Broome bulletin

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Distance traveled 2230km/4060km(55%).Stayed 5 nights.The journey to Broome was to be our biggest distance undertaking to date so we slipped quietly out of Point Samson at about 06h15 and then witnessed a stunning sun rise which was accentuated by it’s steady golden advance across the dry,flat landscape.The NW Coastal Highway threads it’s way inland with the ocean about 40kms away and the relentless flatness of the countryside continued.Washongi has high elevation up front with a large front wind screen providing a panoramic view of the road ahead and the surrounding terrain.The roads for the most part are dead straight and inevitably when there is a slight kink or a slight rise there is a…..you guessed it, a sign to tell you.On the subject of signs…the one seen most frequently reads “Floodway”(there are lots of them!).Considering that this region has on average 250mm of rain annually you have to wonder…..my take is that when it does rain all of the annual rainfall is delivered in one dump or this is a “just in case” pending the arrival of the next cyclone.Whilst in Cossack we read about a cyclone a few years back which dumped 967mm onto an unfortunate place called Whim Creek..this all happened in 36 hours.The obligatory stops at a few roadhouses took place and a noticeable trend was starting to play out in that the quality of these supposed mini oases was starting to slide.One in particular,Sandfire Roadhouse,looked to be on the skids with tyres embedded in the ground on the forecourt adding a bizarre ornamental appearance.The owners redemption was a fair number of very colorful peacocks strutting around said forecourt.Our journey has been on a steady NE heading and the northern part of Australia is tropical and punctuated by the “the wet” which simply refers to summer and lots of heat and rain.About 400kms from Point Samson there was a discernible change in the landscape with verdant greenery and signs of recent rains.We did skirt a town called Port Hedland which is an ugly industrial scar masquerading as a port for massive exports of the stuff being ripped out of the ground in the Pilbarra.A fuel stop provided a brief insight into the industrial character of the town….it is a mini Richards Bay with a presence of all the tough looking people drawn to these havens of migrant work.No journey of this nature is devoid of observation and at some point we had to literally stop for a dingo trying to cross the road.Don’t know much about dingoes but I will research and report back.Storm clouds gathered on the horizon and things must have cooled down because kangaroo’s suddenly started appearing(they are normally early morning and late afternoon suicide candidates).Susan stiffened at the wheel and the roar of Washongi’s engines dropped a notch or two.After 850 kms of endless,straight as an arrow road ahead,we finally drew into the warm,tropical embrace of our destination at about 16h30.The Lonely Planet Guide had waxed lyrical about Cable Beach,just across the road from our park,and it seemed more than appropriate to go check this out with sundowner in hand.This is a beach with attitude…..26kms in length and 1 km wide at low tide with white sand and as flat as the cricket pitch at Lords.A calm,shimmering,turquoise sea and yet another stunning sunset……hopefully the pictures in this blog will do it justice.Broome is an interesting town as it has a sort of Mauritian feel to it….lush shrubbery including frangipani’s,palms and bougainvillea in abundance and the buildings are all low and mostly with metal roofs(the Council has in it’s minutes that no building may be exceed the height of the tallest palm tree)…..absolutely true.It is a premier holiday resort in the NW and there is evidence of a building “blitzkrieg” with new shopping malls,holiday lodges and lots of traffic circles.An international airport provides a gateway for tourism not forgetting that for Aussies,Broome would represent a four hour flight from cities on the East Coast.The town has it’s origins in pearling in the late 1800’s and it is still today a major supplier of pearls to World markets although pearl farming has replaced the old methods of extraction.Proximity to SE Asia attracted Malays,Chinese and Japanese and consequently there is a noticeable Asian culture.The town is a blend of old and new buildings with no high rise structures indicating some astute planning to retain it’s laid back charm.Provisions had run low so our first foray into town included a bit of stocking up.Something which has surprised us has been the cost of grog….in particular,wine.Bearing in mind that Australia reportedly exports more wine than France,one would sort of expect wine to be relatively cheaply priced.Not so…you simply do not get a bottle of white or red wine for les than Aus$12.00/bottle which converts to R78(about double the cost of SA wines).The Aussie wines are very good.Beer is also expensive and about 60% higher than SAB products back home.One of their brands is called “Pure Blond Naked” which some whacky marketing guy must have developed with the Outback guys in mind….drink enough of the stuff and the blonde genie pops out.Hope in a beer bottle!I tried it but…Sue remains graying.This has,however,not in any way deterred Washongi’s occupants from justifying sundowners or any other thirst quenching moments.Still in a cost vein,I have kept a detailed account of all costs incurred on the trip for future reference(and for anyone interested in doing this type of trip).For the first twenty five days of our trip the total average cost per day was R727.00(this includes accommodation,food and grog,fuel and entertainment/sundries).If one puts this in perspective…..a night at any City Lodge in SA will cost on average R850-R900(no breakfast and no car hire included).So campervanning is not only a wonderful way to see and experience the country,it is also very affordable.The daily campervan hire cost including insurance cost and unlimited km’s is R842(considering Washongi’s credentials this compares very favourably against the hire cost of a small car in SA).Australian fact file…..ever wondered if Australia is a developed or developing country?Well..ponder on this.Firstly,everything works!Remember,we have stayed in a number of resort/town campsites…nothing is broken,internet connectivity is abundant and it works and we have yet to step into a telephone booth where it isn’t in working order.The Aussies are a surprisingly acquiescent nation and all those signs do resonate with people.There is a clear,underlying knowledge of the rules and laws of the land and observance.Some examples…on the roads(which are good)there is scant evidence of speeding or reckless driving.There are sanctuary zones in many areas of the WA coastline to preserve marine life.Brochures in each area clearly tell you about them and then the actual zones are marked with signage.Guess what…nobody takes a chance and fishes in those zones and it’s not because there are law enforcement guys crawling all over the place.On one occasion I fished at a public jetty about 30kms from Exmouth.There was a toilet(thunder box type)which was spotlessly clean with signage telling you how to keep the place clean.A trolley bin placed there is used by all fisherman so no sign of bait etc., on the jetty.There are probably other,more important qualifiers,but for my cents worth...Australia is a developed(1st World)country.Fishing update.Broome being a busy tourist place didn’t really appeal to me fishing wise but by day four I was starting to have those fly fishing withdrawal symptoms.So I was drawn to a beautiful little beach next to the harbour pier and on an incoming tide caught three queenfish all around the 2kg mark.Great fun.We now head into the Kimberley and Outback where crocodiles abound and also the legendary Barramundi.First night at Fitzroy Crossing and then on to Wyndham.KEEP THE COMMENTS/MESSAGES COMING.WE LOVE HEARING FROM ALL OF YOU BACK IN SA.

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