there were sandbanks in coves that looked like secluded beaches. The tour is in three stages where rock banks terminate the cruise and passengers have to disembark and walk a few hundred yards to the next level of the river.

Change over to next level

Along the rock walls are many places where ancient aboriginal art is visible from small pictures to 4 meter high pictures of dream time beings.

I have failed to mention all along this trip that everywhere I went I had a supply of water bottles. So I had a sip of water often as the temperatures were well into the thirties every day. We returned home in the late afternoon. After a hot and sweaty day I decided to take advantage of the large swimming pool for a few hours before I had a drink and cooked something to eat. The next morning it was time to head back south in the direction of home.

 Fitzroy River

It was time to leave  Broome and say goodbye to my friends. The next morning, after a coffee I hit the road north into the Kimberley. Rugged country, tough country that is what I was expecting. Beautiful and stunning country that is what I got.

Some 140 km north of Broome there is a turn off that leads to the lower reaches of the Fitzroy River. There are no signs at the turnoff except for the Boab trees (baobab in Africa). The road quickly turns into a track that goes on forever.  Eventually one reaches the banks of the river. It is wide, especially at high tide. You can see the course of the river for a few kilometers. There are a good few tents and caravans camped in the bush on the banks of the river as the insiders know that this is a killer Barramundi spot. The place is littered with massive Boab trees and it is dead quiet here; very relaxing. There are heaps of big crocks in the river as well. Luckily the bank along the river is very high.

The land is privately owned/leased and there are many mobs of Brahman cattle running around so you have to be careful on the tracks as the Brahmans loom over your vehicle and do not always get out of the way.

Fitzroy river

The tracks follow the river bank for miles. I did carry on towards the mouth of the river and eventually found a great camping spot under some trees where I could set up my camp and roll out my swag. Conditions were perfect for open air camping. Had a look around the general area and as the pics will show, the river banks alternated with grassy areas and treed sections where one could find shade and shelter…and ants and other surprises. Read on.

Home sweet home (:-))

I walked around and found a few fishing spots. Finding firewood was a bit harder as it was late in the season and much wood had been harvested already. I made a fire, cooked some food and turned in. I was getting comfortable in the dark but it was very humid so I stuck my one leg out from under the sheet. I was just falling asleep when I heard and felt that ‘plop’ as something wet and cold attached itself to my leg that was resting in the fresh air. It felt like something slimy had sucked it self onto my leg. Not one to panic I Reached out for the torch (I never sleep in the bush without a bright torch and heavy stick next to  my bed). As the light switched on I saw the two eyes of a green Australian frog look at me from my leg; see pic. He left me and continued hopping around the camp for the rest of the night. Talk about strange sleeping partners.

My sleeping mate!

Several hours later I was woken up by the snorting and hoof thumping of a mob of Brahman cattle. Turns out I had set up camp on the trail for their nightly migration along the river bank. They were about to walk over me when the camp smell and the car spooked them. Once again my torch saved me. I switched on the bright light in the middle of the night and that shocked them and spooked them. They turned and fled as one.

I got up early and did some exploring and fishing for the mighty Barra. After losing most of my lures I eventually caught a decent size Barry on a crappy old lure I had purchased at Kmart for less than $4 some years ago. I apologise for the bad pic, but just to make sure I did catch & land one Barra.

I need to explain that I ate very well as I have a 40ltr car fridge that allows me to carry milk and meat etc for days without spoiling. The fish was tied to a tree branch with some rope and within an hour the ants had found it and had navigated to the fish via tree n\and rope, I had to wash them all off and store the fish in the fridge.

After another brilliant evening in the bush I departed early the next morning. I planned to get back to the main road to Derby and head for the Gibb River road. This iconic outback road heads north a few kilometers outside Derby.

I had seen enough small places (Coconut Wells and Quondong Point) on the Dampier to be hungry for a longer and more detailed stay. I set off early one morning for Cape Leveque and One Arm Point which are situated at the top of the Dampier Peninsula. Once you turn off the Broome to  Derby road the Cape is another 225km away. After the first ten kilometers of bitumen the road becomes a graded gravel road that slowly deteriorates from bad to woeful. The idea was to head for Leveque and One Arm Point and then to work my way back to Broome along the southern side of the Dampier.

Not everybody knows that the stretch from Broome to Leveque, King Sound, Derby and beyond has some of the highest tidal differences in Australia. At Derby the differences are over 12 meters at certain times of the year. This results in the coastal waters running into and out of Kings Sound at one heck of a speed. I have been up the Fitzroy River when the tidal surge came in from the sea like a tsunami heralding the next high tide. It sounds as if one is standing on the banks of a river rather than an ocean shore.  Consider what effect the tides have on the harbors in the area. The piers are built on pylons 12 meters high. How do you load a boat at the spring low tide??

See some links below re Dampier peninsula

The Dampier Peninsula is a peninsula located north of Broome and Roebuck Bay in Western Australia. It is surrounded by the Indian Ocean to the west and north, and King Sound to the east. The northernmost part of the peninsula is Cape Leveque

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dampier_Peninsula

http://www.kimberleyaustralia.com/broome-cape-leveque.html

http://www.cygnetbaypearls.com.au/

The trip was long and dusty, but I arrived at One Arm Point later in the afternoon. This is an Aboriginal community at the top of the Dampier peninsula. It has a supermarket, a servo and a few public buildings. The coastline has several rocky outcrops just offshore . There are some pearl farm or oyster farm businesses that have their premises just out of town. There also is a crude short runway to land a small plane. Here at One Arm Point the tidal waters rush into and out of King Sound, depending on tide.

Island off One Arm Point

View from Camp ground

For more images see: https://www.google.com.au/search?q=one+arm+point&biw=1366&bih=639&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCYQsARqFQoTCJuSwL6A28gCFYWklAod8uoCIQ

I headed back down the road from One Arm Point and spent the night a t a local camp ground close by. The views towards the evening glow after sunset were great, but the running tide made it sound as if I had been camping in a river. The facilities were basic.

The next day I went down the road and turned off towards Middle Lagoon. After a sandy track for many kilometers one arrives at a great camping ground with trees and its own beach. The grounds are expansive and have a small rock ledge over the sea. There you look into 15 – 25 foot of crystal clear water and see corals, turtles and fish swimming by. I tried some fishing but did not catch anything.

I camped for the night and had a lovely evening under a big tree.

See  link below for better images from that Dampier area than my crappy pics.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=one+arm+point&biw=1366&bih=639&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCYQsARqFQoTCJuSwL6A28gCFYWklAod8uoCIQ#tbm=isch&q=middle+lagoon&imgrc=_

James Price Point (JPP)

The next day I continued south and decided to visit this destination as I had read about this point of controversy in the months leading up to my trip. Woodside Petroleum intended clearing a few sq, kilometers of coast and building a gas refinery. It was going to have a major harbor construction as well. In short this caused an international outrage and likeminded people congregated in the area to protest and stop this from happening. History shows that a few years later the project was canned. This area will remain pristine.

At the turn off to JPP the protesters had set up a camp so you could not miss the place. I drove along the 30+ kms to get to JPP. It is stunningly beautiful. Red sand cliffs line the beach into the blue Indian Ocean waters. Great spots for fishing emerge at low tide with the tidal difference of up to 10 meters.

I camped on the cliff for a night and spent the next day exploring the area. At low tide I dived on a reef that was about 50 meters from the low water mark. I saw tracks of turtles that had beached the night before to lay their eggs. Evidence of nests were everywhere. Makes you wonder how people can destroy such natural beauty just for profit. I had a local aboriginal elder explain to me why they were protesting. Another regular at this spot showed me dinosaur tracks that were visible at low tide.

I asked some of the Aboriginal people where they would go fishing in this area. They described a place 10km up the coast. I went there on day 2 and caught these two trevally.

I went back to Broome the next day, much wiser and enriched. I have since been back to this location twice more and loved it.

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.

Almost time to head back south. We are going to take our time and do a little bit of exploring along the way, where warranted.

We have had a really great time here at the Capricorn Coast. A number of times I tried some fishing and managed to catch some mackerel. I enjoyed standing on the rocks and watching the dolphins and sea turtles swim by.

I have done some swimming, playing around in the surf and today some body surfing as the waves were up. We have had many beach walks. We walked in the low tide waters (knee high) into the sea for up to 400 meters from the beach. Words like wonderful and exhilarating come to mind.

Imagine my surprise and horror when I saw the Crocodile warnings on a slipway at Emu Park beach. These signs always say ‘Achtung’ I guess for the German tourists. The signage says: ‘Be crock wise in crock country. Sightings (phone #)’.   A day earlier our neighbor at the caravan park told us that some person had sighted a crock in the mangroves just up the road. He was on his way to the beach and the path leads through the mangroves. I did not believe our friend as I thought he was pulling my leg. Well, I am going to be a bit more cautious from now on. I truly cannot believe that crocks come this far south. Someone had placed a soggy biscuit in the mouth of the crock

We have had great weather with temperatures around 23 degrees most days. The last few days have been very humid and then yesterday we had a good bit of rain. The temp felt much worse due to the humidity and the UVs which were right up. Even our dog had had enough and escaped into the caravan for some respite.

Yesterday I came across some more retro caravans in the park and have attached a pic. The couple in one of the caravans had purchased their van in the 60s and had it done up just recently to look schmick again.

If the weather continues I might do some more body surfing to-morrow.