After a relaxing couple of weeks in Broome we headed north, up the Dampier Peninsula, with our fairly vague plan being to spend some time near James Price Point, a nice spot above the beach and overlooking the Indian Ocean and then head further up towards Cape Leveque. Unsurprisingly, all camping spots at James Price were occupied, but a couple of km further up the dirt road which runs parallel to the beach was access to the beach where the sand is deep and very soft, so not a real option for caravans and not too attractive for many of the 4WD vehicles either. However, with Sarah driving, and her positive attitude that everything will always work out ok, we confidently drove onto the beach (Manari Beach) and carried on for about a km before stopping and setting up camp in the middle of the beach where we spent three blissful days and nights enjoying the solitude and taking long walks with Leroy and exploring the extensive rock pools once the tide was out. The tides from Broome to Cape Leveque and all the way round to Derby are some of the largest in the world, ranging from about 8.5m to 11.5m between low and high tide.

After a couple of nights on the beach we noticed a marked increase in the number of flies around and after the third night we decided that we should carry on up to Cape Leveque without further ado. 

Ian: shouldn't take us long to get back on the road.

Sarah: I think we can carry on up the beach

I: To where?

S: I think we can cut across to the main road

I: Not according to any of my maps (Gaia, Google Maps, WikiCamps, Maps Me)

S: well, according to ExploreOz we can

I: i.e. the most unreliable map we've used to date!

S: well I want to try

I: (if you can't beat 'em, join 'em) ok (enthusiastically), what's the worst that can happen.  Let's do it!

Off we set. Now, Sarah's driving has been good, but neither of us has any real experience or knowledge about driving on the various different off road surfaces, other than the ubiquitous unsealed corrugated dirt roads. Sure enough, a km up the beach, with the tide coming in fast, we found ourselves axle deep in the sand, all 4 tyres spinning and the bottom of the car resting on the beach. Rather than playing the blame game we both had a chuckle and thought what an excellent opportunity to use the shovel and MaxTrax and play around a bit more with the tyre pressures (after digging down to find the valves). 20 minutes later we were out, now running on tyres at 15psi (we've been running at 32 front, 45 rear on sealed roads and 22 all round on everything else).  Rather optimistically I suggested we might now turn round and avoid the risk of getting really stuck, but of course Sarah remained undeterred and was keen to carry on up the beach. I think she still believed that we could drive half way to Cape Leveque on the beach or some footpath, without having to get back on to the main Broome-Cape Leveque highway.

Just round the next corner, another 100m up the beach (the coastline is quite twisty) we came across a family of four who were trying to reverse their car and caravan off the beach - they'd arrived from an access point a few km north of where we'd accessed the beach and driven just a few metres further than they meant to. Despite our willingness to help them get unbogged, we were of little practical assistance, other than some extremely helpful (!) suggestions of how they should go about the task. We stayed with them until they got clear, ready to lend a hand if required. They confirmed that there was no route to Cape Leveque other than going back to the main highway, so that is finally what we did.

Next stop Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, for coffee and cake and then a further 6km to Gumbanan, a large camp just before One Arm Point (an aboriginal community that is closed off due to Covid). We did enquire at Cygnet Bay whether they had any room for us, but they confirmed that they were fully booked, and that their cabins were booked solid until July 2022. I took the opportunity whilst at Cygnet Bay to book a tour the following day to see the Giant Tides. Gumbanan is a good place to see the stairacse to the moon.  Apparently if you watch the moon come up over the ocean (you have to be facing east), then for a couple of evenings either side of a full moon you get an effect described as a staircase to the moon. As the moon peeks over the horizon on a clear night the rippled sea reflects the light in a way which is said to look (with a bit of imagination) like a staircase to the moon. Anyway, we saw it and thought it looked impressive, even if the staircase part of it required more imagination than I could immediately conjure up.

 Interestingly, within 5 minutes of us arriving in Gumbanan another camper (like us, walking their dog) said to me semi-apologetically, "if you don't mind me saying, I can't help notice that you seem to have a very stiff neck". As anyone who knows me would be aware, I have for a long time had a habit of holding my head at an angle. It is totally subconscious, and I'm only aware of it whenever I go to get passport or driver's licence photos taken and they tell me to straighten my head.  I suspect it has something to do with sitting in a skewed position at my desk for much of the past 20 years. Anyway, it was evident that this person (Ken) was taking a professional interest rather than just being rude. The upshot was that Ken is a renowned and very competent chiropractor who proceeded to give me a couple of free treatments over the two days we were in Gumbanan, which I have to say left me feeling amazing.

 Back to the Giant Tide tour from Cygnet Bay.  The tides from Broome and up around Cape Leveque and throughout King Sound are the largest tropical tides in the world and about eighth largest globally with the Bay of Fundy in Canada being the biggest at 16m  If you look at a map of north Western Australia, and King Sound, in particular, and accept that the islands off Cape Leveque to East Sunday Island are almost a single land mass (indeed they pretty much are at low tide) you will see that there is a relatively small aperture through which the tide flows into King Sound. The coast around this part of Australia is an extension of the wide, shallow north-west continental shelf. As the water moves from the deep Indian Ocean to the shallow continental shelf, the tide is significantly amplified.  Because the aperture into King Sound is so relatively small, the flow of the giant tide in and out creates massive turbulence and standing waves.  As the tide comes in, this massive flow is best seen around East Sunday Island, not far from Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm. We were taken in a fast boat (10 of us) to the point where the water flows past East Sunday Island. The colossal volume of water trying to get into the Sound creates a distinct height difference in the ocean and, as you would expect, a lot of turbulence, which manifests itself as large whirlpools, standing waves and masses of white water. I think the ride is supposed to be an adrenaline rush, but the boat, and skipper, were clearly very capable so it was more of a fascinating and awesome spectacle rather than a 'heart in your mouth' experience. It was the sort of turbulence you might expect on a smaller scale on a river, and to see it in the ocean on such a large scale was quite awesome (the giant tides in Canada and elsewhere apparently don't have anything like the same level of turbulence accompanying them). The difference between high and low tide in King Sound is up to 11.5m.

 We had time for one more night camping before we needed to restock in Broome, and we figured the best spot (based on WikiCamp reviews) would be Gnylmarung campground, about a third of the way back to Broome. As always, the camp was showing online as full, and when we rang they confirmed they were full. However, we are not so easily deterred, and even though we knew that nearby camps had room, we confidently drove into Gnylmarung where the sign at the entrance confirmed 'no vacancies' but we spoke nicely to the owner and he generously found us a nice spot. What a beautiful camp. Lots of shade, right next to a sandy bay with clear water (and no crocodiles!). No wonder some of the campers had been there for several months and came back year after year. One of the familes next to us left an impression. Mike and Jet (Jeanette), with their children Oscar (11) and Georgie (9) have been travelling for several months in a heavy duty OKA 4WD, doing the obligatory home schooling throughout. A delightful family.  Mike spent a lot of time with Sarah discussing the technical and practical aspects of kitting out a vehicle for long term travel. Mike is one of those typically competent jack of all trades and I was delighted when he (with help from Georgie and Oscar) quickly fixed our rear passenger door which had stopped shutting properly and then noticed that our awning was coming loose and promptly fixed that too.  It was a shame that we could only stay the one night at Gnylmarung. It was a very beautiful location and comfortable camp.

 We finished off our Cape Leveque/Dampier Peninsula adventure with a couple more days in Broome before heading off to tackle the Gibb River Road from Derby (pronounced 'durby') to Kununurra.

 Like all other people travelling and camping around Australia, WikiCamps is one of our primary source of information. It shows pretty well everywhere that you can camp, and has any number of filters to allow you narrow your search (e.g. for us we use a filter of 'dog friendly'). Users are pretty good at leaving reviews, so invariably wherever you're thinking of stopping you can read a recent review and get an idea of what you might expect. It has been a constant source of amusement to Sarah and me that nearly everywhere we've been since we set off, the reviews seem to focus on toilets, and even when there aren't any, which is invariably the case if just finding a good spot off the road, other people's toilet habits and how they do or don't clear up after themselves.  Even some of the councils have a view on the subject!  It was therefore quite telling that all along the GRR the reviews are less focused on toilet habits and more focused on crocodiles (freshies, salties sightings or lack thereof). Of course, after a week on the GRR we only saw crocodiles at one place and those were all freshwater crocodiles that were clearly uninterested in the few tourists gawping at them.