Day 64 - Broome to Gnylmarung (Dampier Peninsula)

 (Kate)

Day 64 – Broome to Gnylmarung (Dampier Peninsula)

When we stayed at Broome Vacation Village last night, we also booked a chalet for wed/thurs/fri/sat next week to accommodate me and the teens while Ben and the mechanic at Broome Auto Excellence work on the car. It’ll be a schoolwork intensive and blog catch up and email catch up time.

We packed up and left the Vacation Village, stopping at Kimberley Camping and Outback to get a few things. We also rang the WA Covid hotline which has a clever phone number (13COVID) to see if we could get a vaccine next week, but the earliest available appointment is Sept 15th *sigh*.

Onwards. Based on recommendations from other travellers, we drove to Gnylmarung, about 2/3rds of the way up the western side of the Dampier Peninsula. Gnylmarung appears very spacious and relaxed. There is a water tap at each site, that provides drinkable water. Firewood and drums are provided. There is a unisex shower/toilet block, plus a couple of long drops. There is a “low-risk” swimming beach (clear water, no known resident crocs, no rivers nearby). The lady manager/owner told me that she and her husband have lived there for 22 years. There is lots of cool artwork on floats scattered around the campsite, and the amenities are painted with turtles. There is a little kids playground with floats painted Minion-blue and yellow, and a barrel painted like an actual minion. There is a boat ramp of sorts that leads to the beach, and there are a lot of folks camped here who have boats. There are 4 free ranging dogs here, and we can hear a rooster, but there is no sign of free-ranging chooks. Possibly due to the dogs. It’s pretty basic but very relaxed. One woman we chatted to had been here for 4 weeks. We paid for 2 nights but suspect that we’ll stay for an extra 2 nights and do day trips from here to Cape Leveque, and to the eastern side of the Peninsula.

We set up a bit, and then went for a swim in the Indian Ocean, keeping an eye out for crocs, just to be sure. Very nice. Ben is very pleased that we have now been swimming on all sides (well, north, south east and west) of Australia. Technically in Darwin we swam in a saltwater lagoon, not in the open sea, which would have been foolish, but that's just a technicality. We came back and finished setting up, all 3 tents so that Nicole and Keith can have a tent each. Personal space is required today. We are all feeling pretty tired and emotionally stretched.