Dampier Peninsula

We have just had two amazing weeks. Now that sounds crazy since for the last ten months we've basically been on holiday. But there have been occasions on this trip where our expectations are surpassed. The last two weeks north of Broome, in the Dampier Peninsula, have been one of those occasions. It's wasn't one amazing feature of the area, it was more a combination of lots of things; the deserted beaches, white sand, red cliffs, lush bushland, being able to access sacred and remote Aboriginal Land, being welcomed into friendly Aboriginal communities, cooking bread in the camp oven, catching and eating huge fish and cuddling up by the fire at night.

We spent the first week in the Munget Community (Whalesong). The Munget Community is set on dense bushland overlooking the southern end of Pender Bay. It is idyllic and secluded in every sense of the words. We happened upon a description of the place by chance and then found it very difficult to get any info on where they were or even how to contact them. Of course this made us want to stay there even more. We did get in contact and we did find them. And our efforts were not in vain. 

We were welcomed into the lovely property of Jacinta, Lenny and their four kids; they are the only permanent residents of the Munget Community at the moment but others have come and gone over the years. The family run a cafe out of their house during the dry season, while they move into a safari tent. They have a big vege garden, which supplies the cafe to some extent, and two camels who earn their keep by taking tourists for rides along the beach at a nearby camp ground and spend their days off lolling around in the shade next to the vege garden. The highlight for us though was the camping. They have room for about nine camp sites, each with their own fireplace. There is even a shower which is warm if you use it during the day. We were the only ones there so we chose a shady space, tucked away behind some trees, overlooking the bay. It was the perfect space to hang out for a while. And to really get settled in we cracked out the new hammock. Our last one couldn't quite cope with a family of three piled on and finally gave way. We blame the kid, he just won't stop growing!

We spent the week doing very little except fishing, reading, painting, drawing, cooking, eating and of course lounging in the hammock. We tried to get out in the boat as much as possible but the mornings were pretty windy so that limited us a little. However, we did do some exploring and were blown away by the amazing cliffs, little islands, reefs, pandanas palms, white sandy beaches and the occasional bush shack speckled along the coast. It felt so remote bobbing around on the ocean looking up the striking coast that we felt very privileged to be there. However, of course we forgot the camera, but this in some way seems fitting too. 

The fishing wasn't exceptional. There were plenty of cod (as usual). One even landed in Rob's new hat (it was the final act which has him now dubbed the cod king, after catching more cod than we can count on this trip and now a cod in the hat, it seemed only appropriate). We trolled along the beaches, reefs and deep waters without much to show for it, so we decided to spend a day spinning on the reef (hoping not to catch too many cod). We were finally rewarded for our efforts, a spotted mackerel and a blue bone (both under size so thrown back) and finally a whopper! After a 20 minute battle between man (being Rob) and beast (being the fish), Rob hauled a 1m long Giant Trevally into the boat. It was a massive effort on a fairly light rod. Huge grins and high fives followed, Jarvis wasn't quite sure what all the fuss was about. GT are not supposed to be great eating, especially over 10 to 12kg. However, our fish had put up a long fight and we were uncertain that he would survive if put back. So at an approximate 9kg, we decided to keep him. As it turned out the fish was delicious and there was heaps of it. We gave half of the fillets to the very appreciative family living at Whalesong and the remaining half fed us for two nights.

So we were a well rested, well fed little family as we packed up and left the Munget Community. But not before harvesting some snake beans and rocket from the vege garden. Thank you Jacinta, we were running low on greens by this stage.

We made our way right up to the tip of the peninsula, Cape Leveque. Kooljaman is the Aborignal name for Cape Leveque and is also the name of the camp there. It is almost more of a basic resort than a camp with thatched beach huts, safari tents, cabins and even a restaurant. The cape is spectacular, mostly due to the beaches. The white sandy beaches are great for swimming and fishing and at sunset everyone wanders down to the beach to share a few drinks and a chat, while the kids run of the last of their remaining energy and the keen fisherman make a last attempt at some fishing from the shore.

Unfortunately the wind picked up even more during our stay at Kooljaman and so we didn't get the boat in the water. Rob did some afternoon fishing off the beach but without much luck. However, our travelling companion, 10 year old Clayton brought in a nice sized GT much to the envy of his dad and Rob.

We visited a nearby Aboriginal community called Lombadina. Basil and Caroline Sibosado and their family run Lombadina and are working towards self sufficiency through community ventures which include a general store, artefact and craft shop, a bakery and tourism. We were told everybody here works, nobody takes government handouts. We wandered around the community and bought some crusty wood fired bread (still warm), visited the old church made of paper bark and mangrove and purchased some clapping sticks and hand died silk from the local arts centre.

The church at Lombadina, still in use.

Whilst up here on the Peninsula we've met many people who have been eager to discuss the proposed mining operations at James Price. There seems to be a fairly united front of opposition towards the proposal from most of the Aboriginal groups and other locals and concerned people. For our own part, on our travels through WA we have seen the impacts that mining can have both on the local area and on the towns and communities within them. The Dampier Peninsula is truly one of Australia's last remaining wildernesses and many of the communities up here are trying to make a go of what they have whilst still protecting this fragile environment. In our opinion, the area and the communities within it and nearby Broome could not withstand the impacts associated with off shore gas extraction and in particular the processing operation proposed on the land. it has been estimated (by the mining companies) that thousands of fly in - fly out workers would be required, that's similar to the numbers in areas like Karatha and Port Hedland. It would be a terrible shame to see the Peninsula and Broome end up like so many other mining affected areas in WA.

On our last night in Kooljaman we celebrated Rob's birthday. It was a low key affair, but we had our traditional crepes for breakfast, morning tea at the cafe (with a candle in a muffin), a fishing session and some afternoon drinks with some friends. Really, Rob could't have thought of a better way to celebrate his 34th birthday.

After a fabulous couple of weeks in an amazing part of Australia and with very little food left we packed up headed back to Broome. We're hoping to stock up and plan our attack on the Kimberley and the Gibb River Road.