Fancy a Tim Tam slam?

Day 168 - Broome

We’re still in Broome! It feels a bit weird when we’re still in the same spot after a few days. It’s not happened very often during this trip and waking up with a different view most mornings has been a big plus. Broome however is keeping our attention quite well and being with the Elliotts is great fun and keeping us entertained!

So, what to do today! There is a wide range of tours available from Broome, they range from trips to the Willie Creek pearl farm, tours to Cape Leveque and even tours to the Horizontal Falls. The selection in the campground reception is extensive and expensive! The challenge is on to find something free or more reasonably priced yet still fun to do!

During ‘morning tea’ we were introduced to a new phenomenon, the Tim Tam Slam! A Tim Tam is a chocolate biscuit, very similar to the Penguin chocolate biscuit back home. We’re given the instructions for ‘the slam’ which are to make a hot drink then bite off two diagonally opposing corners from the biscuit. Hover the biscuit over the hot drink while sucking through one of its now open corners until the whole thing starts to collapse and you have to slam it into your mouth before you drop the lot! Hey presto, the Tim Tam Slam. Apparently Belinda was very excited during a visit to the UK when she realised the similarity of the Penguin versus the Tim Tam. Back then it was ‘Sucking a Tim Tam’, imagine the horror of exclaiming to a new friends family ‘Have you ever tried to suck a Penguin’?! Hence the change to ‘Slam a Tim Tam’!

The highly respected Broome Bird Observatory isn’t far from town so we decide to go out there for a look. The Elliotts come up with the same idea so we all head off in the two cars. The track is pretty badly corrugated so we take it slowly for the 15 km track and hold our teeth in whilst looking at the glimpses we get of Roebuck Bay, it’s that glorious turquoise ocean again!

The observatory is in a beautiful setting and we have a wander to one of the bird hides. We’ve really come at the wrong time of day but it’s still good fun and we all sit quietly in the hide with the cameras poised. Nige spots a bird in a good position to get a photo so clicks the button only to hear the familiar ‘beep beep beep beep’ of the 10 second self timer go off! How we didn’t scare the birds off with the laughing we’ll never know but he still managed to get the shot!

We wandered down to the beach and there are small groups of birds further out on the shore line. There’s a lookout at the top where people can sit to watch them when the tide is further in, it looks like a good spot. It’s pretty hot out at the moment but we watch lots of Fiddler crabs on the mudflats which is funny. With their one huge claw and one tiny claw they look very unbalanced!

The Shadehouse back in the main part of the observatory is a great spot for a relax and some close up watching of the birds out in baths behind it. It’s set in the bush and we’ve got another huge Bowerbird to watch as he dances around trying to attract a new mate. It’s all very David Attenborough!

The Elliotts head back into town leaving us to watch the goings on a bit longer. It’s just a very tranquil setting and we wonder if we should go for a walk through the bush to more of the hides but it’s so hot that any self respecting bird will be tucked somewhere difficult to spot so start the journey back to the highway.

We stop for a bit of a look over Roebuck Bay which is beautifully set off with the red rocks, white sand and blue ocean, it’s all very picture postcard! On the way back we thought we ought to check out Gantheaume Point again (where the Dinosaur Footprints are) and were pleasantly surprised to find the tide crashing in against the rocks. There was no chance of us finding the footprints again but it’s such a beautiful view looking back to Cable Beach and with the family of Osprey flying and feeding just behind us we were kept well entertained for an hour or so! The sandy track from here leads further round the bay so we checked that out and found a nice secluded beach spot for another short walk. Broome is full of little surprises like this if you have the time to look.

The weather is stinking hot still so a cool off in the pool was definitely in order when we got back! We’d been invited out for dinner over at the Cable Beach Resort where Belinda’s sister Amber is staying with her husband Ross and their 6 month old beauty Lucy. With perfect timing we were just heading back to the caravan from a cleansing shower when they arrived to escort us over!

We had a great night cooking on the BBQ and managed a quick game of table-tennis! How excited was I to find there was a table at the resort, I even took my own bat over just to get the moths off it! We had a quick game of doubles which was good fun and then Lachie and I headed for the table-football where I found I was no match for the quick seven year old and his team!

What a lovely night and what good laugh we all had. Thanks very much to Amber, Ross and of course Lucy for having us over.

That pretty much rounded off today, check in for more fun in the sun tomorrow!

Darryl and Sarah

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