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Published: December 2nd 2006
With every intention of spending another night just south of Broome along the Eighty Mile Beach stretch, we left the campsite relatively early hoping to relax for the afternoon in an equally beautiful spot. Along the road, Master Spotter Greeny spied yet another squished snake on the side of the road, so we u'ed back to it and photographed it for later indentification. Further on we spied our first ever tumbleweed whistling along the Roebuck Plain, which was highly exciting but then we became concerned that the mileage trip indicated that our turn off should be in the near vicinity, and it was nowhere to be seen! We pulled onto a few dirt tracks to search for camp although in vain, and finally wound up around 30 kms south of the T-junction at the roadhouse that leads into Broome. Having surpassed all possibilities of another beachside camp, we rolled on into Broome in the early avo, booked into a campsite on the outskirts of town and headed down to the Broome Port jetty with some whiffy old squid to do a spot of fishing - our new obession! Great disappointment ensued as although we caught a couple of tiddlers none were
Relaxing on Cable Beach
L-R: Flo, Becs, Brendan and Meof enough substance to chuck on the barbie. We then tried to amuse ourselves by hooking the small schooling fish we could see just under the surface, but to our absolute horror they formed a ring around the shiny hook - like an eye in a storm!Before returning to camp we had a nightmare of a mission to find some accommodation for the few nights immediately after we'd hand back our beloved camper - there was absolutely no accommodation to be had in the town, but after a while we managed to squeeze ourseleves in at the Last Resort Backpackers for 2 nights, which it prevailed was exactly what it declared! With the Last Resort booked we were left with one remaining night in the van to cover - Broome Caravan Park only had room for us for one night! If the worst came to the worst we could drive 28 kms out to the roadhouse back at the T-junction and rest up there, but when we were packed up and creeping out of camp the next morning we popped into reception to try our luck for another night - it worked, so we drove back around and re-pitched up
Box Jellyfiz
Celebrating Flo's b'day camp! Being able to stay there a second night was a Godsend - we could do all of our washing easily and spruce up the van for its return the following morning. Spring cleaning took up most of the day, trying to remove the Karijini dust from the van was like trying to remove iron from a magnet, so even though the conditions of our rental forbade us from driving on unsealed roads, we gave up and left it glaringly obvious that we'd broken the rules.
A stranger appeared around our fold out table later that day, and after brief introductions, we asked him round for drinks after dinner - civilisation in the outback! Our tinned pea and ham soup with a hint of curry powder was delicious, and as plans always do change, we ended up round at our new friend Brendan's caravan, drinking with his Mum and Dad and a couple of German girls. Brendan's dad David rivalled Smithers' mum on the story telling front and had everyone in fits with his elaborate actions to a story involving his stand off against a kanagaroo with an erection and a crocodile he had to shoot at point blank range
Cable Beach
Another amazing sunset when it attempted to get into his boat!
Prepared for a little shock to the system we rocked up at the Last Resort the following morning to dump our bags, which since having a home of sorts, had doubled in size and number. Becs and Smitty left soon after to return Monsters Inc to the Broome depot, whilst Whits and Flo made for town and the infamous Cable Beach with Brendan and family who came to pick them up in their Ute. The fact that at Broome depot no-one had shown up to work to receive the van, worked in Jo and Becs favour as we really could have done with the transport that day to sort out a few birthday surprises for Miss Whits. We also figured that if it was reported stolen it wouldn't be long before they were pulled over - driving around the small town of Broome in a van with Monsters Inc painted all over it isn't exactly inconspicuous! With the surprises in order the fugitives bumped into a gang of Frenchies clambering out of a Paris Hilton van (glad we didn't get that one!) we'd seen at the depot earlier, and asked them if
the guys down there had now arrived - they had so after a couple more errands, we decided we'd been on the run long enough and returned the van with the red fuel light well and truly engaged! That didn't seem to bother our brother down at the depot however, as he dropped us down on Cable Beach in it. We had time for the last farewells and he didn't even blink an eyelid at our massive cleaning operation - clean sheets and all!
Smitty and Becs arrived at Cable Beach nearly forgetting to reclaim $30 of Whits money from the Wicked Campers dude - she'd bought a new gas cooker head on the way up as we'd been supplied with a dud! Eventually they found Jo, Flo, Brendan and co on the nudist beach of all places playing botchi (fully clothed of course!) Yeah, Botchi is similar to French Boules and those of the hard metal variety too - nothing dodgy Becs and Jo were pleased to discover. A few of us tried a dip in the turquoise waters of Broome before we took off back to the Last Resort to be treated to a special Butter Chicken prepared
Flo's fishing attempts
Definitely time to go home! by our resident chef Flo to say thanks to us for giving him a ride up the West coast. Brendan's cousin is studying to be a doctor and living in Broome, so after dinner we again met up, and descended on poor Jane's house for a drinking game. It turned out to be a rather quiet game of cards as everyone was surprisingly tired - but fun and a good night was had with the bonus of us all being sober enough to rise with a clear head for Whits birthday.
We spent most of Jos 26th tanning on the beach, swimming in the sea and playing Botchi with Brendan and his family - it was a very relaxing day! As late afternoon arrived we made our way back to the backpackers and got dolled up - a real novelty - in order to take Whits out for a surprise birthday meal funded by family Whitaker and secretly organised by Smithy and Becs. The Black Pearl was the name of the restaurant, which was highly exciting, although Whits was disappointed that Captain Jack didn't turn up for the festivities! It was in a lovely spot in front of Roebuck Bay
and a nice table on the terrace outside was waiting for the 4 of us upon arrival. Beforehand we had bought a bottle of Champers and 4 bottles of vino in the offie over the road - it was BYO. Luckily enough we managed to persuade the shop keeper to let us in as he was about to close due to a lack of change. At the till the generous guy threw in a rather expensive bottle of Margaret River Chardonnay - as if we needed another bottle! The menu was incredible, we all really struggled to choose our preferred dish, and in the meantime we managed to get our photo taken, with an array of drinks, by the waitress and Flo accidentally smashed a plate on the floor - a good start! We had a great meal, the food was delicious and wine magnifico! Afterwards, the girls suprised Whits with a cake topped with strawberries that went down a treat!
During our brief stay at the Last Resort Backpackers, Whits was able to get hold of Jez, an aussie friend of the Jos they met in Africa and the guy on who's trip we were due to board. Luckily
My Birthday
Becs, Flo, Jo and Me enjoy a slap up meal Jez was able to sort out our accommodation issue and the following day we grabbed a taxi over to the Western Xposure truck workshop in Blue Haze industrial estate about 5 kms out of town. We met Jez's boss Mark when we arrived, as well as a few of the other tour guides. Mark showed us around and said that we could sleep inside the workshop or grab a tent from a truck kit and pitch it on the grass outside. We all opted for the grass and once we had erected a tented village we explored the rest of the facilities - there was a fully equipped kitchen with fridge freezer, shower, toilet and washing machine - brilliant - thanks Jez and Mark! We went into town for the rest of the day for supplies and to allow Whits to book a flight to Perth for the next day - the Lone Ranger leaves again! We got to know the workings of the Western Xposure Broome outpost that evening drinking in the workshop with the guys and watching them have a didge off (Didgeridoo competition) Becs even casually accepted the challenge of backing one of the trucks, complete with
Yum!
My delicious b'day cake trailer, out of the workshop!
The next day was Greeny and Smithers first experience of surfing. We hired boards along with our Flo, who is by comparison a pro. The first 15 minutes saw us getting completely nailed taking on 5 ft (Brit measured) waves and trying to ride them - there was some serious rolling! After a while we both realised we should probably tackle some of the smaller waves first ... after the revelation things became quite a bit easier and the decking was less frequent! Over the course of the 2 weeks we hired boards whenever there was decent enough surf (Broome by the way is definitely not renowned for good surf) We (well Greeny) sustained quite a few injuries - all superficial, especially scuffed knees, bruising and a fat lip, with both of us getting smacked around the back of the head with the boards. Smithy got hit in a collision with Flo and Greeny's board just hated her! On the days when the water was flat we had to amuse ourselves with other things ... games of catch in the sea with the 'together against drugs' rugby ball, the twist being baptised (dunked ... this
part is thanks to the Irish) if you miss it. This led to lots of comedy Dad-style running through the water. Another day, Flo hired a bag full of kids toys to create a monster sandcastle, he and Smithers had huge debates on the construction technicalities.
In tune with Broomes laid back vibe the 3 of us (Flo, Jo and Becs) also persisted in the quest to catch fish - there's supposed to be good spots on Town Beach - we were extremely unsuccesful there, and off the jetties! The main port jetty wasn't too bad and a day was spent there with 2 handlines and a rod. It looked hopeful to start with when Smithy reeled in a Stripy Sea Perch, it was pretty small, but at last it was a catch. Then Greeny caught a type of Cod found in shallow reefs, and that was even smaller! Over the course of the day the fish decreased in size - and it was time to leave when Flo reeled in a 5 cm fish! The taxi driver (who'd given us some tips earlier on) saw the disappointment and took us to his local fishmongers so we could get ourselves
Ouch
Becs gets decked some Blue Bone Salmon for dinner. He told us the best way to cook it and also stopped in at his house on the way back to camp so that he could pick up some of his special homemade 'Asian Mixed' spices for us! They sure are friendly in Oz ... and fishing is a really social hobby - everyone stops for a chat.
Being as we'd been unable to get accommodation because of the big events happening in Broome, we figured we'd better check them out. The first was the staircase to the moon. This occurs on a full moon and can be seen for about 7 months in the year. It was a really unique sight, hundreds of people flock to town beach where they have markets and music playing, it was like a mini festival. We all waited in the darkness, gazing at the stars until at precisely 7.43 the full bright orange moon rose up slowly from the horizon, spilling red and gold light onto the mud flats below and creating the illusion of a staircase - it was an amazing vision.
The second was the Broome cup which is a major annual event to mark
Surfing lessons
Smithy takes a tumble the end of the horseracing season. By the time Becs and Jo arrived, Wal, Toby and crowd were all well on their way! We were just in time for the main race and picked a horse each ... Bantheame (the favourite) and Our Big Paddy - that one was especially for Team Ireland! It was a great atmosphere with an estimated 8000 people there, and after a tense race, our horses came in second and third. We were so excited, we couldn't wait to collect our winnings - this however was short lived when we realised it was a return of 6 bucks! We managed to dodge the immense taxi queue by jumping in with 4 of possibly the drunkest people in WA ... it was entertaining to say the least and saved us a fortune!
Another sight we made it out to see was the dinosaur footprints 7 kms south of town at Gantheame Point. It's a beautiful spot and we got there just in time to see the higher prints as the tide was coming in fast. The footprints are estimated to be 120 million years old, and the ones we saw belonged to a Megasaurapus (that caused
Surfing lessons
Smithy standing a fair bit of immature giggling!) We were lucky enough to have Mark showing us around and acting as our personal guide. Carved into the upper level of the cliff is Anastacia's pool which the lighthouse keeper had made to ease his wife's arthritis - it must have taken him ages! When the tide's high the pool fills and then is heated up by the sun ... what a guy!
Whits returned, just about in one piece, on her flight back from Perth. The next evening, Jez got in from his previous trip. Within an hour we were all at Cable Beach Backpackers for a session and BBQ courtesy of Wal. Jez is the Mayor of Shooter City and things started to get a bit sketchy after a succession of dubious shots. We headed back to the workshop in Jez's Ute, Jez at the wheel, Jo and Jo in the passenger seat and Becs laying stealthily across them to avoid attracting any attention. We stopped into the drive through bottle shop on the way back, which was another ridiculous idea, and the last memories of the evening was dancing to Country and Western on the truck and harrassing Wal and
Surfing lessons
Me standing (just!) his Akubra (cowboy hat)!
The following day, all of us were nursing painful hangovers but had stupidly booked in a surfing lesson. It had seemed like a better idea when we were sober! It was the best hangover cure. Our coach Simon was from Margaret River and was a really great teacher. To help with the timings he holds on to the back of your board and tells you what to do, then gives you a push. It was like when we were little and our Dads taught us how to ride our bikes without stabilisers, we turned around thinking he was still there, but he'd let go and we were totally surfing! We had a great day which had us leaving Broome the following morning on a very high note.
Catch Ya Later Dude!
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