Ardi Cultural Drive - Britz

Three nights and 438 kilometres in a loop from Broome in a 4WD camper, up the Dampier Peninsula to Cape Leveque and back.

The peninsula is red pindan track and white sand, and the contrast is the thing: the cliffs at Cape Leveque are iron-red, the beach below them is white, and the water is turquoise. Mercedes Cove comes first, a small camp on a beach of its own.

Cape Leveque sits at the northern tip, and Lombadina follows, an Aboriginal community that was a Catholic mission and now runs its own camping, tours and arts on Bardi country, with access arranged through the community itself. The route then returns south to Broome on the same road.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. The access road up the peninsula is only partly sealed, and the side tracks to the camps and communities remain pindan, which turns greasy after rain. Visits to the communities need booking rather than turning up, and some areas are closed without a permit. Four days is enough for the peninsula, and the cultural tours are the reason to come rather than an add-on to the beaches. Four hundred kilometres over four days also makes this one of the shortest trips in the range, which suits a traveller adding a few days to a Broome stay rather than planning a holiday around it.