Cape Leveuque - we just didn't get it!

So thanks to the kids we were up nice and early and ready to hit the road to Cape Leveque.  I have to admit I had no idea what to expect really but I was certainly hoping that it would be worth the long drive up and the need to sleep in a tent to see it.  So really this place needed some wow factors for me to justify the place, and based on some peoples’ comments on wiki camps I felt it would meet my expectations.  You see the place is just under 200km away and of that only 86km of it is dirt road.  However apparently how good the dirt road is seems to depend on who you talk to!

If you ask the Information Centre they tell you it will take you four hours to get up there and you are best to take a tour so not to ruin your car.  After talking to other travellers they said our cars were capable for doing the trip and it didn’t take that long, maybe 2 ½ or a bit more but that is it.  So off we set with Ian and Gwen to check out this “must see place.”  The dirt section starts about 30km out of town and when we got on it I thought that this was going to be a piece of cake, we had done way worse.  However I should have known not to speak too soon and before long it got worse, than better than really bad.  We have never been so happy to see bitumen in our life.  Certainly the car was capable of doing the trip and it wasn’t a slow trip, just a rough one.  Oh and one tip, go to the toilet before starting the trip as it isn’t one you want to do whilst busting to go.

Eating Ian's dust.

I never seem to take photos in the really bad sections.

Peta and Darren had asked to report back to them when we got back as to if we think they should take their off-road van in.  It was definitely going to be a no from us unless you wanted to take it out in pieces or drive really, really, really slow.  Our first stop was Beagle Bay where we got excited as the signpost in said there was a bakery.  First of course we did the tourist thing and checked out the local church which was decorated inside with shells.  I must admit it was really impressive and I liked how they had used the shells, especially around the windows.

Pretty impressive.

Someone spent a long time getting it all perfect.

Looking from the back of the church.

Then it was off to find the bakery but it was closed so we decided to continue on our way.  Originally we planned to go into Middle Lagoon so we could see what it was like and report back to Peta and Darren as that was where they had planned to stay.  However at the turn off we found out it was another 33km of dirt, corrugated  (okay we assumed that bit) road so there was no way we were going in as I felt the photos on wiki camps didn’t make it look anything special.  Jason and I got a good laugh seeing Ian just shake his head when we told him about the road in.  So the decision was made to just go straight to Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm which is where we were camping for the night.

Even the windows had shells around them.

The church on the outside.

I was pretty happy when we first rocked up as considering they are right out in a relatively remote place they had beautiful gardens with shade and a lovely restaurant overlooking a pool and the ocean.  You could see that they were spending a fair bit of time doing the place up and the restaurant and pool were relatively new.  We ordered lunch which was nice and the kids played with the million games and puzzles they found in the draw inside.  I really do like it when places accommodate the kids and I believe I might have met the owners as they themselves had three young kids.  So hats off to them as I think they have a great set up, probably just the one thing they need is some kids’ meals as the mains are a bit expensive and well fancy for me to justify buying for my kids.  Still I enjoyed my lunch and it was so cool with the breeze up on the verandah.

The view for lunch.

The pool.

Inside the restaurant.

Kids having fun.

Now it was time to face the inevitable and go and check out our campsite and set up the tent.  I must admit I was a little disappointed at how far our campsite was away from the main area (meaning more so the pool).  We found our site easily and now it was time to set up.  First things first, I took a photo of the time, so we knew how long it took for us to set it all up.  I am happy to report that we managed to get it all set up with no arguments and in about half an hour.  It then took the next half an hour to set up the inside of the tent with all the bedding.  Ian and Gwen came down to check out how we were going at one stage.  They had been smart and paid for a tent that came already set up with bedding and everything. 

All ready for the challenge at the start.

We did it.

Pumping up the air mattress.

After we had set up our tent we went for a walk to see where the amenities were and to see Ian and Gwen’s tent.  Wow, theirs was huge and there was plenty of room.  We could have all moved into their front section and still had plenty of room.  We then decided to head back to the tent to get changed to go for a swim in the ocean.  Of course on the way we stopped in at Ian and Gwen’s tent and Jason sat down to have a beer.  Hamish was not impressed at all about having to wait and proceeded to whinge the entire time we were sitting there waiting.  Yep I can see this camping trip was going to be fun!

Making our way to the beach.

Eventually we got down to the beach and it wasn’t impressive at all.  Not to mention I was a little too scared to go out far as they said we should always watch for crocs!  There shouldn’t be any but you just never know!!  At least the water was warm so I could sit down in the shallows to cool down for a bit.  Hamish loved the rocky area and was out looking for crabs and other sea creatures.  He also made friends with two other kids.  We however decided we couldn’t really enjoy a swim here and that we were going to go back to the pool.  So much to Hamish’s disgust we left and went back to the car and drove back around to the pool. 

The swim in the pool was rather refreshing as it was quite cool but once you were in and use to the water it wasn’t too bad at all.  Either that or you just lost feeling to those parts of your body.  We had a bit of a swim and then let the kids have a play in the cubby house and on the trampoline before heading back to the camp area.  We opted to drive straight to the camp kitchen and amenities block so that we could have showers and dinner and then drive back to our campsite (hopefully not getting too dirty after the showers). 

The thing about camping was that we were in bed way too early, which in turn means the kids were up way too early.  Really I was ready to just get up, pack up the tent and get out of there.  I had not had a good night sleep at all and quite frankly wanted to just get the packing up part over and done with.  The kids were quite noisy in the morning but that was mainly because everything else was so quiet.  We gave them their jobs to help us pack up and then when they got over it we popped them in the car until we finished.  Then we drove around to the camp kitchen and joined Ian and Gwen for breakfast.  They were so much more prepared than us.  We had packed rice bubbles for us all for breakfast, but they had bought sausages, bacon, eggs and bake beans!!!  Lucky for us they shared!

We left Cygnet Bay still wondering where the beauty was in the place.  Now don’t get me wrong, it isn’t a horrible place, but when you have seen some wonderful places I guess our expectations are quite high.  Someone even said it was one of the most beautiful places in Australia.  I am now questioning where on earth that person has been in Australia!  We headed straight to Kooljaman and I must admit the camp area there, whilst it was nowhere near as private, looked better as everything was closer.

The view from the Kooljaman campground.

Walking down to the beach.

The contrast of the red dirt and sand.

As we were only day visitors we couldn’t drive anywhere and had to walk.  So this went down like a lead brick with Hamish and to be honest I was starting to side with Hamish as I was getting over it all.   So we walked down to the Western Beach.  Here it is not recommended to swim but there are great views of the cliffs.  I agree it was pretty, but I wasn’t blown away as I had seen the same sort of thing at Barn Hill (and it was easier to get to).  Hamish complained for half the walk down but then had a blast playing on the beach and didn’t want to leave.  Sometimes I really do feel like we push them too much to do what we want and don’t give them enough time to just play and have fun. 

Hamish having fun on the beach.

Look Dad - sand.

Pretty.

Secluded little area.

He did however walk back up without complaint as we promised him a milkshake.  By the time we got back up we decided that was enough walking for us and we let Ian and Gwen continue onto the other beach (which apparently was nicer and you could swim) and we went to the restaurant/café and had very expensive milkshakes and ice coffees!  There we caught up with another family who we had met at Eighty Mile Beach and again in Broome.  It was interesting comparing stories of the road in and I am glad I wasn’t the only one who didn’t enjoy it.

Reminded me a lot of Barn Hill.

They however had been smart and pre-planned their holiday (only travelling for 2 months) so had booked a lot of the cultural experiences offered by Kooljaman.  So yes I do believe this place is pretty, but for us it was nothing new or spectacular.  There are heaps of things to do and experience up there but you need a lot of money to be able to afford it.  Like one tour to see the high tides waterfalls on a reef cost $175 per person, so there would go $700, then another tag along tour was $300, and don’t even get me started on horizontal falls.  So yes you could easily drop $3,000 up here and I am sure you would have a different opinion as you would see so much of the natural and different beauty.  However we need to eat so opted to not do these things.  One day however I might be convinced to fly up (skipping the bad road) and do these things.

By now we were over it all and headed back to Broome.  So off we went and to me the road felt worse going back but Jason thought it was better.  To me still it is a crap road and I felt sorry for the truck driver who was having to travel at 5km an hour so not to damage his truck or the cattle he was carrying.  We had considered going out to the Wilkie Creek Pearl Farm on our way back but by then we just wanted to get home and relax!  So my opinion on Cape Leveque is that it is quite overrated and not really worth the drive.  Yes it is nice and at least I can say I saw it but I think they need to drop the prices of all the tours to make them more accessible for everyone.