Broome – crocodile warnings, waiting out the Eastern Weekend, and saying goodbye to the Gibb River Road...

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We decided we could spend the rest of the weekend bush camping on the Broome Peninsula, so that we could get some information on Saturday (when some things were open) and be ready to hopefully get everything we needed done by Tuesday so we could get into the Kimberley and onto the Gibb River Road, the rough 4x4 road traversing the red earth of the Kimberleys for over 400 km, with endless gorges, homesteads and station stays dotting the route, along with cliffs, natural pools and endless boab trees. It was one of the reasons we got the Land Cruiser in the first place, and our consolation prize for not being able to go proper outbacking.

As we drove through Broome and up the coast on the unsealed road and got off into the sand tracks towards the camp spots, we soon realized we were in heavy mangrove areas. The vegetation was thick, cleared areas few, and the bushes were a bit noisier than we had hoped for. We finally found the first set of campsites, but all the crocodile warning signs told us to both camp far away from the water and only at designated sites. But all the designated sites seemed too close to the water, and we were the only ones around. We decided to drive up to Barred Creek, further up the sand track through the mangrove, and were feeling pretty insecure. It was getting dark, and we really needed to set up before it got pitch black, but neither of us wanted to fully commit to a site. Just as we thought we found one that was probably ok, we pulled in and saw that someone had been sitting there eating shellfish and just left all the shells and leftovers on the ground. If that's not supposed to attract crocs, then we're not sure what will. Neither of us was feeling particularly safe (a tiny croc had also crossed the track in front of the car earlier, begging the question, where is mommy?), and the whole thing was starting to sound like one of those horror stories about tourists doing things they really shouldn't in Australia. So we decided to head back into town and find a caravan park, and speak to someone in the morning about the area and croc safety.

As we drove out onto the dirt track, the skies opened up and we were soon driving through sheets of rain so thick, the only way Øyvind could stay on the road was to watch the edges and try to stay in the middle. The soft sand underneath could have quickly turned into a mudslide, so we had to keep up the speed. By the time we hit paved road again, we were indeed feeling pretty lucky.

Since we had planned on camping, we had no idea where to stay, and since it was past 6pm and everything was closed, we followed the GPS first to Broome Caravan Park, which looked like sad, trashed and deserted (and where the reception was closed for the night and there was no one about, despite the endless caravans), and then to Roebuck Bay. Here, we stopped to see if there was a number to call on the reception door, and a toothless, crazy-haired guy quickly came out of his caravan and started screaming for us to “turn our f***ing motor off”, while he angrily banged the No Parking sign until denting it. We got out of there (the whole park looked like a scene from Deliverance), feeling pretty down about Broome and anywhere where someone would get that crazy for letting the motor run for 30 seconds at 6pm...

We finally found a slightly nicer place, where the people running it were actual people, and the people staying there were actually nice and relatively normal, and even bordering on friendly! Yep, that was a two-beer night all right.

The next day we visited the visitor centre to get the low-down. It was still the wet season, so we were definitely right not to have camped up the Peninsula as the crocs were migrating. The wet season had indeed been a late one, and to our great surprise the Gibb River Road was closed, and would be so until May at least. And we were urged to not do ANY free camping between Broome and Darwin (which we had planned on because of our dwindling funds) because, sadly, not only the crocs but the Aboriginals were migrating as well, and instances of people waking up to find even their tyres missing were not few.

Needless to say, we were not particularly cheered up by our visit. We still decided to stay, since we wanted to get the oil changed and do a few small repairs on the car before moving on, and did get referred to the Cable Beach Caravan park, which felt more like a tropical retreat than a camping area (the large pool was especially welcome as for some reason Broome got hotter at night, and the days were already sizzling), though our moods were not up to par.

We were further saddened by the fact that we had to tighten our belts even further, cutting out even the rare ice cream or coffee treat.

But just as we were feeling like we should just drive straight to Darwin and sell the car, Øyvind's parents saved the day with a generous gift. We pulled ourselves together, splurged on some discounted ground beef and cheese, and had a couple of nights of glorious burgers and veggies soaked in cheese and butter. One night, we even treated ourselves to the movies and ice cream. It was downright luxury for us. Our depression could well also have been malnutrition, because as Tuesday rolled around we were feeling a lot better. We had to stay an extra day to get everything done on the car, but then we were finally on the road, the car was in the best shape yet (which made us feel pretty optimistic about selling it), we had eaten some delicious food and relaxed by a lovely pool, and we were on the road again (which for some reason is always nice these days).

- Sad fact about getting north of Port Hedland: the amount of Aboriginals in the towns, just laying on grassed areas, mostly drunk and usually loud and heckling passers-by, is just astounding. Though we try to remind ourselves that this is not actually reflective of the Aboriginal community at large, the communities/slums and all the antisocial behavior is very saddening to say the least. We would like to believe some people are just being racist, but the truth is some of the fear and rejection has a true root in reality, and it is a real shame. Of course history goes a long way back, and as an outsider it is nearly impossible to really comprehend the situation.

- We had not been to the movies in 5 months. What did we go see? A Good Day to Die Hard. It was loud. It was fun. It was air-conditioned. It was amazeballs.

- Broome itself was the first town we had been to in a while, and it does certainly have its charm with its old buildings and cafes. Shame about all the people passed out on the grass though...

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Photos

Broome skies
We did see a fair bit of sad stuff in and around Broome, but also some really nice views

Magic hour
As we thought we had find a place to stay in safe distance from the crocodiles, we found a pile of shrimp peels, and with the water coming down, we decided it was better to go back to Broome, but the light was magical

The biggest pool ever
Thats at least what it felt like to us. We enjoyed the cool waters in the pool as the temperature again was crawling way to high and the humidity was following too

Looking for a place to stay
On our way out Cape Levercque to find a place to stay for the night

Sandfire Roadhouse
The very cool back yard of Sandfire RH with a lot of old stuff from the roadhouses history

The oldest picture gardens in use
Broome is not a huge town, but it do have a few interesting sights, like the worlds oldest outdoor cinema still in use

Changing weather
As we were driving out the cape we saw dark clouds gliding in over us

Small adjustments
The many miles of corrugated roads did make a few nuts and bolts shake loose, so Øyvind had to get under the car and tighten and replace some of them

Then it was getting threatening
The dark clouds came closer and started the rain fall over us

A place to be
The caravan park in Broome we ended up in, really was a small piece of heaven to us

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

You really have a number of great shots in this blog!
[photo=7469488]

[Sadieandoyvind]

Thank you
As we have said earlier to others commenting on the pictures, its a pretty easy job in WA we must say ;-) but thank you again

[mom]

eternity
i still don't understand how you take those pictures of the two of you together from so far away! what a pool!!! is it that super camera øyvind bought last summer in the states ? does it have a built-in octopus???

[Sadieandoyvind]

Self timer
The pictures of the two of us in the pool is taken using a self timer, so the camera is just on a tripod doing the work itself ;-) It is the camera bought in the states, but it does not have an octopus *S*