Well, we are finally heading out of Broome. What a great three and a bit weeks we have had. Seriously. I love it here... we all do. But the time has come to move on and we are all looking forward to some new scenery. Tomorrow we are up early to get the van packed up and to get out the door of the caravan park. Hopefully before the heat sets in. Today was a warm one. I think we have been averaging anywhere between 34 and 39 degrees on any given day and the nights can be uncomfortably humid - it's literally like a heat wave when you wander out from the nice air-conditioned caravan lol.
We have had a great week. We have visited the Willie Creek Pearl Farm, seen a sea snake hooked accidentally by a fishing rod followed by a large shark (almost) caught on the same rod... we have been into town often to wander around, today doing a lot of last minute running around in preparation for the next leg of the trip. Having spent so many weeks here we have actually met quite a few great people that we bump into all the time - some from the caravan park (like Gill and Megan who are in the plot next to us - they are living at the park as Gill slowly builds their new house here... a) and another notable couple, Frank and Sarah who we met at the Port Jetty. He is the one who caught both the snake and the shark lol.
We are heading slightly inland to Fitzroy Crossing, the first stop on our leg to Darwin. I think I will just add a heap of pics this time and let you know what we have been to with the captions.
We have spent a lot of time this week - at least, Riley, Jake and I have, at the local aquatic centre. The whole of the pool, both the shallow smaller pool and the huge deep pool that is attached is covered from the sun by this massive blue sunshade. There's plenty of lawn to grab a spot to sit and the water is soooooo nice to be in. Not cold, not hot, just perfect. Next caravan park we plan on spending time in, we must get one with a pool. It would save a bit of travel. I think we would spend all day in it if the weather is still as hot as this. Love this picture of Jake.
Here is another shot of the Port Jetty where we have spent masses of time fishing from - well, the guys have. But I have been showing up more and more, even throwing in a line myself. The tide was WAYYYY out - I was trying to show that you can see the whole of the beach and all these rocks underneath you never knew existed until the tide drops by about 8 or so metres over a few hours. It's a truly bizarre sight. Riley spent about two hours on Sunday night pottering around the rocks up the front there, collecting hooks and sinkers and other things that get dropped from the jetty when the tide is up, then exposed when its out. Heaps of fun!
While fishing at the jetty on Sunday night we met Frank and Sarah and their two kids, Joshua and Peta who are originally from NSW. They are going around Australia anti-clockwise so having just come from Darwin and Cairns and as we are from Perth we were able to exchange heaps of information about the best places to see etc.
Frank was amazed to find this sea snake on his line lol. This sucker was hissing and spitting venom as he reeled it in and then he pulled it to the jetty blacktop. We were all freaking out as this thing was FURIOUS... and he ended up just snipping the line once he had it over the side again. EEK! A couple of hours later (no photo sadly, I didn't have the camera on me) he managed to snag a huge Seven Fin Shark. It was dark by this time and he couldn't get it up over the jetty (the tide was out and it was a long way down to the water.) Chris and Mason helped out by trying to gaff it for him and Jake held the torch in the water so we could keep an eye on it. After an hour or so and several failed gaffs later, hooking it but not able to keep it on, the guys got the shark up - right to the top rail of the jetty (which is about waist high) only to have the one of the gaff hooks straighten and the fishing line snap. We were all like.. nooooooooooo lol. It was a bit of excitement though for the night.
Chris caught this beauty on Monday night. A gold fingermark snapper. Good eating!
This blue helicopter is the one that takes who ever wants one for a joy ride over the Willie Creek Pearl Farm. You can get a half hour trip for 60 dollars or a substantial amount more you can have the tour and a guided lesson on how the pearling farms work including snacks and drinks. We slummed it by just turning up and learned almost as much on our own lol. There are posters everywhere on the walls of the homestead they use as a base and it's all really interesting actually.
The pearling farm lake. It is the most intense aqua colour and supports loads of small marine life. We found small fish and crazy crabs to name just a few in among the rocks at the edge.
The homestead which houses a beautiful pearl sales shop with gorgeous jewelry galore ... this is an oasis at the end of a 37km trip from the town centre - along some sealed but mostly unsealed winding roads - all in that deep dark red dirt we have gotten used to. Then you find this oasis at the end of the road.
One of the displays that go with the tour. We had a poke around in here once they had left. It was full of information about how the pearls are extracted from the oyster, plus the different colour and grades of pearls you can get.
Another shot of the building with a cafe off to the right. Just what you need on a hot day of exploring - an icy cold coke in the shade, listening to the fountain splashing water.
A stuffed croc to the entrance to the cafe. Riley hamming it up! No joke though, there are signs everywhere about croc safety. You don't have to tell us twice.
Taking a relaxing break from the heat at the Willie Creek Pearl Farm. That's Mason in front with Riley at the back with me. Jake begged off this trip to lay in the comfort of the air-conditioned caravan watching movies lol. Slacker!
Riley doing some exploring at the creek edge.
Tonight (Tuesday night) we came down to the North Town Beach in Broome to visit the night markets and watch the Staircase to the Moon. These cute kids were hanging by the bridge and saw me taking pictures. "Miss, Miss, can you take a picture of us?" So I did. Then about six aboriginal kids crowded around me wanting to see the end result, the boy in the pink shirt midway on the bridge not thrilled I cut his head off by accident lol. They were so sweet.
It was virtually dark here believe it or not. Quite strange that my old camera actually made it look like it's still broad daylight (This camera of mine is temperamental to say the least!) The markets sell a lot of the usual - trinkets, beautiful summer clothes, jewelry and loads more with a heavy influence on the pearl side of things. Go figure lol.
Dinner and drink time. It was still 29 degrees at around 7pm but weirdly enough there's no midgies or mozzies around .. and hasn't been the whole time. I guess that will come with the rainy season which is just around the corner.
One of the displays. A gorgeous Thai lady who was dancing with two firesticks. You can't see her, but she's in there lol.
Some of the fish the guys have caught. As you can see, there's a bit of variety and we have been eating a LOT of fresh fish lol. Chris made a fish and prawn laksa last night. Yum.
So this is what we came to see at tonight. The Stairway to the Moon. It is the MOST incredible sight. There must have been a couple of hundred people who wandered up from the night markets and found a perch on the beach overlooking the mud flats. We gathered around 7.30 pm and waited about fifteen minutes. It was quite overcast and the air was thick with humidity but it was worth waiting for. (By the way, this is not my picture. My camera wouldn't take the shot from so far away - so I nabbed this from the net. But this is EXACTLY what we saw tonight right down to the colours.) It was pitch black out there and there was a lot of chatter then suddenly it was dead quiet. From the horizon we could see the tip of a red moon making an appearance. It was breathtaking. Then as the moon moved up it became this bright orange ball, and the higher it got (which took about a half hour) it started to reflect off the water and you could literally see the striations in the water which is where the stairway comes in. This happens 3 nights per month from March to October when the moon rises as low tide, and the reflections are seen on the mud flats at the waters edge. Awesome and well worth seeing. Just magical.
Guess that's it from this crew. Till next time,
Carolyn, Chris and Boys xxx
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