Outback Spirit Tour - Broome

---

DAY ONE

We arrived in Broome a day early for our tour and stayed at the Mercure hotel.We had a relaxing afternoon and visited Matso‘s brewery which was just across the road. Woke up the next morning to find a huge puddle of water on the floor. Our air conditioner had malfunctioned and leaked.

Later in the morning we were collected by the Outback Spirit tour guide and driver Paul. Our first site of the bus that we would be travelling on for 2 weeks. We then went to the airport to collect the other passengers. Our group comes from far and wide including 4 from Switzerland, 2 from South Africa, 2 from New Zealand and the rest from Australia. One couple missed their flight so would be going us at a later point in the trip. After that was done we started our tour leaving Broome for our destination of Derby.

On the way we stopped to see the Boab Prison Tree reputed to be used as a rest point for police and escorted Aboriginal prisoners en route to Derby. It also had a prior but less well known connection with Aboriginal traditional religious belief. The site is protected under the Aboriginal Heritage Act and is now fenced to protect it. It is very large and impressive.
We also stopped at the Myalls Bore and Cattle Trough -The first bore was dug in 1910/11 to replace the well dug by Alfred Duckworth Myall in the early 1890s. It was dug to a depth of 322 metres. 1000 cattle can drink there at once. The trough is 120 metres long and 322 metres deep. The water is pumped by a windmill.

When we arrived at Derby we drove out to the jetty to watch the sunset. The tidal variation here can be up to 12 metres - the largest tides in the Southern Hemisphere. We walked along the jetty to see the sunset.

We checked into the Spinifex Hotel, had dinner and mingled with the other passengers.

---