A trip to Broome on the beautiful coastal edge of the Kimberley is a wonderful way to end a WA trip.

It is only around 230km from Derby to Broome, where we had booked two weeks at Cable Beach Caravan Park. We had stayed there on both our previous trips and love our long early morning walks on the gorgeous Cable Beach: 22km long with white sand and clear turquoise water, mostly with good surfing waves and reasonable fishing.

A low rocky shelf divides Cable Beach, with the northern part being a ‘clothes optional’ beach, and vehicles can be driven along it. Camel rides are also available along the northern part and the sunset camel ride is very popular.

Various boats do a sunset cruise and barbecue, a popular activity for tourists as the red glow of the Pindan sandstone at sunset is best viewed from the water.

Broome is now regarded as the pearling capital of the world, with the town’s economy revolving around pearling and tourism. Pearling history is everywhere, from the pearl divers’ graves to the old courthouse (which was the original cable house that Cable Beach was named after).

The markets held every Saturday are well worth a visit and feature local crafts, pearl jewellery, Asian cuisine, and a large selection of fresh herbs, fruit and vegetables, much to Denyse’s delight.

Broome has many facets to interest the tourist. But one important objective for us this trip was to see the famous pearl shell altar at the Beagle Bay church, built in 1918 by the Pallotine Monks.

This community gives an insight into the mission days during the Kimberley area’s early history. We also wanted to continue on to Cape Leveque at the top of the Dampier Peninsula, and to call in to see Lombadina, an Aboriginal community near Cape Leveque, which is making a serious effort to become self-sufficient.

It had been raining while we were further north and Broome had copped its share, meaning the road to Cape Leveque was in poor condition.

Road work was being carried out near the tip and several kilometres of sand track was part of a detour.

The return trip is about 470km of dirt road, mainly corrugated with some muddy patches along with the sand. We decided to leave our 4WD at the caravan park and to travel up with Australian Pinnacle Tours in the comfort of their air-conditioned coach in relative luxury.

They have a full day trip as well as an overnight option, taking in all the places we had wanted to see. Morning and afternoon tea stops were made as well as a terrific lunch provided at a quiet beach at Cape Leveque.

Our driver, Keith, gave us a good commentary on the area on the way up until the corrugations were too bad.

We were even more pleased when we passed a broken down 4WD with suspension problems. Our coach was not to get off without its own problems, though.

The Beagle Bay community is definitely worth a visit, and the old church’s shell altar is magnificent, while the Cape Leveque beach and area is very special. Red sand dunes, white sand and deep blue sea are a photographer’s delight, and while Keith drove onto the beach and set up lunch, we swam and collected shells.

Two hours later it was time to leave, but as we approached the road from the beach a rear tyre blew out. It took over an hour to change the tyre, as the jack was unstable in the soft sand and the coach had to be moved to harder ground.

We were handy to the shop though, so most of us bought ice cream and souvenirs and had another swim before continuing our journey to Lombadina Aboriginal Community.

There we had another cuppa before being shown around by one of the community members, including a visit to their church. This is considered a bush architecture masterpiece, with mangrove timber uprights, ti-tree rafters and corrugated iron walls.

An opportunity was given us to buy handcrafted works made locally from ebony, pearl and trochus shell. Accommodation, some stores and locally baked bread are available if you wish to stay longer and learn more about the local Aboriginal culture.

By the time we left it was almost dark, and Keith stopped on the way home to show us the stars from the complete inky blackness of the road. We were lucky because not many people have had this opportunity.

It really made us aware of the isolation and problems with a breakdown.

Due to the tyre problem we were not home until almost 9.30pm after an 8am start, but after seeing the road, we were glad we made the decision to leave our Explorer at home.

We found the cheapest place to buy pearl shells in Broome was the Shell House at $10 each, while Denyse bought a pair of pearl shell and gold earrings for half price at Willie Creek Pearls showroom at Cable Beach.

After completing almost 10,000km since leaving home I had the car serviced by Broome Central Motors who did a very good job at a good price, even giving a complimentary engine clean. They are the Ford service agents in Broome, with a Ford dealership on the way.

We had spent two weeks in Broome, and around six weeks in the Kimberley region, so it was time to move on to Eighty Mile Beach, 365km south.

Fishing, shelling, swimming, long beach walks, magic sunsets – Eighty Mile Beach has it all. There is 10km of dirt road in, but after the Cape Leveque road it was a breeze.

We chose an unpowered site at the Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park as there was a big price difference and our caravan is all set up for offroad power. There is TV reception on two channels, so this gave our 12/240V TV a good workout.

After five days here we still had plenty of battery left, due to the way we had planned our caravan when being built, and the Carlee system charged it up very quickly once we were on our way again. Around July there are still some warm days but cold nights, especially for us north Qlders.

This part of WA now has some great memories imprinted on it. Denyse had her birthday in Broome where our old friends Bernard and Joan Ritchie caught up with us, so we ended up celebrating both Bernard’s and Denyse’s birthdays with a dinner out at the ideally situated Sandbar and Grill at Cable Beach.

It was a wonderful way to end the day – eating local seafood while watching the sun drop below the horizon.

Broome FAST FACTS

Cable Beach Caravan Park, 4 star BIG4 member, Millington Road, Broome, WA 6725, (08) 9192 2066, fax: (08) 9192 1997.

Australian Pinnacle Tours, Larry and Caroline McLeod, PO Box 5608, Cable Beach, WA 6726, Freecall 1800 999 069, web: www.pinnacletours.com.au, email: info@pinnacletours.com.au

Broome Central Motors, Frederick Street, Broome, WA 6725, (08) 9193 5991.

The Shell House, Guy Street, (08) 9192 1423.

Willie Creek Pearls, Cable Beach, (08) 9193 6000, www.williecreekpearls.com.au

Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park, Hosts: Col and Jo Lewis, phone/fax: (08) 9176 5941.

Find your way with Hema Maps The Kimberley, WA.

By Tony and Denyse Allsop, as featured in Caravan World 425, January 2006.