Diary of an aviation nut: Gorgeous beaches & soft pastel colours

After a quick look around Broome and pleasant night at the Cable Beach Club & Spa Resort we loaded up and pointed our trusty Cessna 172 north along the beautiful beaches of the Dampier Peninsular.

Cruising along the coast line at 3,500ft the ride was smooth and the coastline was stunning. A typical isolated and scrubby land morphs into pristine wide, white sandy beaches which are lapped by a crystal clear azure sea. The water is as clear as gin and you could easily see the bottom. As Simon was flying this leg I looked hard for sharks as I think they’re known to frequent this area. None seen.

I believe the Dampier Peninsular still supports some small Aboriginal camps and we passed several clusters of buildings that could’ve been camps. Mind you, using the term “buildings” is probably stretching the definition of the word in most cases.

It’s flights like this that make me truly grateful for the ability and the means to be able fly and pursue my passion for aviation in environments like the Dampier Peninsular. Not many get to see this part of the world and, although I’ve worked hard to be able to fly, I consider myself very lucky.

At the north end of the Dampier Peninsular is Cape Leveque, where I have stayed before and, just around the corner, is the Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm where we stopped for two nights. We had a short tour of the facilities and it was interesting to learn how cultured pearls are seeded, harvested and graded. Some of the jewellery available for purchase was beautiful but very expensive. There wasn’t much priced less than $1,000 and we were shown one string of pearls that was valued at $670,000!

We had a nice lazy day at Cygnet Bay including a swim in the sea which was clear and warm.

Leg Summary:

Route: Broome (YBRM) - Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm (YCYG)

Straight line distance: 103nm (191km)

Time: 1.5hrs

Alt: 3,500ft