Broome

Sunday 24^th July

Fitzroy Crossing to Derby.

We had managed to book a site at a camp ground in Derby, so there was no rush to be away early.  The drive was quite boring with nothing but long flat straights with thick scrub right to the roads edge completely blocking any view of the surrounding countryside.  At one stage we saw smoke from a bush fire in the distance, and as we got closer realised it was quite a big fire, and not far from the road. 

After we got past the smoke we travelled for about 20 km through burnt out scrub where the fire had obviously been burning not very long before.  Luckily by the time we had got there it had moved away from the road.

We got to DERBY at about lunchtime and after setting up camp and having lunch, went and had a look around the town. Derby is basically a town serving a Port through which firstly cattle, but more lately Ore are exported.  It is famous for its tidal extremes of up to 11 metres. 

We drove out onto its wharf and met a couple from Ashburton, who are now living in Australia in Narrabri, where we had stayed on our way to see Ron and Leanne.  He works in the cotton industry, so we were able to find out all about how cotton is produced and processed, something we had wondered about ever since we first saw it away back in Bourke.

There was a fish shop/restaurant at the end of the wharf advertising all sorts of yummy seafood dishes, so we decided we would go there for tea.  On the way back to the van we went and had a look at another Boab Prison Tree, like the one at Derby, only this one was bigger. 

Close by was the Myall Bore and Water trough.  The Bore was put down and the water trough built away back in the late 1800s, to water the thousands of head of cattle that were brought into Derby from the surrounding Cattle Stations, for shipping out through the port.  The trough is 120 meters long and is apparently the longest cattle trough in the southern hemisphere.

Back at the caravan, Cameron jumped on his bike and took off for a tour of the grounds.  He was soon back pushing his bike.  Another bloody puncture.  Apparently there is a type of grass that grows around here that has a very prickly seed head that is deadly on bike tyres.  We had been warned that it could go straight through your jandals.  Obviously Cameron had found some.

OK, I said, I showed you how to fix the last one, this time it’s your turn.   By the time I got out the tool kit, he had his bike upside down ready to take the wheel off.

I stood by ready to help, and was amazed at how well he did.  He basically took the wheel off himself, and then peeled the tyre off the rim before pulling the tube out. Then he set about trying to locate the leak just as I had shown him.  Once that was located he got the repair kit out, and again without hardly any help, patched the tube.

On testing that his patch had sealed OK, he found another leak, so that had to be patched as well. Next he put the tube and tyre back on the rim and the wheel back on the bike.  Again with very little help from me.  I was extremely proud of his efforts, and he was also obviously pleased with himself for what he had achieved.

Cameron took off on his bike again, and we had just sat down for a cold beer when a couple came over for a chat.  They had been walking around the park and saw our NZ Flag.  They were from Waiheke Island and doing a 3 month holiday in Aussie, seeing parts they hadn’t seen on previous trips.  Talk about Kiwis everywhere.

By the time we got down to the wharf for our meal, the sun had just set, but we still saw the beautiful red sky that follows the setting sun. 

We had a lovely meal accompanied by an Aboriginal guy on a guitar who provided the live entertainment.  At one stage he got Cameron to go up and accompany him on the didgeridoo.  The less said the better, but Cameron was pretty proud of his efforts, and got a round of applause from the other diners.

Monday 25^th July

Derby to Roebuck Road House.

As usual, one of the first things we do each morning is check our emails.   Christel’s mum and dad had just sent through some photos they had taken that morning of the snow around their house in Stratford.  We found they were still online, so Skyped through to them.  Using their computer camera they showed us the snow falling outside on their lawn. Unbelievable, and here we were planning to travel through to Broome today to go to the beach.

We had managed to book ahead, and got a site at the Roebuck Roadhouse, about 30kms out of BROOME, right on the turnoff where the road heads south towards Port Hedland.  Because we knew getting accommodation in BROOME was almost impossible, Christel had spent quite a bit of time on the phone trying to find us accommodation. 

She finally managed to get us Monday night at the Roebuck Roadhouse, Tuesday night at a camp in Broome itself, and then Wednesday night back out at Roebuck Roadhouse.  A lot of shifting and messing about, but knowing how hard it was to get any sites around Broome, we were more than happy. 

We arrived at the Roebuck Roadhouse and were soon set up.  We decided we would use this as our base while we enjoyed everything Broome had to offer, so went to the office and booked a couple of more nights.  It is a 35 km trip into Broome from here, but we are only paying $30 a night, compared with $47 in Broome itself.

After setting up camp we had some lunch, and while we were doing that, two three trailer road trains, carrying Liquefied Natural Gas, pulled in to the road house to fuel up. 

Cameron and I went over to take some photos of these giants of the road, and as usual Cameron got chatting to one of the drivers, and ended up being invited to sit in the cab.

While he was doing this, I watched intrigued as the dials on the diesel bowsers spun around. The truck had two fuel tanks and he was filling both at the same time. I took a photo of the pumps once he had filled up. 

Wouldn’t want to pay his fuel bill!!!  Just as a matter of interest, the driver told Cameron his road train was 53.5 meters long.

After lunch we drove the 30 odd km into Broome, and immediately headed for the famous Cable Beach.  We had read and heard a lot about this beach and were keen to experience it for ourselves.  If it lived up to its reputation, we planned to spend the next 4 or 5 days making the most of it.  One of its most well known attractions are the Sunset Camel Rides that take place each night along the beach. I’m sure you have all at some stage, seen the photos of the camel trains, loaded with tourists, plodding along the beach with the sun setting in the back ground.  Magical stuff.

We parked the car and walked down on to the beach. That’s when we found out we could actually drive down onto and along the beach. I went back and got the car and as we drove onto the beach we could see cars parked in various spots along the beach, as far as the eye could see.

We drove along for about 1½ km then parked the car and that was that.  Sand and surf as far as the eye could see.  Beautiful white sand and crystal clear blue sea with gentle waves flopping on to the shore.  Life can be hard sometimes can’t it?  We stopped for a moment and thought of those of you in Taranaki currently experiencing some of the heaviest snowfalls ever. But only for a moment.

After a lazy afternoon swimming, throwing boomerangs, and sunbathing we drove back along the beach past the camels getting ready to do their thing. Then it was back to camp for tea.  Unfortunately we are going to have to do all this again tomorrow.