Broome & Beyond: back in Broome

Saturday 15th July, 2pm

Yesterday, still at Kooljaman, early afternoon:

I follow Deb to the Eastern Beach. That's the one that faces into the sound, sheltered from the open ocean so it's safe for swimming. I find Deb sitting in the shade of a rock, on the beach. Comfortable, cool, good view over the water.

Deb goes in for a splash in the ocean. I stand in water up to my knees. There's too much water for me, I decide, and it's rather cold. When I get hot I prefer to sit in the shade. I lack Deb's urge to cool off in large bodies of water. Back to sitting in the shade. I'm comfortably warm.

Then we go back to Minka's Cafe (or some name like that). It's just up from the beach. We order fruit frappes. They are quite large! And delicious :-)

We walk over the rise, back to our tent, sipping frappe on the way.

On the way, we pass *large* tents. These are family-size versions of our accommodation: a tent built on a wooden platform. Except that the tent is full self-catering accommodation for (if I remember correctly) eight people. The "en suite" is a separate building -- metal -- on one end of the platform.

Somewhere near this Eastern Beach are the two-people-with-en-suite tents that I wanted. But they were all booked. Not to worry, our tent is fine... if a bit crowded with our junk :-)  The weather is great for sitting outside, where we have shade and chairs. Except that the chairs are very hard wood.

Deb has a post-swim shower. We sit round, relaxing, reading. Till Deb gets restless and goes off to look for a more comfortable seat. I finish my book and find Deb near the restaurant. Sitting with an ocean view. Very nice.

I have the camera, because Deb wants a photo of the red rocks in the setting sun. We walk to the beach. This time, the Western -- open-ocean-facing -- Beach. Deb was there yesterday, for the sunset. It's supposed to be spectacular. Deb says that the sun on the rocks was spectacular. Apart from that... for us, the sun always sets over the ocean. Pretty enough but pretty common.

By the time we get back it's almost half past five -- when the takeaway diner starts serving. We order a pizza. It's delicious though it doesn't seem to be the one we ordered. We leave a lot of olives.

Tonight is live music night. Bec & Dave, live-in music for a month, start off. Then the 

Family Shovellers from Oomboolgurri. Both lots are good. It's quite crowded, we leave after eating. It's okay, we can hear the music from our tent.

"Quiet time" at the caravan park is from 9pm so the music stops then. Probably. I was asleep half an hour before that...

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... To wake up at 6:30 am Saturday. To a bit of dawn chorus of birds. And quiet sounds of a caravan park starting to stir. Breakfast, pack, leave... by 9am. Steady driving with only a few stops.

Our opinions on Kooljaman: Excellent place to have stayed. Cape Leveque is well worth the visit. Two nights is ideal, giving a full day to explore and/or relax. Any more time would be too much -- unless you enjoy just being at a beach (which is not *our* thing, though I would like to spend a few hours with a bucket & spade...).

The tent accommodation -- really just a bedroom -- is ideal for the two nights, once I adjusted to the passing parade of people and sharing of ablution blocks. And opened/closed curtains so we looked out on park & bush rather than neighbouring tents... Not so good for us anti-social people if we wanted to cook in the shared "kitchen".

Tent price is good, Raugi's restaurant prices are exorbitant. The meal was worth it but we appreciated the takeaway -- cheaper, less fancy -- option on our second night. The takeaway option is only available Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Deb says, she's glad there's no swimming pool. At Eco Beach she heard one mother trying and failing to get her child from the pool to the beach. Eco is a resort, just slightly... pretentious. Again, the two-night stay was ideal. For us. Kooljaman is more comfortable... for us. Still too crowded... for us :-)

Back to the drive out: We go off the main road to check out the police station. Surprising large (includes accommodation, I suppose), modern, looks pleasant. There's fuel nearby, we don't need it. Must be self-service and self-pay, we don't see much other than the pumps.

I notice a cross-roads sign -- off in the bush. Then realise that we are driving parallel to the old road, it can still be seen. In some parts it's still a dirt track. Other times there's a green belt of regrowth.

Off the bitumen, onto the graded dirt. Thiis time I check: it's almost 100km of dirt road. At some points it's like driving down a corridor, with red dirt floor, green & gold walls -- the wattles are in full bloom -- and clear blue-sky ceiling. A lot of the "floor" has been graded, over many years, to be a metre or more below ground level. Could be interesting when it rains :-)

We roar by... stop... reverse, to check out a grave by the road. Quite a lot of work has been done: a surrounding low fence, clear ground for a metre or more all round, a tree planted. There's a plastic water bottle, full... for passers-by to water the tree. I think. If I were sure, if I thought of it on time, I would have provided water. Interestingly, the grave area, inside its fence, is filled with bottles and cans, perhaps remains of a wake. But no rubbish outside the fence. A touching memorial, really.

Our only other stop is to stretch our legs at a small and shaded parking area. Just clear ground under trees beside the road. It's absolutely filthy with litter, the only place on this road where we have noticed rubbish. (Except for the two or three items which have been shaken off passing cars. For example, today I saw the lid of a tupperware-type container. A bit later I spotted the container. Oops!)

And we're back on bitumen! On to the main road. Nine km to Broome...

We head straight for the surf club at Cable Beach. They are preparing for a wedding at 3:30... I hope no-one is overdressed, it's a few degrees above 30.

Our race organiser -- he lives in Kununurra, organises a run there and tomorrow's run in Broome -- has a small shelter on the grass. We get our race numbers. We're ready to go ! Ready...?! Anyway, that's tomorrow.

Now it's lunch time. We eat at Zanders because it's the nearest cafe. It would be more pleasant -- Zanders and Broome -- with less people. This is the last weekend of school holidays, perhaps it will be quieter next week... when we're gone.

Back to the truck. Back to the Vacation Village. Back to the same chalet as last time... We bought milk for tea plus a few odds and ends. Now we are booked in to the same Broome Store & Cafe -- for dinner. Everything else looks to be too fancy.

Now... resting.

Oh, and:

210km driven in three hours. Approximately. I looked at the gps -- and have now forgotten the figures. I'll check the gps tracks when we get home... maybe :-)

And $290 for two nights, two people, at Broome Vacation Village.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Fortune, seeing that she could not make fools wise, has made them lucky." - Michel de Montaigne