Dampier Peninsula, Sydney, Broome, Dampier Peninsula - 3 August to  20 August

Goombaragin Eco Retreat

Our first stay at Goombaragin was in 2014 and this is the 7th time we've been here. We've always loved our stays here and this time was no different, but now we actually had somebody from home to share this beautiful place with us. We were lucky to have Alexis and Stormy as well for 3 nights.

Kathleen is the perfect host, and she's managing the place on her own now. So when she went to Broome for a funeral and an overnight stay, we were left to look after Goombaragin for her. We did lots of work there to assist, without overdoing it - we are on holidays after all.

She invited us around for a BBQ dinner one night, and left Sue and Jayne to cook the meat over a fire while she made a creamy mushroom sauce in her kitchen.  Before that she'd taken the trailer to her tip to get rid of the rubbish, and on the way back chopped up some firewood with her chainsaw.  There's nothing that woman can't do, and she's as strong as an ox. 

She was very busy getting Goombaragin ready to host a Kimberley Women's Indigenous Business Discussion to investigate ways of maximising what benefits could be obtained using Government assistance.  She hosted 20 people - some at Goombaragin in her 3 eco tents, and others at Beagle Bay.  From her podcast we learned that she had some real interest from business women in the East Kimberley: Kununurra, Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek regions (Broome etc is West Kimberley).  There are some very impressive business women up here in the Kimberley.

Kathleen

Alan is always sorting out her many computer issues and this visit was no different.  Many jobs were done by the boys including fixing her dead ride on mower and installing a new laundry light and lots of watering the grass, a never ending job up these parts.  Alexis and Jayne assembled an extended clothes line to dry all the new Kmart linen and sorted out the bedding. (Kmart is the best shop in Broome, and whenever you go somewhere, you see the same things - wine glasses, towels, sheets, furniture, plates etc etc all bought from Kmart).

Site 1

Sunsets are amazing

It's a short trip down to the beach for a swim

Sunset mixed in with smoke from a recent burn off

"Our" sunset spot, just used by us

Beagle Bay

Beagle Bay Community is on the way to or from Goombaragin so we called in to have a look at their beautiful church and alter made with Mother of Pearl shell.

Kathleen from Goombaragin, her family and many other Indigenous people were brought up by first the French, then German missionaries in Beagle Bay.  It's a sparkling clean community with all the kids in school, and signs going in warning people not to bring in drugs and alcohol.

The community was established by Trappist monks around 1890. In 1884, the first priest arrived to serve the Catholics in the Kimberley, and to try to convert the Aboriginal people. This was mostly successful, as most Indigenous people around here are Catholic.

The first Catholic school was established by the Trappist Fathers at Beagle Bay in 1892. In 1895, the Trappist monks of Sept-Fons in France extended their missionary work from Beagle Bay to Broome.

In 1901, Pallottine fathers from Germany took over the Beagle Bay Mission with two priests and four brothers. In 1907, the St John of God Sisters began to run a mission school at Beagle Bay and in 1918 the famous church was opened, which is now a very popular tourist attraction.

Mother of Pearl Alter

The steeple has a bell, which Chuck wasn't allowed to ring!

Broome

Then it was back to Broome for a couple of nights before we flew back to Sydney.

Alexis's "list" of things she needed done around the house was successfully completed plus more

Her sliding door required major surgery

Divers Tavern was an enjoyable but busy night

Beautiful Cable Beach

We went to the new Broome Surf Life Saving Club for sunset drinks. It had only been open for a week and the setting is idyllic!

This picture was taken from our table

"Willie" the pearl lugger in front of another magnificent sunset

The new Cable Beach SLSC in the background

Yowie Bay

It was time for the long flight home for 5 nights. Flight time 4.5 hours and 2 hours time difference. It makes you realise just how big Australia is.  The pilot flew over Uluru and the Olgas on the way over, but we were on the wrong side of the plane to see them.

It was lovely to see Casper as well as Mel and Justin. Casper fell straight in with us, just like we were there yesterday, which was really good. His comment was "I have spoken to you on the phone", which of course these days is a video call.  Isn't technology fantastic these days! Very sweet.

Pizza night at Justin and Mel's. Jumpers mandatory!

Cheeky little monkey

Cheekier little monkey!

Justin hooking into his Singapore Chilli Crab

Lovely family

The time went way too fast, but we had more holidaying to do, so it was back on to another direct Sydney - Broome flight of just 4.5 hours.

Pender Bay Escape

What a gem this place is. We have been here before, but never stayed, only visiting Andrew (the owner) who has been researching whales for many years. He also happens to be Kathleen from Goombaragin's Uncle.

Previously whale watching was the main feature of Pender Bay Escape. 

Every August Pender Bay turns into a humpback whale nursery.  The mothers give birth and teach their babies everything they need to know before heading back down to Antarctica. 

To sit out in the early morning and see them, and also hear their whale song is a beautiful experience which we can hear on a very still morning from our caravan. Quite something special.

Andrew informed us that only the males make these sounds and when the main male makes the noise the young girls come up for some fun. Apparently it's not just about breeding, its also for enjoyment. The younger males then try to mimic these sounds so the girls come up to them for some action. We never found out if they were ever successful!

According to Andrew nobody has ever recorded a sound from the females. So he thinks they can't make sounds, or sing. So different than humans!

We've stayed at Kooljaman, Gnylmarung, Banana Well, Middle Lagoon, Gumbanan Wilderness Retreat and of course Goombaragin. So we thought we'd try Pender Bay Escape this trip.

Goombaragin is still our favourite of all the places on the Dampier Peninsula but Pender Bay Escape has a lot to offer. It's much bigger than Goombaragin, and all camp sites have great views.  We're about 300 metres away from Chuck and Sue, so it's a bit of a hike for mornos, afternoon drinks and everything else in-between.  There's no need to restrict yourself to only staying in one place, when there are so many others to try.

Drinks at Sue and Chuck's van

Love Heart Rock

Most sites here are Cliff Sites and all these have amazing views

Chuck and Sue's campsite taken from our site

Whale watching from our bath

What started out as a photo shoot with Jayne asking for Alan to sit in the bath and look as if he was whale watching actually turned into the real thing when whales were spotted!

Afternoon drinks with our neighbours

We drove to Middle Lagoon for mornos and this was nice. We were able to show this to Sue and Chuck as Luke, Megan, Shane, Os and Shack had stayed there before. Luke wasn't impressed with Middle Lagoon and the last time we stayed there we cut our visit well short and marked it as a don't stay again place. Nice spot, but no fun when the wind comes up and you and everything else is covered in dirt.  But a day visit was good.