Monday 14 – Sunday 20 October

And, the winner of the strongest constitution amongst us is….drum roll…..Diane Craig (McDonald).  Di did not succumb to Noro Virus.  She is a true star.  Albeit with red raw hands from washing them every few minutes.  It saved her, though, from the dreaded sickness that has felled the rest of us.

We are all well now though, and have been for a week.

Sunday night we all sat at the dinner table together and ate the same thing.  First time this holiday.  Up until now some have had nothing, boiled rice or chicken soup.  Tonight we all tuck into the Threadfin Salmon from yesterday’s fishing trip by Garry.  It is absolutely delicious, accompanied by fabulous salads made by Di.  How lucky we are to be in the company of great cooks.

On Monday, we arise at 4.45am and drive to Cable Beach to witness the moonset, which the breakfast chef at the Sunrise Bar had recommended yesterday.  He said it was a rare occurrence to see it and that we should take the opportunity.  We do, that is all but Graham who chooses sleep over the moon.  What a wise man he is.

So the five of  wait.

The photographer doesn’t waste a minute

We continue to wait

Garry has cut up fruit for us and packed it in little lunch boxes, so we sit on the bench like a bunch of kindergarten kids, eating our fruit, facing gorgeous Cable Beach and wait to witness this moon set

Is this it?

No it’s a oil rig, way out to sea

Here comes the moon

 

Just as we see it beginning to set

The clouds roll in and all is lost

Before leaving Cable Beach we pay homage to its saviour, Lord McAlpine, who revived Broome in the 80s and who built the Cable Beach Club

We drive back home for breakfast and to pack up the house.  And pack up the 4WD for our adventure north.

It takes us 3 ½ hours to drive the 230km north to Kooljaman at Cape Leveque, on the very tip of the Dampier Peninsula.  The road is sealed for perhaps 1/3 of the way, and then we hit the dirt.  Or rather sand.  This is why it’s 4WD drive only

There are apparently a lot of road works in these parts.  With a small road crew.  No traffic to speak of but at least there are employment opportunities

We turn off on the road to Kooljaman.  This tests our 4WD skills.

We each settle into our glamping tents, at the foot of the lighthouse

with wonderful views of Eastern Beach.

Too hard to resist, we swim here at least twice every day.  The tides on this peninsula are the most extreme in the world.  The lowest of lows and the highest of highs.  So, our swim times are dictated by the tides.  One of us has to be helped over the rough ground

This afternoon we drive the 12km to Cygnet Bay, on the other side of this narrow peninsula.  We board a boat.  An amphibian no less.

And we are driven overland to the water, whereupon this vehicle immediately becomes a boat and we undertake the Waterfall Reef tour.  These are waterfalls in the ocean, a tidal phenomenon due to the aforementioned huge outgoing tides.

For me to board a boat is in itself a phenomenon.  I have suffered sea (and air) sickness all my life and just last year I was introduced to the Relief Band by my friend Ruth Goodsir.  This is a wonderful contraption worn on the wrist which issues a short pulse to the median nerve which in turn goes to the brain to quell motion sickness.  It is a wonder.  Garry wears one too now and this has enabled us both to get on this boat.  Neither of us suffer from a hint of sickness.  Thank you Ruthie!

We are guided by a most charismatic Bardi Jawi man, Badi, born on the peninsula, who is clearly passionate about his part of the world.

The views from the boat are wonderous

And the tides really have to be seen to be believed

There is a reef in the middle of it all.  An algae reef 3km in length.  Over which the tides flow with a vengeance

It was a great boat ride and we were all quite invigorated by it.

We return to shore in time to buy a drink from the Lunar Bar at Cygnet Bay and make our way to the lookout to observe Staircase to the Moon

We followed that with dinner in the local restaurant, well bistro really, served by a waitress who was clearly high on something, but a surprisingly good buffet.

Back to our tents, a good finish to a long day.

The following day, Tuesday, we head back to Cygnet Bay and a tour of the Pearl Farm.  An impressive, family run business which discovered the art of culturing a pearl in the early 50s.  Second only to Mikimoto.  This has been a successful partnership between white man and black man since inception and is a real eye opener.

We see the large pearl shells

And observe a pearl extracted from the shell

That nasty looking black/grey stuff around the pearl is known as the mantle.   This is discarded, except by the local Aboriginals who consider it a source of magical powers and therefore eat it.  We were offered it but of course all demurred, shaking our heads. Except Garry, being Garry, said he’d like to try it.  And try it he did

The remainder of the group held our breath.  Garry courageously swallowed.  “Very salty” he said.  And threw the rest away.

The magical powers of the mantle clearly don’t extend to promotion of hair growth.

The pearl grows in the abductor muscle, which is served as pearl meat, a real delicacy

After learning more about the seeding, harvesting and grading of pearls we understand why they are so valuable.  It’s a long and highly manual process.

We leave Cygnet Bay and head to One Arm Point, home to the Ardiyooloon community of the Bardi Jawi people  Their entire world revolves around the sea

and what it produces….turtles, dugong and fish for eating and the Trochus sell which is polished, cut and carved for jewellery and decorations, for sale.

We visited what they call the Hatchery, all operated by the locals, which is really more like an aquarium.

However, it does engage us

Garry, being Garry, hand feeds the barramundi

We learn some valuable skills

And find the way to the three toilets

Back to the camp for sandwich lunch and a much needed rest.  This humidity is a killer.  Thank heavens for that beach.  Once the tide is in.

Later today neighbours move into a neighbouring tent.  They cause quite a kerfuffle with their lack of 4WD drive skills and the resulting flying sand.  We might have taken a photo of this amusing scene, save for the vocal, and hand language (involving her middle finger) of the family matriarch, which made even my broad minded hair curl.

A BBQ dinner and another early night.

On Wednesday, Watto and Graham head off on a day long tour with a local elder, who takes them across the beaches and through the bush and talks about their culture, plants, fishing, history.

A good part of the day is apparently spent pushing several of the vehicles out of the sand where they have become bogged, but Brian is clearly adept at producing the tow rope when necessary.  All with good humour.  They report a wonderful day.

Meanwhile, Garry, Di, Cherrie and myself have opted for a flight over the Buccaneer Archipelago.  There is no way I would have climbed into a light plane before I had the Relief Band (thanks again Ruth) but I survive the flight, even if I don’t absolutely love it.  This is what we flew in

Complete with Kimberley air conditioning

The pilot gives us a safety induction, which of course includes opening the exit door in case of emergency.  This duty will fall to Di, who sits in that seat.  We know we are in good hands.

Music is played by the young pilot, presumably designed to calm those of us who are nervous, and he matches it to the vintage of the plane. Which is much the same vintage as us.

We fly over our camp (at the base of the lighthouse)

And the amazing islands which make up the archipelago

We see the horizontal falls, one of the most amazing natural features in the world.  Giant tidal waterfalls where the water travels horizontally.  180,000 litres per second passes through.  It’s an incredible sight

We fly over Cockatoo Island, thoughtfully mined for many years by BHP before they abandoned the project in 1984.

While BHP was still mining, Alan Bond developed a resort on the island, creating an exclusive haven for the wealthy.  Dock your yacht on the archipelago and relax in the infinity pool 100 metres above sea level.

Is it surprising that this Bond project failed?

After we landed, and only then, did Di fess up that while taxi-ing along the dirt runway for take off she felt something on her leg.  On investigation it was revealed that it was the door handle which had fallen off.  The handle to the emergency door.  The only handle.

Good on you Di, for not panicking us earlier.

Good on you pilot, for ensuring we didn’t need the emergency exit.

The pilot assured us that the hander had never fallen off before.

He made his way to the Kooljaman Store for Blu Tack

Ironically we have, in our archives, a photo of Di holding the door handle to their cabin on the boat we shared on the Canal du Midi in France some years ago.  What is it about Di and door handles?  Perhaps next time we should give Cherrie the exit door seat.

Tonight we eat at the restaurant attached to Kooljaman.  It was a fabulous meal, all whipped up by the only person in the kitchen, the woman who had also whipped up breakfast and lunch.  Served by the young Czech woman who had been on reception all day and by the manager who had been managing all day.  Hard work.

It’s now Thursday, time to check out of Kooljaman and return to Broome, and to Perth this evening.  The same long drive, broken by a side trip to Beagle Bay.  There’s not much at Beagle Bay, save a church and a general store with a most informative notice board outside.

Back in Broome we indulge in a delicious lunch at Cable Beach Club.

In the car park we witness a feat of modern air conditioning.  It used to get hot in the back seat

It’s fearfully humid so we get to the airport about 2 hours before departure to take advantage of the cool environment.  The back seat of that car might have been a better choice

By 10pm we have landed in Perth.

Friday in Perth brings lunch with Cherrie’s old friends, Jill and Andrew, at the swish WA University Club.  Lovely to catch up with them over a very tasty tempura fish.

Then Kings Park, to catch the end of the wild flowers in their spring display garden

Just to slow down the sobering up process, we travelling troupe of six meet up for sunset drinks at Mends St Jetty in South Perth followed by a fine dinner at an Italian dinner

Yesterday, Saturday, was another glorious spring day, with temperatures in the low 30s.  So we from the eastern states take to Rottnest Island.  Cherrie has wanted to take me to Rottnest for years, but I couldn’t cope with the water journey.  But due to the wonders of the Relief Band we make it.  All hail to you, Ruth.

We take a bus ride right around the island, have lunch and meet the ubiquitous quokka – mother and child.

Home again, and Watto has cooked up a storm.  Duck curry, chicken massaman, fabulous bean sprout and corn salad, stir fried greens and rice.  We six are joined by the Taylor son, Andrew and his wife Saran.  A lovely evening all round.

Today I wake up a septuagenarian.  Whodathoughtit?  I’m feeling pretty good though.  It must be true that 70 is the new 50.

Lunch at the Shore House at Swanbourne Beach.  We six happy muskateers with the Taylor daughter Prudence.

I am so blessed to have such dear friends.

Tomorrow, Margaret River