Drive into Kooljaman

After three days at Middle Lagoon we packed up and continued our trip to the
tip of Cape Leveque. After forty kilometres of deep sandy tracks we reached
the highway north which is bitumen through to One Arm Point - around 70
kilometres. We were heading to our next stop at Kooljaman Resort but before
booking in we drove past the turn off to have a look at One Arm Point which
is an Aboriginal settlement at the tip of Cape Leveque. No photography is
allowed in the township so sorry no photos for the blog. To visit the town
a day permit must be purchased from the visitors centre - I went in and when
I found out that it was $10 per person ($40 for the four of us) and allowed
us to visit for the day and to go down to the estuary we decided against it
as we only wanted to spend an hour at the most. Instead we paid a visit to
the general store, and we were surprised at how good it was. It was well
stocked with everything you could need food wise and also had general stock
like washing machines, beds etc. Yes the food costs were up, but for the
distance it had travelled was not excessive. As usual in these out of the
way places, bread was frozen but at least it was available. We stocked up
on the few items we were short of and headed thirteen kilometres south to
Kooljaman Resort.

Kooljaman Resort is owned by two local Aboriginal groups and is very
popular. We had tried to book a campsite, but they were fully booked but
instead booked a beach shelter and we were not disappointed. The Resort has
a very popular restaurant and a selection of high end cost safari tents and
a good selection of other accommodation at varying costs. It was quite a
contrast from Middle Lagoon but really nice. The local tour companies use
the restaurant at Kooljaman as part of their tours.

We booked in and took the drive through the resort to our beach shelter and
we were told by the receptionist that a 4wd vehicle was absolutely necessary
as the sand track was quite soft and deep - she was absolutely correct. The
beach shelters are basic and the idea was to erect the tent inside the
shelter. There was also a cool open shower, cold water tap and picnic
table. There was just enough room for both our tents to be erected. The
best part was that the beach shelters were the closest accommodation to the
beach, and no one had to pass our shelter to get to the beach so we had
ultimate privacy. For just over $100 a night for the four of us not bad
value either.

We had a great view of the Cape Leveque lighthouse.