Australia

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We got up for breakfast early as our flight shuttle was booked for 8am. After a buffet fry up we started to make our way up to our room to get our bags. To get there we had to leave the restaurant and walk across a courtyard to some external stairs to our block. Just as we got to the stairs we heard a loud smack that we instantly knew was a car crashing.

We both ran towards the high fencing of the motel to see if we could see through the gap, but before we got there we heard a lady scream and start wailing. I turned and ran back to reception to tell them there had been a crash. They called for an ambulance and the police while we went back outside to see if we could help. The hotel was well secured and we ended up behind the iron rail fencing unable to get out to the road. We looked out and saw all of the people involved standing around a couple of cars. One of them had crashed straight into a telegraph pole, smashing the lower half of the pole into pieces. A lady was still crying and screaming but it looked more like shock and she didn’t appear to be injured. It was a relief as I’d been worried that somebody had been hit by the car.

We went back inside as we didn’t want to get in the way (a crowd was already forming) plus our flight shuttle was leaving in a few minutes time. We went up stairs to get our cases and checked out the view from the balcony as the ambulance arrived and the police cordoned off the road. It looked like it had been a lucky escape for all involved.

We were taken on a different route to the airport as the road was closed off by then.

Our flight to Broome was only two and a half hours long and as it was internal we didn‘t have to get there too early. The journey was smooth and although we didn’t have a window seat, I could see that the landscape below was still very red.

As we stepped out of the plane we were hit by a whoosh of hot air so strong that it made me feel like I’d just stepped into a hot bath fully clothed. We’d been warned that it would be hot in Broome but Matt never believed it would be worse than Queensland. He was wrong, this was the hottest place I’d ever been to in my entire life.

Inside the airport was warm even with the ceiling fans on full. It was only a tiny terminal, probably even smaller than Rarotonga. Once we’d found our bags we got in a taxi and headed straight to the Britz office to collect our new van.

It was a tiny office and we were the only customers there - nothing like the massive operation in Sydney.

The lady on reception was really helpful and within the hour we’d sorted out the payment, petrol, sat nav and everything we needed. The best news of all was that we’d been given an upgrade - the company own three levels of van; Mauri are the most luxurious and expensive, when they get too old they get downgraded to Britz (this is what we had on the east coast and what we had paid to hire on the west) and finally when the Britz vans get old they become Backpackers. They had given us a Maui as they needed to relcoate it back to Perth so we were over the moon.

There was so much more storage inside it was unbelievable. Also there were lots of little things that just made it better than our previous Britz van, like curtains that worked, and drink holders and all kinds of gadgets. It was all very exciting for us!

A few minutes later we were driving through Broome unable to believe just how hot it was (I swear it must have been about 44 degrees!). We gasped when we saw our first glimpse of the sea as we drove through town to the shopping centre to do our food shop. It was bright turquoise just like Bora Bora’s lagoon. We didn’t allow ourselves the time to go and look at the sea front - we thought we’d save that for tomorrow instead.

We drove to a shopping centre and spent the usual couple of hours stocking up on food and drink and then drove to the campsite we’d had recommended to us.

We checked in and got a pitch right next to the pool. The sight of the lagoon shaped pool with a big waterfall was too much for Matt and he desperately wanted to cool off so we unpacked as quickly as possible and he went and jumped in.

We spent the evening planning the places we wanted to visit in the Kimberly region, only to then realise most were unavailable from November to April. We decided to give up for the night and ask as the Visitor’s Centre the next day.

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