Advertisement
Published: October 7th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Day 163 - Broome
It’s time to find out what Broome is all about and so after a heavenly few days in Derby we’re all packing up to move on, well hopefully anyway!
We’re up early again but this time it’s a necessity to ensure we’re about when Paul arrives, the welder chap that we’re hoping will be able to fix our car. As luck would have it he could and although the broken join is in a tricky position he manages to get a good amount of weld in there. The prognosis is that it could be strong enough to last for ever or it might go again if we’re going to thud around on corrugated roads, there’s no way of telling but we’re happy at the very small bill and the fact that it’s fixed so we can continue with our journey!
Unfortunately Paul can’t help fix Belinda and Nige’s problem with their cracked sump but he knows a man that can. After a quick phone call it transpires that the guy could get it in the workshop this afternoon but they too want to get on the road so another plan is hatched. A trip
to the local auto shop for some metal sealant soon has the crack ‘fixed’ and with new oil in the car we’re all ready for the road! That means a saving of over $1000 so Nige is well chuffed at his alternative approach!
We all wave a fond farewell to Derby and start the two hour drive down to Broome. It’s already hot and we’re being conservative about using the air con so we quietly swelter our way down the road. Belinda finds things to do in their car to make the journey go by more quickly and by the time we stop at a roadhouse along the way she’s proud of her achievements - waxing her legs! I should remember that for future long road trips! We have a sneaky look at the cost of fuel at the Willare Bridge Roadhouse, $1.81 per litre so we’re glad we filled up in Derby!
We’ve not decided where to camp in Broome but head for the Cable Beach Caravan Park initially to get an idea on prices and facilities. The lady in reception is very helpful and we’re given a pen plus a map to assist in choosing a
pitch so go off to wander and have a look around. The price is $35 per night for a powered site and $32 per night for un-powered but Lachy will cost an extra $4 per night being a child of seven! We negotiate a deal where we’d get a free night if we book in for a week and then head off for a wander to make up our minds. The camp site is nice, very spacious but because it’s nearing the end of the season there’s not many here and there are plenty of free spots with lots of shade. It’s still pretty costly though so we go further up the road to check out another option. It doesn’t inspire us any further so we head back to the Cable Beach park and sell our soul to the devil!
With two great camp spots ‘back to back’ we set up for the next week and then head to the beach! It’s only a short walk away and everyone is so excited when we see the one and only Indian Ocean. It’s beautiful, gorgeous. The kids are already in their bathers and are running towards the sea with Nige
and Belinda, it’s so funny to watch them jumping and splashing about! It’s such a gorgeous beach, I think we’ve read somewhere that it’s rated as one of the top five in the world! You can see why!
They do Camel rides here at sunset too and we can see them further down the beach. Might have to have a go at that!
We mess around in the ocean for ages trying to dunk the kids in the water, they’re both confident swimmers which is brilliant and they’re such fun to be around. We’re just having a great time.
Back on the beach we try our hand at ‘Dribble Castles’, this is new to us but the Elliot family appear to be near to World Championship status with their creations which include fabulous spires! What you have to do is ‘build’ a good base of solid sand and then dig into the sand until you get to the good running watery stuff. Dig a handful out and then dribble it onto the pile to build your ‘Dribble Castle’. Excellent fun! What a shame they’ll all get washed away later but it just means we can have another
go tomorrow!
A quick shower back at camp and then we’re off to Town Beach as tonight there will be a natural phenomenon! Caused by the rising of a full moon reflecting off the exposed mud flats, Roebuck Bay will tonight be alive with a showing from the Staircase to the Moon! There’s also the Staircase Markets too so we all decide to eat there and enjoy the locally cooked cuisine which will probably be a mixture of Asian delights!
Because it’s driven by the tide times we know we need to be there 7.44pm so head into the markets for dinner first! A good old combination with Thai curry, Masaman, Chicken & Cashew - hungry yet! We were and demolished the lot!
We were so lucky with our choice of spots to watch the Staircase to the Moon, considering that it was dark when we wandered over towards where we thought we might be able to see it! Talk about perfect! We were a bit blown away with what we saw, awesome, just awesome. Pretty spectacular really and it looked just like it did on the postcards!
The kids were shattered and fell asleep while
it was all still happening; Lachy had said he felt like a rock star because all the camera flashes were going off just behind us from people watching the Staircase build!
There was just enough time back at camp for a bit more chatting but then with heavy eyes we all hit the sack.
Goodnight from a pretty magical Broome!
Dar and Sar
Advertisement
Tot: 0.085s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0489s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Jan Kettle
non-member comment
As good a staircase as we could get tonight
It looks pretty good to me and much better than we could manage as we just missed the full moon. xxx Mum K