Day 43: Broome to Lombadina

 


A few hours of straight roads and not much to see fills in our morning on the way to Lombadina. There was a glimmer of hope when we saw a sign to Beagle Bay, and an indication that they had fuel and food, maybe a cup of coffee was a possibility. It was only 5 km off the main road, so worth a try.

Expectations sank as we approached the Community store. Visitors are required to register at bthe store and pay a visitor fee of $15 per adult. there is no visitor accommodation in town. It was clear that coffee was out of the question. It is a small aboriginal community which became a Catholic Mission in the late 1800's, and served as a home for Aboriginal children separated from their families during the Stolen Generations. Today, the Church is the drawcard for visitors, renowned for it's intricate interior. We took a photo of the outside of the church and moved on.


Onward towards Lombadina, we reach the Djarindjin Roadhouse, on the main road at the turnoff to Lombadina. 


The roadhouse is pretty basic, but does have fuel, hot food, a small store and believe it or not, coffee. So even though we are only a few km away from our destination, we stop for a cuppa. At this point we are still on bitumen, and it seems there  is only a few km of red dirt between us and Lombadina.

Once we found the campground office, we checked in, received a briefing about understanding that we are in the middle of an Aboriginal Community, and some areas are out of bounds for vehicles. The campground is spacious and the sites and amenities good. We set up in a drive through site.



It is another very warm day, so after lunch we rest for a while, before setting out on a walk to investigate our surroundings. The craft shop was closed at 2 pm on weekends, but we will get a look in another day. Thjere is also a store and a bakery that we will check out another time.


The craft shop (with resident watch dog)

Lombadina Community is located on Thomas Bay. Access to the beach is dirt road over sand dunes, a distance of around 1.5 km. Without realising it was this far, we set out to walk to the beach.


First it was trudging through the red dirt


The red dirt transformed into white sand dunes for the last km, until atr last the ocean came into sight.



There were a few 4WD's on the beach, definitely the option we will take next time.


Carole headed straight for the water to cool down.


It was a long walk back to the campground, but at least there was a slight cooling breeze.  

Appearing from a side track was what I think is the fishing charter boat, being towed home by a tractor.



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