18 Aug 10 – Broome

By Lou: We have been on the road 7.5 months now and have only had to book ahead during school holidays. The notion of committing to where we will be in 7 days time is quite alien. Every now and then my dutiful sister asks “where shall I send the next lot of mail” and I respond “I don’t know, I don’t know where we’ll be tomorrow let alone 7 days!” Anyways, we had heard Broome was packed out for the winter so had rung ahead and made a booking (with deposit) only to break down in the Bungle Bungle and head in the total opposite direction. When we rang ahead to re-book we were told that the park was booked out until mid September! We ended up finding alternative accommodation but had to upgrade to an ensuite site to get in so are feeling very posh.

We made contact with some ExplorOz friends we had camped with at Lorna Glen Conservation Park who were plonked in Broome. Actually Evan is very respectably (temporarily) earning a crust out on an oil rig off Exmouth while his wife Renee and 4 year old son Lee are swanning about Broome. So Renee and Lee came over to our caravan park for a swim one arvo, and the next day we also spent together at Cable Beach and Willie Creek.

Had a leisurely day fishing (spag bol for dinner), boogie boarding (under 7s only), reading (I still haven’t finished today’s paper) and chatting (now you’re talking) and at the end of it we convinced Renee to come camping with us up the Dampier Peninsular at Middle Lagoon, just to break up the hectic pace of Broome until Evan returns. If we usually tear our hair out with Sam’s demanding behaviour, today was not one of those days. He and Lee played superbly and if you include the humpback whales doing a back flip in the far distant horizon, it was a great day out.

In the middle of all the frivolities we had the ubiquitous car troubles. First day it was a dead crank battery on the car and had to wait for the RAC to sort us out. Next day it was the deep cycle battery on the car which delayed our beach outing with Renee and Lee. Aside from the hit on the depleting bank balance, poor Craig looked like a beaten man. Is there no end to this, he implored to no-one in particular. Poor love. Personally I felt the same frustration I had felt at Alice Springs – all these touristy things to do and we seemed tied down to the caravan park with housekeeping and maintenance matters. Sam and Craig escaped to the caravan park pool while I did some bill paying and Sam scored a nasty bee sting. At the time he went to bed his knuckle was slightly swollen but by morning his hand had puffed up to twice its size. Off to the chemist for some antihistamine. I think it’s a credit to his general well being that he is so shocked when something in his body goes wrong. Between accumulated fears of crocs, stingers and poison from bee stings its amazing he went to sleep at all that night.

As there was a chance we could be far from a polling booth come election time we voted early in Broome. I can confirm it’s slim pickin’s whether you are on the east coast or west coast. Funny that.


By Craig: ‘Beach bum’ has taken on a new meaning after the drive on northern Cable Beach. My god they crack me up or as it was, cracks up, nudists everywhere and not one of them under 60. Good on’em I say! A suntanned bum at the age of 60+ and with evidence of gravity working at its best is something to aspire to. No photos permitted. (except of the beach)






Not one to miss out on a spot of fishing, lines were set and what better place could you think of to kick back for a few hours. Didn’t catch a bloody thing but had a great time trying, that’s why they call it fishing. If a fish was a guarantee they’d call it catching!

By Sam: I don’t have anything spectacular to write about. Actually, I saw nudies on the beach and it was pretty gross. I had fun playing with my friend Lee and we built sand castles and huts with the magnets and we had lots of fun. The funniest things is Lee got his shovel out and he was scraping rock. It was hilarious.