Back to Broome.

The day got off to a rather unusual start as when we awoke we were greeted with bit of foggy mist. Having had limited experience with such weather phenomena I am not sure whether to call it fog or mist. 

Either way it was kinda cool not being able to see more than ten feet in front of ourselves. 

Sadly though it didn’t hang around for too long. Which was probably actually a bit of a blessing because we had an early start on the road today.

Originally we had only planned to stay here at Barn Hill for a week. We had enough food to stay a week here, two nights at 80 Mile Beach and then two more at a free camp on the way to Port Hedland. Only we like it so much we just don’t want to leave.

As we watched some other residents head into Broome yesterday to restock their supplies we realised there was no reason why we couldn’t do the same which would then enable us to stay here a bit longer.

So today that is exactly what we did. Headed back to Broome for a bit of shopping and some lunch. 

A day or two before we left last time we came across a particularly awesome butcher. His meat was all organic grass fed and came cryovacced which meant it lasted for a month. It is also very reasonably priced. Unfortunately for us we discovered his awesomeness right after we had filled up the fridge so we were limited on how much we could get. 

Of course that fridge is now relatively empty and I am just a bit excited to be able to fill it up with just good meat. I am also a bit excited about having lunch at Matso Brewery. When we were staying in Broome I ran past it a few times and thought how nice it would be to actually go there but for whatever reason we never made it.

Matso’s did not disappoint and their food was as good as their beer and cider. I was particularly proud of myself because the caesar salad with prawns I ordered was brought out without any prawns and I spoke up about it. There was a time when I would have just let it slide because I don’t like to cause a fuss but I really wanted prawns. They were mighty tasty so I am super glad I spoke up.

Of course I did momentarily beat myself up about it all because the waitress told me what a bad day she was having. And while she might not have said I made it worse I naturally took it as being implied. In between beating myself up about adding to her woes I wondered what it was that actually lead me to such thought processes. Such complex beings we humans are.

Joining in with

Goodbye Broome. Hello Barn Hill

the road to Barn Hill Station Stay

Moving day. Blerh. I know I shouldn’t feel this way but it so much work packing it all up. Made even more frustrating by the girls refusal to just buckle down and do what needs to be done. Though in all fairness to Lovely she does a relatively good job at pulling her weight it is more so the little two that drive me to distraction.

It is hard balance deciding how much energy to exert getting them to do what you ask and just doing it yourself. Oh the joys of parenting hey?

Today we say goodbye for real to Broome and make our way to Barn Hill Station. Which is on the way to Eighty Mile Beach and is really only hour out of Broome but by all accounts a fantastic place to stay. I am a bit excited to be leaving civilisation if you will. As lovely as Broome is I am glad to not be anywhere near a town.

Barn Hill is a working cattle station. The outskirts of which adjoin a rather exquisite beach. As this part of the property is not the best for housing cattle the owners have made it available for camping. There are limited power sites and plenty of room on the edges of the stunning red cliffs. As there was minimal pricing difference between powered and non powered we decided to take the powered option. It also appeared as if the powered sites were slightly more shaded.

Camp Barn Hill

We were intending to stay for four nights so it made sense to unpack everything. That way we could live in comfort. Not too long after unpacking everything we knew that we would probably be staying for a little longer than four nights as we were so instantly in love with our surroundings. Oh and it was ridiculously cheap. Like $27 a night cheap, which after the $50 per night at most van parks felt like the bargain of all bargains.

Before long Zany and Teapot had befriended a few children that were already there and Mr Awesome and I were enjoying the tranquility and simplicity of life on the road. (Read as we were sitting in our chairs under the shade of a tree having a cold cider.)

This really is the life.

The access to and from the beach

Joining in with Malinda

Cable Beach Camel Riding (Day 54)

Before I ducked back to Darwin the other week Mr Awesome and I told the girls that when I returned we would do something special. At the time we weren’t really sure what that something special would entail but we knew it wouldn’t be hard to come up with something.

We were right.

Almost as soon as we made the promise we came across the camel rides and we both knew instantly that would be our something special.

We ran the idea past the girls and they were just as excited about a camel ride as what we were.

There were three camel ride companies to choose from. All of which offered pretty much the same, at a relatively similar cost. In the end we went with Red Sun Camel Rides. For no particular reason other than red goes faster. Or maybe they were just the first phone number I could find to book in.

With the tour booked in for the late afternoon it made for a rather long day waiting for it to finally be time. In our excitement for our ride we arrived at the beach with plenty of time to spare. Which initially the girls found rather frustrating. However when they realised that it meant we were able to watch the camels arrive their attitudes quickly changed.

After listening to a quick safety talk and what have you, the guides helped us mount our rides. I had actually ridden a camel once before when Lovely was a baby but I had forgotten just how incredibly long their legs are.

It worked out that the two little ones could ride a camel with me while Mr A and Lovely shared another.

Needless to say we all had a fabulous time and the girls could not wipe the smiles off their faces.

If you are even in Broome I strongly recommend you make the time to have a camel ride. The guides were lovely and friendly and made the time to come and talk to everyone about the camel they were riding and and answer any questions you might have. They also took a photo of you with your own camera so you didn’t have to pay to be snapped. Of course there was still a professional photographer option as well but I thought it lovely they took a photo with your own device as well.

Staircase to the moon (Day 53)

Today we had a shopping spree in Broome. Somehow we manage to go through nearly seven hundred dollars. Sure a great portion of that was on food and but still. My mind boggles at how quickly we can go through the cash at times. Anyone would think it grows on trees or something.

One of the reasons we decided to stay in Broome again rather than just push on through, was so we could witness the staircase to the moon. It is a natural phenomena that happens for three nights a month on the full moon.

As the moon rises up over the water the reflection makes it look there is a staircase you could walk up. Lucky for us one of the best places to view this happen is right next to where we are staying. It is a relatively big event that includes markets and live music and all kinds of things.

With all the dramas of set up yesterday we treated ourselves to dining out at the markets last night. Though really we just ended up spending lots of money and no one feeling properly full. Markets just do that sometimes I guess. We did get a lovely CD from a woman called Laura Hill so I guess all was not lost.

The whole staircase thing was a bit underwhelming though and I was left feeling more disappointed about that than the hungry stomach from the laksa that tasted terrible. On the upside though as we were walking home we came across a much better viewing location to try it all again tonight.

This time however we will be taking our own food. A nice selection of dips, sticks, biscuits and things.

The view tonight was much better than last night however I still failed at being able to capture it perfectly on film. Mind you I still couldn’t help but think I had seen a similar effect at sunset back home.

From paradise to snapped cables

Moving day. Today we leave paradise as we know it and return to Broome. Which is, in it’s own way, still a type of paradise. It just involves a lot more people. The solitude of Cape Leveque is one of the aspects I love most about it. Though I imagine in the height of peak season there is not nearly as much solitude.

With all the beauty and tranquility of staying at Koolijaman for the last four days I had completely and utterly forgotten about the road we would need to take to get back to Broome.

O.M.G.

It is still horrendous. Perhaps even worse. Though now because Mr A knows it he goes a little faster. This both terrifies and pleases me. Pleases because it means we will get off it faster and terrifies me because sandy narrow road full of dips and potholes. Sometimes I hate being a passenger. At least as a driver I am the one in control.

Lots of deep breaths.

In the end I decide that having a little nap is probably in my best interest. It is easier to block out what is going on and gives me a chance to talk to the fairies and ask for their protection. As much as I know the worrying is all pointless I can’t help it. Mr A is an experienced driver and knows how to handle Patty and Edna and the roads and deep down I do have faith and trust in his ability but still I worry.

Looking on the bright side of it all though it gives me a great chance to work on some visualisation techniques.

Eventually we leave the road to hell and return to the civilisation of solid roads. The harrowing road has taken it’s toll on all of us though and we are all super grumpy and irritated.

Since we had such a lovely time at the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park last time we were in Broome we decided to head back there. As we approach though there is a line up of vans and motorhomes waiting to check in.

Thankfully there was plenty of room still available and we were able to secure the same wonderful location as what we had the other week. All is starting to feel right again with the world, though the children are in a particularly dire way and complaining of dying of starvation. I start to lecture them on what it would really feel like to be in such a predicament and explain that really they are just hungry but decide I don’t really have the energy.

We set about unhitching Edna and getting ready to unpack. Only everyone is too busy complaining and grumbling to concentrate properly and suddenly there is an almighty snapping sound in one of the corners.

Mr A stops winding up Edna’s top and we both head to the corner where the sound came from. It turns out that on of the roof clips was not undone and we have now snapped on of the cables which means the roof will not go up. 

Shit. Bugger. Fuck.

I walk down to reception to get the name and number of the caravan repairer. All the while trying to lay any blame or get worked up. These things happen. After fifty two days on the road it is only to be expected that something go wrong somewhere and if this is it then so be it. There are so many worse things that could have happened to us.

The caravan repair man doesn’t answer his phone and we walk around scratching our heads not sure of what to do. Our neighbour, who arrived at about the same time starts to make small talk about how we are.

Turns out that he was once a mechanic and pops on over to have a look at our predicament. In an instant he offers a suggestion on how it could be fixed and before we know it Mr A and I are able to see things a little differently and all hope is no longer lost.

We plugged the fridge in and head straight for Bunnings to get some little u-bolt thing that will be able to re-join the snapped cable. I drop Mr A back at the van and take the girls to get some golden arches while he fixes it all.

While I am out and about I manage to find a car wash and hose of the salt and sand from Cape Leveque and refuel the car. By the time we return Edna’s roof is up and most of the unpacking is done and all seems right with the world once again.

Day 40 (Aug 28)

After all the fun and excitement of the beach the last few days today has been declared a nothing day. All three of the girls asked if we could just have a quiet day which fitted in perfectly with my plans.

Having been in the one spot for nearly a week means that the mess factor is almost out of control. With me leaving on a jet plane tomorrow and Mr Awesome and the girls moving on Saturday getting things sorted today is kind of a brilliant idea.

It still continues to bug me that washing is a never ending chore. Why can’t clothes just clean themselves or better yet have some kind of spray that prevents them from getting dirty in the first place?

Though I must admit I do kinda love hanging out the clothes on my cute little line. Actually what I like even more is the fact that the girls can actually use the cute little line as well. Though Teapot is only able to use the part for knickers and socks.

Apart from getting on top of the washing and sorting crap out today also provided an opportunity for the girls to do some school work. Which they were not exactly pleased about. Grrrrrr.

After the jobs were done and school work sorted we headed out to explore the wharf and surrounding areas. Though there was not really a great deal to explore. Watching the boats get loaded was momentarily of interest but the novelty quickly quickly wore off.

There was however a rather quaint little cafe/restaurant that just so happened to half priced oysters. A novelty that most certainly would not ever wear off. Mr A and I have been hanging to get to the coastline to sample delicious seafood at reasonable prices. 

Cable Beach - Broome - Western Australia

Day 38 (Aug 26)

Today was all about the beach baby. We decided to hit Cable Beach and try our hands at some boogie boarding. As we didn’t actually own boards of our own you can imagine the relief we felt when we discovered that there were some available for hire at a rather reasonable rater. 

Sadly for me Aunty Flow had decided to stop on by so I was left watching on the sidelines. Which in some ways was actually a bit of a blessing in disguise because I took great delight in being able to watch and photograph the girls and Mr Awesome. It is such a fine line between living in the moment and experiencing with them and taking time to capture the memories as well. 

I have always said that if we lived near the surf the girls would be perfect surfer chicks and today just confirmed that for me. They were naturals. They so loved being able to frolic in the water without worrying about what might come out and attack them. The downside to Darwin is that most water ways have a relatively large risk of there being something nasty lurking about it. It feels awesome to no longer have to worry so much about such things.

After our four hours hire with the boards expired we decided to head to the other end of Cable Beach. It was with great delight we teased the girls about how it was a nudist beach and how we would all need to strip down once we got out of the car. Much to their horror I might add.

Naturally though we had no intention of actually getting out of the car so they had nothing to worry about. It was nice to go for a drive on the sand though and we were even lucky enough to see the camels arriving in preparation for their next tour.

On the way home Mr A managed to convince me that we should stop and get a Go-Pro so that we can record all our water fun activities. As Father's Day and then his birthday are just around the corner it all seemed like a feasible idea.

Day 39 (Aug 27)

We had so much fun at the beach yesterday we decided to come back and do it all over again. Plus Mr A needed an opportunity to try out his new toy.

This time however we decide to do it in style and hire not j

ust some boogie boards but also an umbrella, chairs and beach toys. At fifty bucks for the entire day it is certainly a bit of a bargain and based on how much fun we had yesterday it is definitely money well spent. Especially given the shade factor.

Today I refused to let old Aunty Flow keep me high and dry. While tampons are not usually something I am a fan of (and please excuse the TMI) I made and exception to that today. And boy am I glad I did.

Mind you, as much as the girls are naturals on the boards I am not. At all. 

There were quite a few more mature than I people giving body surfing a go so I thought perhaps that was more up my alley. I was wrong. Apparently my aqua capabilities are limited to swimming. That is not to say I didn’t have fun trying though!

Birds, Dinosaurs and Magical Sunsets - Day 37

After yesterday involving so little we thought that today would be the complete opposite and see how much we could fit in.

The first port of call was to the 12 Mile Bird Park, which crazily enough was about twelve miles out of Broome. At $40 for a family it made for a perfect starting point for our day out and about. 

Lovely and the Emu having a stand off

Conscious of being out in the heat of the day we set out early and arrived a few minutes before opening. Sometimes I don’t even know who we are any more. Generally we struggle to get somewhere on time, certainly not ever early!

The girls loved looking at all the birds. There was something 80 different species and 600 birds in total. After a while I struggled with looking at all the birds in the cages. Birds are such intelligent creatures that it just doesn't seem fair for them to be stuck inside a cage all day long. I tried to find comfort in the fact that if it weren’t for the owner of the sanctuary some of the birds wouldn’t even be alive as they were rescued animals.

The sanctuary is still relatively new, maybe only twelve months old, so a lot of it was still quite bare. There was also a lot of work being done, with new enclosures in the process of being made so chances are that in years to come the cages that made me a little sad, will slowly disappear.

Lunch was a homemade chicken and mayo roll in the car. The girls were too starving to wait for us to go anywhere else. Having a fridge in the back of the car is one of the most coolest things ever.

After lunch we had a little drive around looking at Broome and headed back to Edna to put our feet up for a bit while we waited for the tide to go out.

One of the things I was most excited to see in Broome were the dinosaur footprints out at Gantheaume Point. Due to where they are located on the beach though they can only been seen at tides lower than 1.6 meters. 

On the hunt for the footprints

It just so happened that low tide today was a little after five o’clock so we decided to take a picnic dinner out with us to have once we had finished exploring.

When we got out there, there were a lot of signs saying that searching for the footprints was not recommended as it was a tad dangerous to be climbing of wet and slippery rocks. We decided it was a risk worth taking.

Yay! We managed to find the dinosaur footprints!

Thankfully as we were heading out along the rocks we encountered a small group of people who had found the prints and were heading back. They pointed us in the right direction and gave a few clues as to where to look. There was a lot of open space to look and only a few prints to be found.

Finding them was pretty cool though and the girls were suitably impressed to see them. The tide was still on it’s way out which meant there were more fossils to be seen but as the light was fading we decided to head back. There is a hovercraft tour which gives detailed tours of all of the footprints but sadly it was a little out of our budget.

The beauty of a sun set over water never fails to amaze me

The final highlight of the day was watching the sun set over water. There is something magical about watching the golden ball gently submerge into the water in the distance. I hadn’t realised how much I had missed seeing it until I saw it.

Zany with the sun in her palm.

Hello Broome!

Having a beach to walk along was pure bliss

 Today was a bit of a recover and supply day. When we finally ventured out it was to gather more food and little else. The girls were a bit overwhelmed with the thought of being able to go inside a shopping centre so most of our time was spent wandering around in the air conditioning.

As a special treat we thought it would be nice to go out for breakfast/brunch (read as we didn’t have anything I felt like cooking or eating at home). Over one hundred dollars later we were all fed and I was rudely reminded as to why we don’t eat out. 

Our original plan after Windjana Gorge was to head back to Derby for a few nights and then hot tail it down the coast to Broome. I am hesitant to cover much more than two hundred kilometres a day. We are after all in no rush and there is so much to see. I am particularly keen to take it extra slow at the moment because I need to fly out of Broome at the end of the month to duck back to Darwin to see McDreamy.

However having been to Derby already it really felt like there was nothing worth going back to look at again. So we settled ourself up for a big day in the car and went straight to Broome yesterday.

Initially we were just going to take our chances and rock up at a random van park and hope they had a vacancy but twenty minutes or so out of town I decided that I couldn’t handle that type of rejection and rang ahead. Which turned out to be a rather wise move.

Due to it still being peak season vacancies were in short supply and it was only my phoning ahead that secured us a spot. Actually secured us the last spot.

By the time we arrived it was well past lunch time and the kids were well past needing food. Rather than make them wait till we had unpacked (which takes approximately ninety minutes) I had the brilliant idea to just unpack enough to turn the fridge on in Edna and then go find some take away for lunch. And by takeaway I meant Maccas. As awful as it can be I was pretty starving and in need of food pronto.

Camp Broome - Roebuck Bay Caravan Park. The oldest van park in Broome.

A quick stop in at Woolies for milk and something for dinner and we headed back to the van park to finish unpacking and have an early night. As much as driving doesn’t actually use much energy it is still incredibly draining.

We are staying at the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park which overlooks the Town Beach. Our site is a row or two back from actually being on the edge of the beach but it didn’t matter much as we could see the water perfectly from where we were. It was only a short walk down to the beach though and before long we were all wandering the beach feeling the sand between our toes. It felt nice to be back on the coastline.