rattling around the dampier peninsula.

we are spending the next few days on the dampier peninsula, north of broome. it’s not very hard to get to but there is a rough 80 km stretch of unsealed road before – surprisingly – the rest of the way to cape leveque is again black top.

at this point, after having been subjected to intensive use during the school holiday, the off-road part of the trip is a bit of a rattling experience. somehow the corrugations don’t seem to work at any speed, particularly not with a trailer in tow that may get it’s own ideas about momentum and direction. not a theory we are keen to test.

the road out to middle lagoon and whalesong camps is not quite as corrugated and instead nice and sandy. driving through here is a bit like skiing in fresh powder.

sometimes you just get lucky. like when we arrived at middle lagoon and a guy called us over and asked if we wanted some fish. kris carefully asked if it was filleted – it was! so we scored a couple of free sailfish (!) steaks. yum. nat was initially taken aback by the thought of eating the fastest fish in the ocean (a tip for your animal trivia nights) but she did agree it tasted good.

after a day at middle lagoon we moved on to whalesong camp, just a few kilometers down the road. it is a lovely spot on top of the cliffs, and not too far from the best cafe within a couple of hundred kilometers. apparently the pizza is great and the cheesecake to die for. we’ll sacrifice ourselves and check those exorbitant claims later; that’s an important part of travel journalism.

we certainly don’t mind the view from our veranda.

the toilet is interesting, too. the usual long drop, but this time elevated. i wonder if, given the increased height, the discharge reaches terminal velocity on the way down and is incinerated due to the friction on re-entry, a bit like the chinese space lab not long ago (*). in any case it does not have a door but instead a little sign saying ‘free’ on one side and ‘in use’ on the other (you can just see it). i guess one can also sing to ensure nobody crashes the party.

singing is also highly recommended in the shower. that is, if possible, even more open air than the toilet.

a tiny planet – pender bay. i’m getting pretty good at making tiny planets, maybe i should apply for a job at magrathea.

the same shot, a bit later. the tide is moving out already.

and the same planet a bit later. there is a deep haze across the horizon from the burn-offs but also check how far the tide has moved out.

(*) another and altogether more likely albeit less interesting theory is that someone didn’t feel like digging a hole for the ‘underground’ portion of the long drop toilet and built a watch tower instead.