Kooljaman is Kool
Recently spent a fantastic few days at Kooljaman (Cape Leveque). We were a league of nations (of sorts) being one Aussie (Ali), one Kiwi (me) and one American – Ali’s friend Kathleen from Berkeley, California.
We travelled up from Broome in my friend Ali’s comfortable four wheel drive vehicle with our food supplies which we had organised well in advance (and really, we had so much food we would never have starved!!)
Ali had made us egg and lettuce sandwiches for lunch and we enjoyed a stop at Beagle Bay to sit and eat these in the shade of the trees there.
The road to Beagle Bay of course is still unsealed although there is a lot of grading work that’s been done to form the basis of the new bitumen road. I always love the rich and vibrant red of the pindan which contrasts so beautifully with the green of the many trees and shrubby vegetation..
We arrived at Kooljaman mid afternoon and were keen to see our deluxe safari tent ‘Nilawil’, and get settled in before heading to the beach for a swim. Three of us shared one of the deluxe safari tents which was high off the ground, very comfortable and had all the mod cons that we needed. The separate kitchen and bathroom were outside of the tent bedroom area, and on the other side was a lovely outdoor seating/eating area with a barbeque.
There is also a campground for caravans and tents and good clean facilities abound. The beach at Kooljaman is known to be very safe and it certainly lived up to its expectations. The water was lovely and warm and we were fortunate to see whales on the horizon breaching.
When the tide receded of course the scenery was even more spectacular, revealing many rock formations, pools with crabs and various other marine life. Walking from Kooljaman beach to the very tip of Cape Leveque and around the other side revealed the mighty red pindan cliffs, where it was easy for a dreamer like me to imagine stories of times gone by and the people and animals that roamed this beautiful land millions of years ago.
Plenty of time was spent relaxing and reading and inbetween we visited the cute and rustic Dinka’s beach cafe for a delicious iced coffee.
Dinka’s also serve meals there but we saved our appetites for the last night where we enjoyed a beautiful meal in Raugi’s restaurant, sampling some of the Kimberley’s finest first-class food.
I’m personally not that keen on trying crocodile, emu or kangaroo meat, but have to admit the dishes did look absolutely delicious.
What a wonderful way to complete a memorable three day stay at Kooljaman.
