Oh we do like to be beside the seaside...

We made it to the WA coast but first...

We went on our overnight tour to the Horizontal Falls and it was quite special!
We were picked up at our caravan park in Derby by a little bus and taken to the airport, and we didn't have to wait long for our sea plane to arrive.  Our pilot Steve gave us all name stickers and a briefing before we took our seats for our 45 min flight to the houseboat in Talbot Bay.

Getting a birds eye view is always amazing but over King Sound and out to the Buccaneer Archipelago was even more amazing.

 

 

Steve and I got the back seat to ourselves, bit warm in the back but plenty of leg room.  Before our water landing our pilot flew us through the walls of rock, so close we could almost touch the rock and then we came onto the water with a smooth landing in the sea beside the houseboat.

 

 

 

 

 

We got off the plane very carefully, you do not want to fall in these waters, and were greeted by the staff and given another briefing about the house boat.
As soon as our feet touched the platform our agenda started and didn't stop the whole time we were there.
Shown to our lovely cabins, queen bed and air con, then a change into swimmers for a dip in the shark proof cage to watch the local tawny nurse sharks and the Qld groper being feed,

then out for a dry off and into the boat for our first ride to the horizontal falls.

There are two falls, a wide gap and a narrow gap; first a smooth ride through the wide gap, we were on an out going tide so the falls were running towards us and the water was like being in a washing machine with whirlpools forming all around us.  Then our boat captain, Adrian, held the boat in the wide gap for a while and we got tossed around for a while then we went close to the narrow gap which is about 10metres wide but this was a no go the wall of water coming towards us was a little big and treacherous but we got tossed around in the white water in front of the narrow gap as well, then a couple more times through the wide gap and a smooth ride through the east end of Talbot Bay which is where they put the houseboat and everything else when the close down for the summer and it is as safe as houses from the weather.

We were back on the house boat and the evening was fast approaching with the Barra on the BBQ for dinner.  We had 5 couples on our tour and we chatted away till the dinner bell and ate a hearty bbq barra and salad and then had dessert after and all the while our friends in the water were swimming below.

We all sat together and found a little bit out about each other and 'partied' till 9.30pm.
We had an early start the next morning with a 6am wake up.  A Continental brekky for us all and then back on the boat for another at the falls before our leave.  The tide was a little lower this morning, actually about 3metres lower and the corals were exposed as well as a few rocks and sandbars.  The wide gap was a little more tame this morning but the wall of water coming through the narrow gap was even higher than yesterday and we got to sit in the silence of the massive rock walls and listen to nothing but nature. 
While we were enjoying the ambiance of the place a saltwater crocs decides to show him or herself.  I was surprised the boat came right up close and personal and the croc stayed on the surface.  Then Adrian decided to show us how a croc can surf through the horizontal falls and he herded the croc with the boat towards the falls and off he went through the gap and popped up on the other side.  The croc had enough and disappeared never to be seen again.
Back to the house boat and two sea planes arrived and the staff were ready to do it all over again with the day visitors and we boarded one of the seaplanes and Steve flew us back to Derby.

It was a short but great tour, I sure could have stayed a few days on that houseboat!!!
Back in Derby we had packed up the van the day before so we were ready to be on our next part of our trip...this was a drive to the local high school to do our civil duty and vote!  We spoke to a man, a liberal man, about voting for interstate visitors and we got to chatting about travelling as he was also a traveller, John Hart and it turns out we have mutual friends, Frank and Helen Sarri. We seem to bumping into people who know people more and more. Also met a couple in Kununurra who sold a piece of furniture to my cousin Brian in Burrum Heads, the world is a very small place.
Anyway we didn't have to wait long to vote we got to jump the queue because we were interstate voters and we were soon on the road again...this time to the Windmill Café for brunch.  After a yummy egg and bacon wrap we were definitely on the road heading out of Derby and on our way t o Middle Lagoon (on the Cape Leveque Rd).
We were told about a back track that takes about 80km off the main road and we come out on the upper end of the Cape Leveque Rd where it is bitumen.  We found the turn off on the other side of the Fitzroy River and we had to go through a gate and the track was great, wide and the grader had been through...nice.

About two hours along a Prado came up behind us and Steve pulled over to let him pass and we poked along for about 30 min and hear is the Prado stopped on the track with its bonnet up...Mmmmm we can't get passed so we stop to help and there water hose had come loose and the car had over heated and they needed water.  After a while of kicking the sand around with my feet and Steve supplying them with a few litres of water and worrying about the cigarette butts they threw in the dry on the sides of the track the 2 blokes, the pregnant women and 3 kids were in the car and driving off in a cloud of dust.
We get going and about 50metres up the track we get stuck in some soft sand, so out and let down the tyre pressure and we get another 50metres and we let the tyres down a bit more and we were on our way again and about another 50 metres and we were back on a hard surface.  After that the track was good but we came to some water, a marshy soak, and there were no tyre tracks going into the water so we back tracked and followed fresh tracks into the bush on a dry track with our fingers crossed.  We wind around and through trees and come out on the other side of the water...phew.  Heading off again and track starts to get narrow and we end up in a tunnel of shrubs

with branches banging the car from both sides and top.  Steve and I found ourselves ducking when we came to a low branch...stupid us. Finally out to the bitumen and it was a slow drive the rest of the way because we were driving on 15 psi but we finally arrived to Middle lagoon at 5.03pm and the office closed at 5pm...Arghhh
A young aboriginal girl came up to us and said just find a camping spot over there and fix us up in the morning, so that's what we did.  I cooked a stew in the dreampot and Steve set up the tvan and then we sat with a beautiful sea breeze blowing through our hair, sipping drinks, watching the sun set over the sea.

Next morning, Sunday, we paid our fees and asked about going to Beagle Bay and would it be ok because yesterday there was a very funeral on (which is where our aboriginal friends we helped were going too) and no worries...take the track down the road, all tracks cross each other and they all lead to Beagle Bay but you will have a water crossing to go over the aboriginal man tells us. So off we go, we missed the first track but we will get the 2nd one.  Well we like to take the roads less travelled but this was a track not travelled for a very long time, it was a narrow tunnel of trees and branches were hanging down in front of our faces we were driving over and around trees and braches on the ground and ... oh blast...(that's not what we really said) we ran over a big ball of barb wire but came out unscathed.  Then luckily we had the GPS on because not all roads cross and lead to Beagle Bay.
We back tracked a bit and found another track that lead us to a water crossing but no where to cross.

Back track a bit more and found a dry place to cross as this water was coming in from the sea, and another car was coming towards us and they did not cross the water they went straight ahead toward the mangroves, they obviously new the track to take because it wasn't the way we came.  No wonder she gave us a funny look as she drove past...probably thinking where have they come from...silly white fella!
The historic church in Beagle Bay has an alter decorated with mother of pearl and shells and just awesome.

It took the two years to decorate but with the church built with bricks that were not fired the rising damp is a problem and there were two volunteers working on the altar floor while we were there but I think it is a never ending job.  The church is one of a kind.
Nothing much happening in Beagle Bay on a Sunday and after a big night after the funeral that went till 4.30am apparently.  Our next stop straight to Bardi (One Arm Point) to fuel up, we had a black fella ask if we were going to Broome and I said no do you need to get to Broome and he nodded.  Another car load came in to fuel up and they told this bloke to go home, go on get home and after a bit of talk off he went.
We drove out toward the hatchery but nothing going on here either so we watched the sea were the big tide meets the two rivers and flows in like a torrent and some locals dived in off the rocks

and we saw a turtle in the water as well.  We bumped into a couple we met at Lake Argyle and then it was onto Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm where Steve and I shared a lovely lunch.  Into Cape Leveque and we had to pay for a day visit and it was hot and we had lunch and we were not going to go on any walks and we thought; pay to see beach and orange rocks...maybe another time

Next was the community of Lombadina, nice place and you can tell the difference between a dry community and where alcohol is allowed.  Lombadina is clean with green grass and sprinklers on with no rubbish...We were supposed to get permits for some of these communities but there was no one around and everything was closed so we drove around and drove out again. and we drove back to camp grabbed a drink and went to the edge of the camp site and watched the sun set with everyone else.

Monday 9 September and we were on our way to Broome on the rough end of the Cape Leveque Rd and it was not to bad.  We got to Willie Creek turn off and there are 3 free camps in here and we drove to the one at Willie Creek which was lovely turquoise water but can't swim...crocs and not much room left  to camp and sand flies.  Steve also wanted to get a noise checked out in the front suspension of the car so we went straight into Broome.
Broome has grown since we were here 19 years ago, it is huge, they even have a  Macca's.  We found a place to check the car on Tuesday and the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park was recommended to us by a couple on Derby.  So we booked in there for a couple of nights. Nothing like a water view

Tuesday we took the car down and nothing broken or out of place just a dry bush as Steve suspected and we walked around town, hardly recognised the place but did find Steve's Mum's shop back in the 90's it is now a book store.

Stocked up on a few groceries and fuel and bought some fins, snorkel and mask for both of us, hopefully we will stop for long enough to use them on the coast, and we will be off tomorrow to who knows where.

Cheers