7th September, 2014

Today started with 4 loads of washing and we still have more to go tomorrow. The sand, dust and dew up at Middle Lagoon left us and our clothing feeling in need of a good clean. 

Then we drove into town to check out the Sunday Market. It wasn't very big, there were only a few merchandise stalls and just as many food stalls. From there it was off to do some grocery shopping before heading to Maccas for a $1 Cheeseburger which I was allowed to have as it was Fathers Day.

Back to the van park for a swim in the resort pool before we made our way into town for the Shinju Festival Street Parade. We lined up on the street and watched the floats, bikes, Chinese dragon, fire trucks and vintage cars come down the street and head into the centre of town. The streets were lined with punters, the people on the floats were throwing handfuls of lollies at the kids and then the fire trucks started squirting water all over the kids. It was great to be there to see it all unfold, the towns people really got into it and all the kids had a ball. We followed the parade down to the oval where they all congregated and had a close up look, while the band kicked into gear. 

Then we stopped at Cable Beach to watch another beautiful Broome sunset.

6th September, 2014

Today with sorrow in our hearts we packed up at Middle Lagoon and headed back down the Cape Leveque Road to Broome. I suppose there are plenty of worse locations we could have been going back too, like, Drouin for instance.

We have set up back in the Cable Beach Caravan Park, as that's the one we know and love. We are staying here for another four nights  so that we can see the Stairway to the Moon on the 9th. Over the next few days there is a Shinju Matsuri Festival on in town, with float parades and a Mardi Gras. It celebrates community and culture and showcases what Broome has to offer, so that will give us plenty to do.

From here we will be heading to Fitzroy Gorge and then in to the Bungle Bungles, before heading south to Wolfe Creek Crater and then home via the Tanami Track to Alice Springs. From there we will be high tailing it back to sunny Drouin.

5th September, 2014

Today we went snorkelling at Middle Lagoon Beach and saw heaps of fish, heres an example of what we saw. Clare baked some bread in the Weber before lunch and then after lunch we went back to the rock pools. We also did some fishing in the creek and caught about 10 bream (undersized) a rock cod and a few toads.

Here some photos of the sunset from the ridge at Middle Lagoon, which show the way the colours change as the sun dips into the Indian Ocean.

This evening Trent and Alyssa played 'Tiggy' with some of the local children and other kids that were camping here. When they had finished Trent went down to the beach with the local children and watched them try and spear Ghost Crabs and fish in the shallows.

4th September, 2014

This morning after an extremely dewy night, we headed off nice and early to the tip of Cape Leveque. Our first stop was One Arm Point where we visited the Ardiyooloon Community and their Trochus Hatchery. The Trochus is a shell fish that contains mother of pearl and they are spawned in tanks before being placed back on the reef to continue growing. The shell is shipped overseas and the meat is considered a delicacy in some overseas countries. There was a touch tank their and Trent had a hold  of a pencil urchin.

The views from up here a Ross towards Sunday Island are really something to behold.

From there we headed back to Kooljiman where we enjoyed a coffee at the Cafe before going swimming and snorkelling on the beach on the eastern side of the tip and then fishing on the western side of the tip. There were some beautifully positioned beach shelters to camp at on the eastern side of the tip, at $75 per double, unpowered. Location, location, location.

3rd September, 2014

This morning on the low tide we walked around to the Southern side of Middle Lagoon. There are hundreds of rock pools to be explored and we saw neons, crabs, clams and other reef fish and the girls collected heaps of shells. The colour of the crystal clear water contrasting against the sand and the rocks is beautiful.

We returned to camp and grabbed the snorkelling gear before heading down to the beach below the ridge and going for a dip. The snorkelling was very good, there were heaps of different fish hanging around the oyster rocks, including the largest school of clown fish I have seen in one spot. Unfortunately there were not very many fish that we would consider plate fish hanging around.

After snorkelling we returned to camp and had some lunch before driving out to the Whale Song Cafe (7 km) for a drink of our choice, while enjoying the magical view of the bay.

When we returned to Middle Lagoon we tried our luck fishing again, we had none and enjoyed another majestically sunset. 

2nd September, 2014

Today was spent exploring the beach at Middle Lagoon. We spent heaps of time fishing, snorkelling and swimming. We still haven't caught a fish here yet but have only seen one other person catch one  while we have been fishing. Apparently they were biting the day before we arrived, maybe I am bad luck. While we were fishing we saw a few whales breaching and splashing out in the ocean.

Another magnificent sunset tonight, not sure what tomorrow will bring. 

1st September, 2014

This morning we packed up camp at Cable Beach Caravan Park and headed North toward Middle Lagoon. When we hit the dirt road we stopped and aired down the tyres once again in an attempt to try and absorb the corrugations. For the most part the road was a sandy dirt road, it did have some bad sections of corrugations and wash outs or whoopies that you had to watch for.

Once back on the bitumen we stopped in at Beagle Bay and had a look at the Sacred Heart Church which was decorated using mother of pearl and shells by the father of the time along with local aborigines. The detail and effort that has gone into decorating the church is unbelievable. 

From there we headed out to Middle Lagoon along 30 k of dirt road. It was probably in slightly better knick than the Cape Leveque Road but had heaps of whoopies. We have set up camp just behind the main ridge  under the shade of a Gubinge Tree. When we arrived there was an old couple cleaning 5 massive Mackerel that they had caught this morning in their tinnie. We tried our luck from the beach this afternoon with no luck using lures, there is no bait available for sale as they are getting ready to shut down for the season.

I missed sunset tonight as we were catching up with one of Trent's friends that had been out fishing in a boat all day. Apparently just as the sun went down a whale started breaching a few hundred metres off the shore. I did get this shot after the sun had gone down.