The Dampier Peninsula - Middle Lagoon

The Dampier Peninsula sits to the north of Broome and is an incredible place to visit. From Broome to Cape Leveque at the very top it is 207km. A few things had changed since we were here 16 years ago. For starters, the entire road has been sealed! Way back in 2009 the whole road was a notorious, rough corrugated son of a gun that rattled our old troopy (and us) to its core. Secondly, the campground at the very top,  closed down a few years ago for mixed and complicated reasons I will not even try to explain (as I do not have the full story). 

A new destination needed to be found. After some (honestly, a lot) of research we chose Middle Lagoon, about two thirds of the way up the peninsula. We were pretty excited as we had heard some great things about it.

The access track was a single lane, mostly sandy and corrugated track and took us about 30km from the main road to the west coast. It was a pretty good track (hindsight is a great thing - we have since done the Gibb River Road and the access road into the Bungle Bungles - more on these later for sure). It is fun and exciting to explore new places with the kids - we call them 'new-to-us-all' places. What will it be like? Can we swim? Is there a shop?

 Driving into Middle Lagoon. That is Coral the dashboard whale shark to the left.

 Middle Lagoon set up.

 Our first sunrise at Middle lagoon AND fog!!!

 Jemma early in the morning

 YES they have a shop. A caravan operated by some seasonal residents provided ice creams, coffees, milkshakes, burgers, toasties and hot chippies.

 The way to the beach

 Busy kids

 The Patrolio all packed and ready to head out of Broome. Looks neat and tidy, right?

 The reality of living out of a car. 

 Stuff comes out, and goes back in. Despite having been on the road for months some things have to be double, or triple, handled during set ups and pack downs. Going for a drive is not a simple matter of just hopping in the car - all this stuff needs to be found new homes so we can fit in. It is challenging, and messy, at times.

 The beach at Middle Lagoon was just across the 'road' from our spot. It was really lovely and the water was warm. We spent most of our first full day at Middle Lagoon at the beach. There was lots to explore.

 Amazing rock pools were easily accessible at low tide and James spent hours up here. We could watch the brown boobies skimming across the water and diving for fish at crazy angles.

 James really loves to walk on the beach and will spend hours watching birds, and clambering on rocks. He found lots of tiny hermit crabs who would all drop and roll off their rocks as we approached - could hear the clatter of their itty bitty shells on the rocks as they rolled off. The irony here is that if they didn't make the collective noise of falling off the rocks to avoid predation, we would probably not have noticed them at all.

 The tiny hermit crabs

 Milkshakes - apparently delicious.

 Beach days

 Playing 

After a full day in the sun on day one, we decided to make day two and exploring day and head up to the tip.

First stop was Lombadina with its bush church built by missionaries and local indigenous people in the 1930s. As well as being an open community, Lombadina has a caravan park and reputedly a bakery. We arrived with high hopes of sausage rolls and hedgehog slice. Not that kind of bakery it turns out. A policeman with a loaf of bread under his arm hinted that we were in the right place. Just wrong time. Lombadina bakery bakes bread several days per week, but we had not done our research and subsequently not preordered. No bread for us.

 Inside the Lombadina church with doors and windows non existent

 The original bush church at Lombadina is still in use today.

 Plan B - Lombadina Roadhouse sausage rolls.

After lunch at Lombadina we continued north to Ardyaloon (One Arm Point) and drove through town to the lookout. 

 Lookout at Ardyaloon - it was pretty warm and as tempting as the water looks there is no way you can swim here. It is saltwater crocodile country. And the current rips between all the small islands. I did see a turtle pop their head up for a quick breath.

We also visited Cygnet Bay - a working pearl farm with a restaurant and caravan park. 

 No trip to the Dampier Peninsula is complete without a stop in Beagle Bay, famous for its Sacred Heart 'mother of pearl' church. The church was built by local indigenous people and monks who started the mission in the 1800s. The monks are still here and run the church and school.

 Inside the church

 The incredible mother of pearl alter - not your average church alter.

 Beagle Bay also has a really well stocked supermarket. We took a trip down memory lane with Hearts ice creams. We also picked up some watermelon and pineapple (at regular prices) - what a treat! Fresh fruit and vegetables are not usually readily available in these remote areas. And when they are, they are generally very expensive. 

Our third and final day at Middle Lagoon was a designated beach day as we knew it would be our last for some time - until Adelaide summer. And that's if our beaches are safe to swim in by the time it has warmed up. We have been saddened and concerned about the horrific affects of the gigantic algal bloom blighting the SA coast for months. The algae is killing off all manner of sea life including dolphins, sharks and thousands of fish.

 Back at Middle Lagoon - Andy was able to find a quiet, shady spot to do some work.

 Other jobs need doing too - washing up after breakfast

 

 This little doggy got a bath and then hung out to dry. Jemma loves washing her guys but we don't always have access to water for 'guy washing'.

 Dirty, noisy corellas were a feature at Middle Lagoon. Each campground seems to have defining animals, particularly birds and insects. 

 Some more beach time.

 A walk on the lagoon side at low tide. This ripples in the sand were pretty cool. 

 Kids at the lagoon - mangroves and some rocks to explore. The lagoon side was also the boat launch and it was very busy with people putting their boats in and out. Middle Lagoon is very popular with the fishers and we were certainly in the minority not having a boat.

 Airing up before hitting the bitumen. It takes about 20 minutes to re-inflate all 4 tyres, and another 10 or so for the compressor to cool enough to pack away. Just something we need to factor into our travel times when we are on the move.

We loved our stay at Middle Lagoon but after four nights it was time to start the next leg of our adventures - The Gibb River Road. 

But first we needed to restock in Broome. This was a pretty hefty stock up as we planned to do "The Gibb" in about 14 days and the next shop would be in Kununurra at the other end. There is no way we can carry enough food for the four of us for 14 days so we had to be creative with our planning....