Dampier Peninsula

Yesterday was a big day. We left Barn Hill in the morning and drove to Broome, about 90 mins away. It seems like a really nice town actually, even if it is packed at this time of year, and we’re now looking forward to going back for our week from the 15^th. We started at the Visitor’s Centre and found out that, what with school holidays starting yesterday here, the Dampier Peninsula was going to be packed out. They tried booking one place for us but it was full, so we decided that we would try either for a free camp or for a station about halfway up called Bells Point, which we had read an article about in the Camper Trailer magazine last year. By the time we did our shopping, got fuel and water and had lunch in the 30+ heat, it was 2pm by the time we left. The Visitor’s Centre had told us it would take 2 ½ hours to drive to the very tip of the peninsula, so we thought it would only be half that to Bells Point. We decided not to even try the free camps at the bottom and just to try for Bells Point instead – I’d been trying to ring them on and off all day but just kept getting a ‘turned off or out of range’ message. It turns out that the estimate of 2 ½ hours is at local driving speed as it took us 3 hours just to get halfway up. The bottom half is a dirt and sand road, quite corrugated, and we took it relatively easy while the locals gunned past us in both directions. We took one wrong turnoff and drove through Beagle Bay which looked absolutely deserted and kind of sad, but eventually found the Bells Point turnoff and got there at about 5pm. I don’t think there’s been anyone there for quite a while as the road didn’t look well travelled and there was no sign of anyone, and there was a mixture of Private Property, go back now, don’t come without an appointment, and Camping this way signs. We realised that there was nothing there anyway, and were getting a bit desperate at that time of the day. Conor hated the place as it was so deserted and he found it spooky, and didn’t like the thought of not having anywhere for the night. We weren’t so keen to have to drive back out again on the slow sandy road and 30k further north to try Lombadina at that time of the day in the dark, so we decided to try our luck at another place which we had seen a sign to, Goombaragin Eco Resort, which was only 4k from Bells Point. We got there right on dusk, were relieved to see a man and his son standing around a fire next to a hut, and threw ourselves on their mercy basically. He was very nice, they were only supposed to be opening up for the season today, the camp hosts had only arrived yesterday, but he said we could still camp here and would send his wife down as she was due back from Broome shortly.

It’s only a very small place, 3 eco tents and 1 cabin, plus a camp kitchen, 2 showers and pit toilets and space for a couple of trailers or tents, but we woke up this morning to find that it’s in an absolutely beautiful spot. We’re perched on a cliff top with a view right over the ocean, surrounded by small trees which are currently covered in bright yellow wattle blossom. I’m not sure if this is the first year they’ve been operational, maybe the 2^nd, but they’re a very nice couple trying to make a go of it. We made a quick dinner and for a treat watched a dvd that the Ralhs had lent us on the laptop, which the kids absolutely loved. It’s lovely and warm at night so we slept with windows open, which meant that we could watch the sunrise from bed this morning. The kids are now trying to catch up on journals, and then we’ll investigate the beach – apparently it’s a bit of a scramble to get down there as we’re quite high up.