On day forty-seven, we left our Safari Tent at Eco Retreat Karijini and ventured to Cape Keraudren. We thoroughly enjoyed our two-night stay at the Eco Retreat and felt spoiled to get out of the camper and away from the red dust for a while. The facilities and staff there were great, and we appreciated our barista coffees, packed picnic lunches and hot breakfasts that were all included. We’d definitely recommend this spot.
We were looking at maps for an overnight camp between Karijini and Broome and stumbled across Cape Keraudren, a coastal reserve that reaches the eastern end of the Pilbara coast and is also the starting point of the iconic Eighty Mile Beach. We booked online, and campsites were available on a first-come, first-served basis. Arriving around 3pm, all the open spots looked very tight. We weren’t disheartened though, and ended up jagging an amazing one away from the crowd, overlooking the crystal-blue creek water. It even had a fire pit ready to go for us.
We then went for a walk along the beach, where a large bird on the foreshore that we didn’t recognise flew past. After some investigation and verification from our daughter Eloise, we found out it was a Black-necked Stork, commonly known as a Jabiru. This was the first time either of us had seen one, and we were pretty chuffed. The coastline is beautiful and is a low-key beach haven.
Walking back to camp, we spotted a Pretty-faced Wallaby. They really are pretty.
We put a roast lamb with veggies in the Weber and enjoyed a relaxed night around the fire, topped off with an amazing night sky.
Day forty-eight saw us leave Cape Keraudren. We embarked on the road again, this time heading to Broome, a 474km drive. After a couple of fuel stops and some podcasts, we arrived at Cable Beach Caravan Park. It’s a large park, full to the brim with permanent vans, tourists and backpackers.
The sites are compact, and it took some effort to manoeuvre the Tundra and Recon into ours. A lady in the site opposite us kindly offered to move her vehicle to make some room, and we accepted. Unfortunately, her rear side door was left up and she hit a tree while moving, which bent the door and prevented it from shutting. We tried to help, but the repair was beyond our capabilities with what we had on hand. Thankfully, we still had that contact in Broome who was able to secure the lady a booking with a panel beater. We hope everything went smoothly for her from there and that some good karma comes her way in the future.
We were a bit weary in the late afternoon but had just enough time to check out Cable Beach and the beautiful sunset.
We settled into the ‘Parkie’ life on day forty-nine. In the morning, we walked to Zookeepers Cafe for a delicious coffee and breakfast. There, we made plans for the day. We wanted to take the Tundra to the car wash, as it still had battle wounds from the Gibb. Our Starlink had also been dropping out, so we had to sort that out if we wanted to access work or find our way home.
The car wash was packed and had a big line-up, so we decided to call it a day on the jobs front and head to the beach after midday. After finding a spot on the magic Cable Beach, we swam, read and relaxed. There was even enough of a wave to do some body surfing!
We went back to camp afterwards for a shower and then headed to the Surf Club at Cable Beach to watch the sunset again. The club and beach were teeming with people enjoying the spectacle. Afterwards, the temperature dropped and we went to the Diggers Tavern, just up the road, for dinner. It had a relaxed, local vibe and we loved the meals. The steak and barramundi were unreal. Everything was within walking distance, and we didn’t get back in the Tundra once throughout the afternoon, a real treat.
On day fifty, we woke to the sounds of Cable Beach, ready to enjoy another full day in Broome. We’d developed a morning routine here: coffee, reading, journalling our days on the road and finally opening the laptops to catch up on work.
Today, the Tundra was booked in at Broome Toyota for them to complete a recall correction and a service. The workshop was relatively close to town, and after dropping the Tundra in, we walked into town and had a great breakfast.
After brekky, we went for an explore and met a friendly local, Tony, aka ‘Big J’, who is a radio personality and presenter on Radio Goolarri. He was informative, giving us insights into life in Broome during the dry season, the impact of tourism and the many wonders of this place. Tony was generous with his time, and we enjoyed his conversation.
Having filled most of the morning, we got an Uber back to camp, packed up our things and headed back to the beach. We treated ourselves by hiring some beach lounges and an umbrella, kicking back for a couple of hours, not a difficult task at Cable Beach. We booked another Uber in the afternoon to pick up the Tundra, cooked steak for dinner and mapped out a plan for the journey home.
After completing our morning routine on day fifty-one, we grabbed a takeaway coffee from Zookeepers Cafe and went exploring Broome’s beaches, starting at Gantheaume Point, which we could see from Cable Beach. We were able to drive down onto the beach and, even though it was early, it was already alive with activity, with 4WDs and horse floats full of racing horses enjoying the beach. Broome’s horse racing season is in full swing. Gantheaume Point is a stunning headland and also has its own lighthouse.
We had heard that you can see fossilised dinosaur footprints here. They supposedly become visible during low tide and are believed to be 130 million years old. Thinking we may have spotted one, we compared it with images online and realised we hadn’t fully considered the scale of these creatures. What we saw was probably closer to a camel’s footprint, although a massive camel.
Next, we headed to the Port of Broome and then on to Town Beach. It’s a pretty area with calm waters and lovely parkland, with history and information scattered throughout. We didn’t stay for long, and Reddell Beach was our next stop, known as a local favourite.
There is a short dirt track to reach it, and it is immediately obvious why people here love it. Red cliffs surround the beach, which is filled with white sand and rolling waves, and it is less crowded than Cable Beach.
After exploring some more at Reddell Beach, we headed back to camp to prepare for our departure the following morning.
We filled up our fuel and water supplies, cleaned the fridge and rearranged some of our storage. After enjoying the lounges at Cable Beach so much last time, we pampered ourselves again and re-booked them.
