Day 32 06/07/2013 Cape Leveque to Middle Lagoon (Whale Song).

We must have been tired because we slept in, (if you count sleeping till 6.30am as sleeping in), and missed the sunrise! It was a beautiful morning and after breakfast we went for a walk along the beach. Then we chatted to our neighbours....a family with two boys..... and it must be our week for coincidences because they were from the Hunter Valley. The parents are both veterinarians and one of the boys attends Merewether High School!!
After packing up we drove back in the direction of Broome, intending to camp at Middle Lagoon for two nights. Our first stop was at the Aboriginal community of Lombadina, about 20 km away. A permit is required to visit this community, which can be obtained at the admin office Mon-Fri, or at the craft shop on weekends. This very attractive-looking community was eerily quiet and a notice on the door of the office said that the community was closed to visitors Friday afternoon due to an (unspecified) event. However today is Saturday, so we were not sure why it was all so quiet, and the craft shop was also closed. Just in case the community was still closed to visitors, we did not drive too far, but were able to see the very pretty church which was close by. This church is made of corrugated iron, supported by mangrove timbers and lined with paperbark.
Back on the main road we continued our journey south for a while, and then headed west on the road to Middle Lagoon, some 34km down the track. This track was very sandy, corrugated and bumpy in places. It was also quite narrow for most of the way......and it is always in these narrow spots that you meet on-coming vehicles! Fortunately there were not too many, but we did have to pull over into the bushes a couple of times. During our travels we have spoken to people who recommended a place called Whale Song, very close to Middle Lagoon. It has a cafe and a small campground. We thought that we would take the 4km detour to check it out. So without even seeing Middle Lagoon campground, (we have heard that it can be quite crowded), we took advantage of the fact that there was space for us for two nights at Whale Song, part of the Munget Aboriginal Community. We have a lovely, private campsite up on a cliff, with views of the beautiful Pender Bay.
During the season, Pender Bay is a nursery for migrating humpback whales. We are here just a little too early.
The people who run the cafe and campground are very friendly, and they were doing a roaring trade in gourmet pizzas. In fact, the pizzas looked so good that after setting up camp, we had one ourselves for lunch! There is about a 500m walk between the cafe and the campground, (you can drive, but the walking track is nicer), so this means that despite cafe customers coming and going.....I would assume that most are camped at Middle Lagoon.........the campground is very quiet. There are only eight sites here, so I think we were fortunate to get a spot, especially at the weekend. However, I don't expect this place would suit everyone. There is one long drop toilet, which has no door! It has a corrugated iron roof and the lower side facing the campground is also corrugated iron. The rest is shade cloth. It faces onto the bush and there are steps going up to it from the side and a wooden sign which you turn around so that it reads 'free' or 'in use', whichever is appropriate! There is also a very quirky open air shower which has walls around it sculpted out of clay. It also has no door and has a similar sign to the one on the toilet! Of course, the system 'fails', (as it did during our stay), if someone forgets to change the 'in use' sign back to 'free', when leaving! On the plus side, once sitting on the loo, it is as if you are in a bird hide, and watching the many and varied small birds in the trees outside means you might be tempted to sit for longer than is necessary!!!

After lunch we set up our new solar panels and connected them to the 'fridge battery. Then we had a long walk on the beach, late in the afternoon at low tide. We lit a fire and enjoyed steak and vegetables for dinner with jacket potatoes cooked in the coals.
Tomorrow we will drive the 6km or so to Middle Lagoon.....apparently it is very pretty and has a very nice beach. We will also check out the campsite to see if we have made the right choice......too late now if we haven't !!!!!
Once again we have a beautiful starry night and we can hear the ocean.