Tuesday 23rd July, we left Broome early with plans to drive into 80mile Beach. Although it would have been nice to stay for a couple of days it's very hard to get into so we were just happy to spend about an hour wandering on the beach collecting shells. It is certainly a place we would return to for a holiday, it's very laid back. Both Glenn and I could picture ourselves sitting on a sand dune, sipping on our drinks, watching the sun go down!

The terrain that we were travelling through was pretty flat and unprotected. So the couple of spots that were on offer for a free camp were overlooked. It was after 4pm when out of the corner of our eyes Glenn and I spotted a gravel track that seemed to head off into the bush with plenty of protection. We over shot the turnoff but quickly CB'ed Chris and Roger as they were behind us. They drove in while we did a "U" turn. It was a flat blue metal area with little culverts that were obviously used by other travellers. Turns out we weren't the only ones to find this special little spot, there were already two other groups set up.

While looking at the sunset I was standing on Rogers drawbar and spotted the ocean! We were probably about 6km away as the crow flies. We lit a nice fire and I cooked dinner for all. On leaving our special spot I named it "Blue Metal Flats" and marked it in the GPS for another time.

Wednesday 24th July, We stopped at another great free camp for morning tea, De Grey River. Chris and Roger noticed a major change with the introduction of two toilets and two dump points. We had a wander along the riverbank noticing the recent high watermark. Chris spoke to a fellow camper who said the water level had only just receded in the recent days. The river was the highest Chris and Roger had ever seen.

regards, Virginia and Glenn