Having driven the 200km along a red sand road around 10 years ago to Cape Leveque, I was interested to see if it had changed - apart from the addition of 100k of sealed surface it hasn't and it is still one of my very favourite places in Australia.

We stayed at Kooljamon at Cape Leveque, although there are a number of other community-run camping grounds on the way up the cape, or out toward One Arm Point. Booking ahead is essential in the busy season, as cabins, tent sites and beach shelters are all pretty booked out. We stayed in a safari tent which has views over Eastern Beach - great if you are an early-bird to watch the sunrise.

Our favourite activity was hanging out on Western Beach at sunset - combined with a bit of fishing - where the colours of the rocks are just amazing! We even caught a few snapper off the beach.

A range of local tours are available with guides from the local Bardi community. From aboriginal history, spear making and mud-crabbing, there are some great activities for the whole family. We went on a mud-crab expedition with Brian Lee, scouring the sand flats and climbing through mangroves up to knee deep in mud. The location we went to was down some tiny tracks and then we walked for a while as well, not a place you'd find by yourself.

Suffice to say we had fun! Laughs and great conversation, learning about crabs and other sea-life that live in and around the mangroves - including crocodiles, and we came back with two huge mud crabs which we cooked singapore style - yum!

On the way to or from Cape Leveque you can visit many of the aboriginal communities - we went out to One Arm Point to their trochus hatchery - which they raise and then place back on the reefs for later harvesting and sale for their mother of pearl value.

A visit is not complete without going to the Beagle Bay church, famous for it's mother of pearl altar.

We combined our visit with a tour of the Willie Creek Pearl farm - incredibly interesting and educational and something you must do to learn about the foundations of Broome as a pearling industry. And, yes, you can even go away with a pearl of your own, or choose from a selection of childrens jewellery too.

A few days at Cape Leveque as an add-on to any trip to Broome is a must, but really you could spend a week or two there as well.