Ring My Bell (Broome - Derby - Dalmanyi/Bell Gorge)

After setting our own agenda for the last 11 days or so, the alarm going off in the dark was quite confronting. We had organised our bags the night before so we really only had to deal with an early breakfast and then be on the bus by 7am. In what would become routine, we placed our bags on the front porch and walked to the restaurant.

The morning brought with it a surprise, dear reader. The sunrise in Broome is also beautiful and worthy of a photo - if only I'd had my camera and been alert enough. True, it may lack the colour of those ripping beach sunsets, but I'd rate it.

The bus or truck, seats 22 passengers with our 2 guides up front. There are 21 guests on this trip. The seat rows are numbered, not numerically, and each day we need to move to the next number up. We sat in seat 5 so tomorrow we'll be in seat 6. The abstract allocation of the seat numbers and the rotation means that everyone sits in all positions on the truck. We later found out why this was so important, and it wasn't just the view.

It's good not be driving.

Like many large vehicles the steps for access and egress were built for or designed by Brobdingnagians. For someone of my height, it meant that each step had to be negotiated separately. The seats were comfortable and the windows expansive to ensure nothing was missed. There was also a small screen TV attached to a camera that filmed to the never ending road before us.

The Boab Prison Tree

Our first stop was the aptly named Boab Prison Tree. It was, unsurprisingly used to imprison people. Well, that's the legend. Apparently there is no proof to support this theory. However, it is a registered Indigenous site of cultural significance. The story goes that the tree was used to house Aboriginal people who were being transported to jail at Derby.

The Prison Tree.

The boab tree is quite a feature of the land out here. It's distinctive bottle shape is easily recognised and unlike other trees has managed to escape the pillage and plunder of white colonialists. So far. Why? Excellent question my curious reader. The interior of the tree is quite fibrous and is therefore not particularly useful as fire wood or for building or, I imagine, pulping for the Japanese market.

The tree is fenced off today to dissuade visitors from getting too close but the fence is merely a suggestion. The sign warning of snakes is probably more convincing.

Dimulurru

Our next stop was to have been Tunnel Creek or Dimulurru, a 750m long tunnel carved out of the limestone by water courses in the Napier Ranges. Sadly this was not possible as the recent rain has swollen the waters of the tunnel to the extent that it required us to swim not wade through a section in the dark and this was deemed to be too risky. I mean, a 40 metre swim in freezing water in the dark, where's the risk?

Willare Road House

The Road House is most important out here given the massive distances that can be covered each day. And not just for fuel. Many have tourist parks or picnic grounds attached to allow travellers to stretch their legs. Willare was no different, except it had a couple of Boab trees that still held a single flower.

Unusual to be in flower at this time of year.

Derby

Instead we headed to Derby for a tour of the Norval Gallery, where local First Nations artists' work is promoted and you can actually watch art being created as you wander through the studio. After a brief introduction to the local style of painting, we browsed and then headed out to the jetty for lunch and a wander to view the mud flats, exposed by the huge Derby tides. Some locals were fishing and had a catfish, among others. The water was a fast moving, swirling mass of silt. Most attractive.

The swirling expanse of the Fitzroy River.

Wandjina by a local artist.

One of Mark Norval's pieces.

The mudflats.

Bell Gorge Wilderness Lodge

After the break, we set out for our accommodation, Bell Gorge Wilderness Lodge, for our first night of glamping and outdoor dining.  The lodge was in the middle of the national park with a central dining and bar area surrounded by tents, each with a deck, a bedroom and an ensuite bathroom and pathetic internet connectivity. I know, I know, first world problems, dear reader.

Home for the next two nights.

After settling in for the two night stay, it was time for pre-dinner drinks with our travelling companions as well as another APT group who were staying at the lodge. Recurrent crossing of paths with different tour groups was to become a feature of the trip, as a fleet of APT and other tour operators roam around the Kimberly following variations of the same itinerary.

One traveller from the other group, a fellow Bunnies supporter, expressed her grave disappointment that, due to the rain,  their group had not been able to reach the Bungle Bungles. This was her main reason for the trip and justifiably, she felt cheated. They did fly the group over the range as a sweetener, but she had already ticked that box and wanted to walk amongst the domes. Of course the reality is that so much of these itineraries is at the mercy of nature. We weren't sure we would even leave Broome given the Gibb River Road had been closed as we drove up the coast.

No babies here. Move on young fella.

Anyway, a pleasant evening was had and then to bed, after the temperature took a notable dive post sunset. We slid under the multiple layers on the bed, alarm set for an early rise to set out on the first real day of the "inland adventure".

Are you being slightly critical of toady's title my dear reader? That is a tad harsh. It is difficult to get a blog finished with photos in a climate of narrow bandwidth and questionable connectivity. The early mornings are dulling my usually razor sharp wit. Anyway, it's a disco classic from my youth. Anita Ward from 1979.

Until next time.

Walk like an Egyptian (Karratha to 80 Mile Beach and Broome)

After a breakfast of leftover pizza and refuelling, we chose to head straight out of Karratha and leave the angst behind. The non-stop drive to Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park was to take about 5 hours and, although we had originally planned to have a break at Port Hedland, once there, we decided to push on to give ourselves time to go for a beach walk along part of the renowned stretch of white sand.

While we didn’t need fuel to get to 80 Mile, it was a bit disconcerting when we had already driven through South Hedland, to see a sign saying the next roadhouse was closed. Out here, the roadhouses feature on the state map because the distances are so vast and you may not be able to get from one town to the next without a fuel stop. To expect a roadhouse to be mid-journey and find out it is closed, reminds you of how much you cannot take for granted in these parts. We are always conservative about fuel estimates and take extra water with us, just in case. The only plus side of the school holidays is that you won’t have to wait too long before someone comes along if you suddenly find yourself in trouble.

We didn’t realise it but the Park is actually at the end of 10 kms of dirt road. Luckily it is regularly graded and the weather forecast for the foreseeable future is sunny days. Rain would have made our departure for Broome the next morning rather interesting.

At the end of the dirt road, we joined a queue of vehicles pulling vans to enter the park. After some indecision, the queue started to move slowly so we stayed in line until we could see the reception area and I went down the road to see what the process was to check in.

By the time I came back outside with the cabin key, the queue had dissipated and we drove straight to our cabin at the far end of the park. To say it was not very salubrious would be an understatement – think of half a demountable classroom with cyclone-mesh in the windows and vents. Oh well, it was only for one night and had a bed, a toilet and shower although the noise generated when you turned the hot water tap on, was so loud, it sounded like it was heralding an explosion in the system. It was an effective deterrent from spending too long under the water.

Home sweet home.

After settling in, we headed off towards the beach, camera in hand to capture the birdlife which included numerous zebra finches, a sacred kingfisher, whistling kites and rainbow bee-eater.

Stylish and colourful.

They were everywhere despite the proximity of the campers. While the numbers were prolific, they still played hard to get for a photo which required some stealthy approaches before we headed down to the beach.

The sand certainly does stretch further than the eye can see in either direction but the view was blocked by the rows of 4-wheel drives that were parked directly behind where their owners were fishing.

80 Mile Beach is actually 220km long.

Clearly, this is a major pastime for those who frequent this piece of the coastline. Rather, I should clarify that the pastime appears to entail driving along the sand and then wetting multiple lines. I can’t say that the process is fishing because, in all the time we were there, we never actually saw anyone catch anything. 

Sacred kingfisher.

There were plenty of shells to collect and some people were swimming in what looked like a never-ending sand bar; no snorkelling here as it is just sandy shallows. Other than that, after a wander in one direction for about half an hour, we headed back to the park for some more bird photography, followed by an early dinner of cheese and biscuits.  The internet connectivity was very weak so, with no blogging possible, it was early to bed, after repacking the bags to put everything superfluous into the big red suitcase, to ensure we had the required 2 soft bags for the organised inland tour.

Not quite the Shell Beach.

Next morning, we drove back to the sealed road and turned towards our final independent destination, Broome. We had already checked that the roadhouse between 80 Mile Beach and Broome, the Sand Fire, or Samfire or Sanfire (the spelling varied every time I saw it in print) was open because we would have been pushing it to have had sufficient petrol to make it into Broome, despite the good fuel economy that the car has maintained.

Rainbow Bee-eater.

The signage for the roadhouse was a couple of pyramids made of tyres and the link to today's title, a classic by The Bangles from 1986.  Before we reached the pyramids, we saw a queue of vehicles pulling trailers, lined up out of the drive and down the side of the highway. It took a moment for us to realise that this was the diesel pump queue and happily, we were running on 91 unleaded. As a result of not being in the 4-wheel drive club, we rolled up to the bowser, filled up and were on our way before those in the queue had advanced two places.  We can only assume the line would have continued to lengthen as the day went on.

A short while later, we made it into Broome and, after more refueling, we drove to Cable Beach Club Resort, our accommodation and dinner destination to meet and greet our guides and fellow travellers for the start of the APT Kimberley and the Top End tour.

Whistling kite.

While I parked the car and started to unload the bags, Jayne headed to reception to see if we could check in and to discuss possible options for transporting our large solid suitcase to Darwin. This was necessary as the APT Tour vehicle requires strict baggage guidelines on dimensions and material – soft bags only and one per person, plus a backpack. 

Our room was not yet ready but the question about the suitcase was proving to be a bit of a challenge for the reception staff who said they needed to consult the Head Porter. Clearly what had seemed to us to be an ordinary request, was not one they had encountered before.

Male Zebra Finch.

Ray, the Head Porter, then consulted someone else external to Cable Beach Resort, whose advice was to go with Oz Post rather than a private courier. Safer and quicker was the opinion. Jayne provided all the details about the Darwin destination and our contact details. She told Ray she would see if there was any way that they might bring the suitcase with us and would advise Ray that evening.

Meanwhile I had taken the name of a hotel recommended taxi driver and departed for the airport to ditch the trusty Camry after 3500 kms of faithful service. After achieving that, I called the taxi who said I would have to go in a queue until she asked me where I was. She happened to be at the airport, could actually see me and told me she’d back in 10 minutes to pick me up. True to her word, she returned and I was back at Cable Beach just as Jayne was checking in. 

Cable Beach.

We had enough time to have a slow wander down the beach and return for an afternoon wine and some nibbles. Then it was time to unload, shower and have a pre-dinner drink before meeting our Tour family for the next 17 days at the welcome dinner.

One of the resort residents.

The dinner was a mixture of introductions, administration and trying to remember peoples’ names. Jayne spoke to Dean and Kylie, our tour guides who were quite happy to help us out with the suitcase dilemma and so, after dinner we retrieved the suitcase from reception, thanked the staff for all their help and retreated to our room to get ready for the early departure that seems to be the standard M.O. for all things APT.

And with that our leisurely tour was over and we handed ourselves over to a timetable not of our choosing. Breakfast was at 6am tomorrow morning to ensure an early start on the road.

Until next time.

Lakeside (Exmouth to Karratha, WA)

The day dawned as Saturday. This was probably no surprise to most people dear reader, but occasionally we are unaware. We drove down to the Exmouth shopping centre to be absolutely amazed by the number of people and cars. Parking spaces were at a premium. The markets were on opposite the shopping centre. OK, that makes sense. We wandered the area to see what was there and to locate the bottle shop, supermarket and bakery for future use.

The queue, almost out of the bakery door, ensured we went without breakfast and instead, headed for our first snorkel of the day.

We had identified a number of areas for snorkelling through Jayne’s research. This was supplemented by chats on board the Utopia yesterday. Cape Range National Park was the destination, first stop Lakeside.

That made the choice of song title too easy. Lakeside by Australian Crawl from their 1981 album Sirocco.

Amazing coral.

The road was sealed all the way to Lakeside despite the regular dirt tracks off either side of the road on which we were travelling. The jury is still out about the naming of Lakeside. There was a pond behind the dunes but to reference it as a lake was a bridge too far. The snorkelling here is about a 500m walk south from the carpark toward the marine sanctuary.

A colourful clam

Once again, the snorkelling did not disappoint. We braved the 23° water without wetsuits. The coral had more colour and the diversity of marine life was still there. My GoPro captured the underwater action. I’d be happy to return there time and again.

After 30 minutes or so in the water, we returned to the car to check out the Oyster Stack. This was highly recommended by David from the Ningaloo Tour yesterday. He and his family had recently spent some time there. It is a tide specific place and can only be enjoyed a couple of hours either side of high tide. 

After finding a car spot, not easy, we followed the track to the ‘beach’. It was an absolutely stunning spot. Sorry, no photos. The sea was several shades of blue and the major bommies were still above water level. It was postcard perfect. Except the only immediate way into the water was from the rock shelf that lined the beach for about 500 metres. This was neither a viable entrance or exit point for Jayne. Well it could have been. At first it would have been amusing until an injury occurred. This one is listed for a return visit where we will walk to the edge of the shelf and use the beach for access and egress.

Nemo lives here.

Back to the car, next stop was Turquoise Bay. Unsurprisingly the snorkelling is highly rated here as well, however, there are concerns around the strength of the current. If you start at the Loop the current takes you to the Point where you leave the water and walk the beach back to your starting point. We applied the sunscreen and hit the water. The current was much stronger than expected and after 5 minutes or so of fighting it we decided to call it quits.

We drove back into town and straight to the bottle shop and supermarket for supplies to see us through to Broome. We weren’t really sure what would be available between here and Broome.

Back at the resort, post showers, it was time for champagne on the verandah before our final dinner in Exmouth.

Everything about the Mantarays Ningaloo Reef Resort is smooth and on point. I am seriously keen to return and explore the area further, as well as returning to places like Lakeside and the Oyster Stack. When I do, our choice of accommodation is obvious, it will just be outside of school holidays.

Tomorrow we drive to Karratha.

Until then.

 

Honesty (Perth, WA)

Despite the continuous party outside in Murray Street, dear reader, we slept well and struggled to get vertical in the morning, but there were things to be done. It was a beautiful Saturday morning, clear skies with a temperature that made many locals opt for the puffy jacket. Whatever. I conceded and wore jeans. A decision I later viewed as unnecessary. It was crisp, but the sun was delightful and the wind doctor didn't get up until lunch time.

Jayne researched breakfast and off we went. Breakfast is a fraught meal for me. I'm not a big eater. I'm not a fan of eggs. It limits one's options somewhat. All anyone needs, IMHO, is coffee. And maybe some muesli and toast. I don't need a side of bacon slathered in maple syrup covered in poached eggs drizzled with a sauce made from camels that originally 'opened the west' and a side of triple fried wedges. Does anyone?

So. To discover a place that serves toasties AND good coffee. Heaven, I'm in heaven. All within a 5 minute walk of our hotel. In a back lane. How cool.

We arrived at Grillah Toastface and surveyed the menu. It looked the real deal. The hip hop music playing in the open kitchen certainly was. If you love toasties this place is well worth checking out. If you love coffee, prepare for disappointment. It's not often you can get everything you want in the one establishment.

The toasties were next level. Everything you've ever dreamed of in a toastie. Oozy cheese, bits of burnt cheese, crisp, thick slices of sourdough. I'd go back but my cardiologist said no.

One of the regulars.

The coffee not so much. Two small (read normal size, fu America) long blacks please. Now dear reader I'm sure you understand the concept of a long black. It is a double shot of coffee with water. Here, we ordered the second shot because they only make it with one shot. Seriously? Crimes against coffee lovers. Despite 'eating in', drinking also, we were served coffee in disposable cardboard things. No, no, no.

Anyway the locals were lovely and came for a chat and a drink with us.

He wouldn't stop chatting.

Wandering Perth

Post toastie and average coffee we returned to the hotel, sorted the camera (and my lenses) and made our way to the Information Centre. It had been a good morning, sunshine, birds singing, excellent toastie and then reality.

All we really wanted was a map of WA for the road trip north, not a road report that was going to put the rest of the trip in jeopardy. That, however, is exactly what we received, reinforced moments later by a text from a tour operator further north.

Check out the bee.

"How can I help you?" developed into a 30 minute discussion of the places to see in Perth (that didn't occupy much time) into places you can see on your journey to Broome. And beyond? Once again, maybe, maybe not. Climate change ... don't get me started.

Later this month we are supposed to be joining an APT tour from Broome to Darwin. Currently, after flooding again, both roads are closed. Neither with workable detours. And there is more rain predicted. I'm not going to dwell on the what if or what might be, I shall deal with the here and now. Today we are in Perth, bathed in sunshine under cloudless blue skies, let's revel in that.

The flowering gums are so architectural.

Armed with brochures we didn't now we wanted we walked back into the sunshine and turned towards the water and the Bell Tower, one of the few recognisable landmarks from our visit in 2005. The entire foreshore has been developed between there and Kings Park/Botanic Garden/Kokoda Track. Surprised by the last entry? As were we.

The towering landscape of Perth's CBD buildings is dominated by such companies as Rio Tinto, Woodside and Macquarie. Rape, pillage and plunder overshadow the river and the children's water play area, sponsored by BHP Billiton. I sense a theme here.

Old school entertainment for the kids. Or is it?

Elizabeth Quay is a lovely area and was well populated on a Saturday morning. There are sculptures, play areas, restaurants, accommodation, walkways and spaces just to enjoy the surrounds. Before the Fremantle doctor arrives. It's a tad cold in the shade once the wind gets up.

Sculpture near the train station.

We decided to follow the shoreline to Kings Park and the Botanic Garden area. Simple, as they say in the TV ads. Yeah, not so much. Signposting is a curious art. Our destination appeared on one sign to disappear the the next. We followed the signage one way to reach a crossroads and be directed back the way we came, albeit on a different path. Confusing? Damn straight.

I'm sure it has meaning ...

At the point of no return we discovered the entrance to the Botanic Garden, also titled the Kokoda Track. Not trail. Track. In WA, not New Guinea. Confused again. And so we commenced the climb up the stairs of the Kokoda Track. While Jayne did not enjoy the climb, it was hardly difficult. The link with Kokoda was the memorials on the way. It appears that we enjoy a war in WA. The park has memorial areas for many wars, a curious juxtaposition of peace, serenity and beauty with the reality of what is being commemorated. Maybe that was the point.

Look closely. Kokoda Track.

The Botanic Garden also contains areas of lawn. Quite substantial areas of lawn which were quite popular on a sunny winter's day. The people from Perth embrace their sunshine by lying all over their public lawns. Curious behaviour I thought, restricted to the British who have scant of either resource in the country.

Love a bird photo. She/he just demanded it.

The return walk was significantly easier than the climb up the Kokoda Track and we were soon back investigating dinner options, discussing climate change and road closures, and enjoying our complimentary drink at the hotel bar.

The view from Mt Eliza lookout.

Day over

There are many options for dinner or lunch in this area. Provided, of course, it is between Monday and Friday. Our first couple of choices were closed. Our response was to go shopping. We purchased some water, for the trip north, and important things: chips, peanuts, chocolate bullets, items to sustain life on the open, remote roads.

OK, this was from the lookout.

Subsequently we devoured the chips with our complimentary bottle of wine (from the hotel) while I was blogging and Jayne was researching the coming days; weather in mind.

Dinner, we finally decided, should be at the hotel. Miss Mi is the name of the restaurant and we would eat there again. There is a certain hotel style about it, but the food is really good, modern Asian, which we paired with a Grenache from South Australia.

Prawn toast.

Dumplings.

The bill arrived, after it was requested, and we weren't charged for the wine. At a mere $73 per bottle. Nice. How cheap was that meal! Did we tell them? Did we walk? What would you have done dear reader? We told them. At the cash register because it was getting difficult to find a server. The response: "Why be honest?" Really? No thank you. It was clear they would never have known. And so ... but no, that's not how we are. Hence today's title song, a Billy Joel classic from his 1978 album 52nd Street.

I'm watching the cricket as I finish this post and Murray Street seems not to be so 'party city' on a Saturday night. That said it's only 8:30pm.

Tomorrow we head for Kalbarri where the weather is closing in. They contacted me today to see if we could arrive in time for the sunset cruise on Sunday. That is not feasible in terms of distance and drive time. We are scheduled for a Monday cruise when the sunset probably won't be visible. Like much of what is to come, I'll guess we'll see.

Until next time.

Go Your Own Way (Sydney, NSW to Perth, WA, part 1)

Hello again dear reader. Did you miss me? It's been a while since our NZ sojourn and although we have been out and about there wasn't really anything to blog about. You know me, wineries, restaurants, the usual stuff. Until now. The end of the financial year forced me from my cocoon of warmth in the inner city and deposited me in Perth, Western Australia. Curiously, WA is experiencing some unseasonal weather at the moment. If there is such a thing as unseasonal weather in the current age. What was it Tony Abbott said about climate change? Fool.

It started like this:

This trip (I've decided the word holiday is to be expunged from my vocabulary), is the last of the planned, pre-covid expeditions. Initially the idea was to fly in and out of Perth and drive the length of the Coral Coast to Exmouth and back exploring on the way. The ultimate aim was to swim with the whale sharks on  Ningaloo Reef. Bucket list. As well as soak up the beauty of the coast and surrounding country.

Remote is such a clichéd word, but is the only way to describe this part of Australia. Not Perth, further north. There are vast distances between towns and the original plan was to take about 4 weeks and see as much as possible. As always, there is a substantial amount of guesswork involved, given we haven't passed this way before and Google, while helpful, has its limitations. It was all mapped with a luxurious stay at Sal Salis (seriously, check this place out, amazing) planned at the end point culminating in the whale shark experience before a slow meander back to Perth. Then Covid arrived and Sal Salis was off the menu. This time.

On the other side of the pandemic, we finally did the APT European river cruise and were keen to see what they had to offer at home. That was how we came across the Broome to Darwin via the Kimberley tour. It would allow us to experience things we didn't see on our Kimberley expedition cruise a few years back, as well as getting into Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks. This is as close to wilderness as Jayne is likely to experience.

The trip morphed into Perth to Broome and then Broome to Darwin. The first part organised by me, the second leg by APT. It created some logistical problems, more on that later, and also locked in the date we needed to be in Broome which dominoed all the way down the Coral Coast to Perth and back to Sydney. In a tragic turn of events, it meant we were travelling in school holidays, something we vowed never to do again. On the plus side, we get chauffeured to and from the airport for being repeat APT customers.

The school holiday effect, which needs a name, was unknown until recently. While all the accommodation was booked 12 months ago, the day-to-day experiences were left until this week. Consequently, there will be no snorkelling with the whale sharks. Every tour operator in Exmouth or Coral Bay is completely booked. As they say in the classics, not happy Jan. Unless we jag a cancellation we will be back, maybe next year. Definitely not in school holidays. 

Some websites have even suggested we need to pre-book restaurants. Despite being incredibly well organised that is just a bridge too far, so we may return several kilos lighter.

Packing problems

Packing. The word sends chills down my spine. We always overpack. Even knowing this doesn't help and I'm sure I've overpacked again. Normally this is not a problem and is rationalised by the unknown - weather and experiences. Not this time. We have a luggage limit for the Broome to Darwin trip. Further, we can take soft bags only. No suit cases due to the all terrain vehicle in which we will be travelling.

What does this mean you ask, my inquisitive reader? Well, we are flying Qantas. They have destroyed two of my suitcases on recent flights so I don't trust them to take care of soft bags. Aside from that, we are snorkelling and swimming at various points on the Coral Coast. It has some of the best and most pristine reefs in the world (see Tim Winton's documentary Ningaloo). Our fins only fit into the largest of suitcases.

The remedy? I packed most of my gear into my RM Williams bag which will be carry on and Jayne's duffle bag, her gear, beach towels, snorkel equipment and the rest is in the large suitcase. When we arrive in Broome, we will repack to meet requirements and stash all unnecessary things back into the suitcase for it to be transported to Darwin. Simple. Well, not really, but as the French say, 'il semble travailler' (it seems to work).

That was then. As I sit and survey the luggage strewn floor, I have decided to re-pack the suitcase. 

Happy with that.

Qantas

Ah yes, Qantas. I've mentioned the destruction of my luggage. There have been other issues but I don't wish to bore you dear reader. However, at 10:26pm on the night before we were scheduled to fly, they cancelled our flight. By text. I was awake watching the cricket in England but my phone had sensibly gone to sleep so I didn't see the message. Until this morning.

Actually the first message on the screen was from 12:26am to inform me that our flight had been re-routed to Melbourne. That certainly got the blood pumping. Melbourne? WTF? We are now flying at 3:30pm to Melbourne and then on to Perth arriving at 9:05pm. Do you believe that will happen? I don't. There are now reports that only one runway is operating in Sydney, due to high winds. And it is school holidays. Happy days.

The good news, if there can be any, is that the we have kept our Business Class seats on both legs of the flight. Although we have been relegated from the comfort of the A330 to the stock standard 737. I know, I know, first world problems.

The Flights and Perth

I think that's enough for one day. We arrived. Tired. I'll save the rest of the day for tomorrow. After all it is Perth, how much can there be to do?

Connectivity

The other significant impact on this trip is connectivity (or lack thereof) although there are no issues tonight. I have no idea how often I will have a network strong enough to post a blog with photographs. Therefore, posts will be sporadic and could well be out of sync and posted once we are back home in Sydney. Fear not, the blog will continue, just not in real time.

As will the song titles to head up each post. Today's title is from that classic 1977 Fleetwood Mac album, Rumours. Have a listen. We will be going our own way until we arrive in Broome.

Until next time.

Midnight at the Oasis (Broome)

The day began as usual with breakfast at the Bar and Grill. Nothing to report really. Another perfect day in paradise. Blue skies that go on for ever and a sparkling turquoise ocean. I could sit here forever. Going back to work on Monday is certainly going to be a shock for the system.

A little dude at the jetty

We went for a walk on the beach post breakfast as has become the routine. The heat builds quickly, so it is advisable to do as much activity in the morning as you possibly can and then hide from the afternoon heat. Not possible for us today as we have a Jetty to Jetty tour booked for the afternoon. As it turned out we were the only passengers on the coach - read minibus. What attracted us to this tour was the cultural underpinning. We had also seen something similar, I thought the same, on another site that was actually conducted by a local Aboriginal man. I was a little disappointed to be greeted by a white bus driver, who, it turns out, is from Cairns. Another person here for work in the dry season.

The cultural component of the tour was delivered by cd over the sound system on the bus. Not quite the real thing. The stories were interesting and it is a good way to orient yourself in Broome and identify places to visit later. If you have the luxury of time that is, which we do not. It is peak season and many of the options we looked at were fully booked. The tour went from Streeter's Jetty in Chinatown to the old jetty at Town Beach covering points of interest in between.

The Sun Pictures is the longest running open air picture theatre in the world and opened in 1913. It is quite unremarkable in the current age, but in its day was incredible. On a big tide the patrons would have to wade through water as they exited the theatre. The foyer has memorabilia dating back to the early days of the theatre, cameras, photographs, advertisements and a rickshaw. There was of course, segregation and seating was arranged accordingly. In a counter intuitive move the indigenous were placed at the back of theatre and would have been the last to get wet on a rising tide. The children were seated on the floor at the very front of the theatre. About this I make no comment, imagine a wry smile on my face dear reader.

A photo of a photo of high tide

The statue

The pearl masters regularly used the local aboriginal population as divers, even though they weren't supposed to. It appears 'blackbirding' was common in many parts of Australia. The most concerning of these practices was the use of pregnant women because it was believed they had superior lung capacity. There is a statue of a pregnant Aboriginal woman emerging from the water holding a pearl shell in front of her. I'm undecided as to whether this recognises their contribution to the industry or if it represents their abuse - they were slaves and completely powerless. Have the intervening years changed this aspect of history? We have a marvellous ability to rewrite history as far as our indigenous brothers and sisters are concerned.

Town Beach looking toward the new pier

We have discussed returning and would probably come here for a week. That would allow us to visit the Bird Zoo, go fishing and participate in some of the genuine cultural experiences, without feeling rushed or pressured. Despite the obvious wealth of activities, Broome is also a great place to relax. Cable Beach Resort is ideally situated a stone's throw from the beach - late breakfasts and long walks on the beach make for a very relaxing holiday.

All up, the Jetty to Jetty tour was exactly what was advertised. I guess our expectations were a little too high.

Our last night in Broome began with dinner at the Sunset Bar and Grill with a front row table and a view of the sunset for which people would have queued. Thank you to Jonti for organising such an excellent table for us. Of course, the camera was back in our room as we sipped a glass of champagne and watched the crowds arrive and the sun sink slowly into the Indian Ocean. I didn't even have my phone, dear reader, with which to chronicle the moment. However, Jayne had hers and the photos are courtesy of her handiwork.

Midnight at the oasis

As we sat and watched the sunset and made significant life choices, like what to have for dinner, we became aware that a very aromatic event was happening before us. Well, it was apparent to our noses before it became a visual spectacle. It was midnight at the oasis (Maria Muldaur, 1973) and the camels were going to bed. They were returning from their sunset walk along Cable Beach. Happily for you my fortunate reader, the attached picture is not a scratch and sniff. We watched as three lines of camels made their way past the restaurant and down the road to where ever it is they sleep. It provided momentary interest and distracted the crowds from the sunset and the increasing traffic jam of 4WD vehicles attempting to exit the beach.

Our last supper was not quite without event. The scallops and duck rillette were very nice, but Jayne went adventurous with her rib-eye fillet and ordered medium-rare to my my rare and had to send it back for some more time on the grill. Other than that, this is a great place to dine and while away the evening.

The next morning commenced far earlier than anticipated as we were woken by a knock at the door. After the scramble to make myself presentable, I staggered to the door and opened it to find a surprised housekeeping person standing there with a handful of coin. "You asked for your change to be brought to your room ... oh, sorry, I think I have the wrong room." Yup. It was 6:14am. Not quite the wake up we expected. As a result we were at breakfast earlier than we have been since we arrived. It was of course another stunner of a morning. It really is perfect weather up here, if you can avoid the afternoon heat ... and you're not working.

Checking out found us sitting at the Cichetti Café blogging, clearing email, reading, drinking a very nice Italian Rosé from Venice and waiting for our 1:30pm airport shuttle.

The Broome airport has a Regional Lounge. Emphasis here is on regional. It is tiny. The wine is in those teeny weeny bottles they serve on the plane. The red wine shares the fridge with the white wine. Once we managed to find our way up the stairs, there is no disabled access that we could see, we discovered the fridge with the alcohol was locked. Apparently we passed the attendant on the stairs and she locked the alcohol up before she left. Seriously Qantas? That is pathetic. What are you concerned about? Do you think your Business Class, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One flyers can't be trusted? Absolutely ridiculous. You have done northing to encourage me to maintain my loyalty on this trip. Almost 6 and a half hours late leaving Sydney and all we get is "sorry". Customer care in your company extends to lip service and ticking boxes so it appears you've done the right thing.

Aside from that, it was an uneventful trip home. We made lots of friends in the "lounge" discussing the lack of Qantas customer care. And we are now home watching the Ashes Test on TV.

The next holiday dear reader is to New Caledonia ... in November to celebrate, or avoid celebrating with people I know, my next significant birthday. But then, at my age, every birthday is significant.

Until November.

Stars on 45 (Broome)

Remember the single? Dear reader, do you? It was a medley of hits from Shocking Blue's Venus through to a stack of Beatles numbers - google it and have a listen, you know you want to. So why did I choose this as today's title? Well, it's been a while since I have sat down to record what we've been doing, so today's post is going to cover our arrival and disembarkation in Broome and the next couple of days. This will possibly be the penultimate post of this sojourn. I anticipate Sunday night will be the final word and the unveiling of the next trip. Yes, dear reader, it is booked and it is later this year.

The final night at sea proved to be benign which made for a pleasant stay after the previous night. We packed and had our bags in the corridor before we went to bed. That left breakfast, collecting our passports, immigration and a bus into Cable Beach. At least breakfast went smoothly. It was a tad crowded because it was unusual for everyone to be converging on the dining room at the one time. Ken and Moya joined us for one last time and we said farewell to Rizal who had looked after us so well over the last 11 days.

The queue to pick up our passports and then immigration was long and unmoving for reasons that no-one could quite fathom. It is curious that we had to be processed by immigration since no-one left the ship anywhere but on Australian soil. However, sailing through the night into Indonesian waters and having our passports stamped by Indonesian Immigration ensured we had to complete immigration declaration cards. I'm still not certain why we required a "technical stop: in Indonesian waters "- it was speculated so that the cruise line wouldn't have to pay the staff Australian wages.

Once through immigration, the buses were delayed. The Broome wharf is quite long and pedestrian traffic is not allowed so everyone arrives and leaves by vehicle. With only one lane open due to rectification work, it was a slow process. The captain was at the door to say goodbye and expedition crew lined the wharf as we identified our bags for packing onto the bus. Aside from the minor issue of a temporarily missing bag, all went well.

Cable Beach

The view form the lookout on Dampier terrace

We arrived at Cable Beach Club Resort with 35 others from the cruise which meant that reception was very crowded and they were experiencing technical printer problems which meant no one could check out or in. We opted for a real cup of coffee, the first since leaving Darwin and allowed the queue to look after itself. The Resort is very large and quite well appointed. Around the corner from reception is an Italian style café where we sought refuge. 

There was no rush, we'd already been told our rooms wouldn't be ready until 3pm, so we booked a shuttle into Broome's China Town.

While wandering the pearl shops, one lady engaged us in conversation and suggested that Jayne purchase a single pearl to swapped out with her diamond pendant. Interesting, but not yet.

Same again

We located the Kimberley Bookshop where we wanted to purchase the book on Gwion Gwion art that Josh had recommended. Tim, one of the other expedition leaders was also in there buying books on Aboriginal art as well. We purchased the book after a chat with Tim and the owner of the store. It has an amazing array of books if you're ever up this way and is certainly worth a visit.

It appears that everyone on the cruise had been disgorged into the shopping precinct. We even ran into Ken and Moya one more time - it was like we had never left the ship.We wandered the streets looking at pearls - when in Broome. Until it was midday and time for our appointment at Paspaley Pearls. Disappointingly the talk had began before we arrived and before the designated time. A glass of champagne made amends. The talk was quite interesting and we both learnt a lot about pearls and what to look for when purchasing them. This would have been excellent information in 2015. Curiously, Jayne had brought some of her pearls with her and luckily they all passed the lustre test - we had done well.

Following the talk, we spoke with the assistant and tried to identify the pearl necklace Jayne didn't buy when we were in Darwin in 2009. We discussed what it looked like and flicked through back catalogues, all to no avail. It was not to be added to the collection.

It was a balmy 31° so it was time to seek shade, shelter, food and beer. It is important to stay hydrated. We went to the Roey for lunch. Lou and Jorge (expedition leaders) were also there. Wow too much food, massive serves. The beer was good.

Back onto the Explorer Bus for the 15 minute trip back to the Resort and into our room to unpack. The resort is directly opposite Cable Beach. There are plenty of food options: Zanders on the beach does breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Sunset Bar and Grill, attached to the resort, does breakfast and dinner.

We went for a slow walk along the top of the dune and then down onto to the beach. The water is the most amazing turquoise colour. The tides are massive, around 8 metres, which translates to over 100 metres from high tide line to low tide. The beach is over 22 km long and the section to the north of the designated swimming area allows 4wd vehicles. And camels. Apparently they co-exist. The sunset camel tours wander the northern end of the beach everyday at sunset.

At 5:30pm we were in position to photograph the sun setting on the water. The car park was now bulging at the seams, as was Zanders and the Sunset Bar. Apparently this is a daily phenomenon during the dry. Yes, I was there too, but it's not the first time I've seen the sun disappear into an ocean. I'm really not sure of the fascination.

It was now time to return to our verandah and sit in the shade and sip champagne. There was plenty of wild life to experience as the sun went down. A Tawny Frogmouth camped on the corner of our umbrella before seeking a higher vantage point. A couple of wallabies appeared in the darkness, eating their way along the verandahs of the downstairs units. A flying fox landed in the palm tree and began feasting on the fruit. Not to mention the blue tongue lizard that greeted us in the afternoon.

We decided that we had done enough for the first day back on dry land and retired for the night.

Thursday was another postcard day in Broome, starting with alfresco breakfast as the Sunset Bar & Grill, followed by another stroll along the beach, this time in the direction of the 4wd armada.  The tide was on the way out, creating a compact sandy road for the vehicles and us to walk on.  There were rock pools but they were curiously devoid of any sea life, plant or animal.

The view from breakfast

We decide to book for a late seafood platter at Zanders but we were told there was no need as our preferred time of 3pm would be very quiet.  In the meantime we decided to walk around the corner to the Willie Creek Pearl Farm Showroom to browse this outlet away from the town centre and then to catch a bus into Chinatown to buy some cheese, biscuits and wine for later that evening.  Jayne was also on a mission to try to find a replacement sun shirt for the one that had been ripped on one expedition walk.

The shopping expedition can only be described as a success. I bought a new pair of yellow boardies at Ripcurl. Jayne found a sun shirt. We procured supplies and a pearl from Kailis pearls for Jayne's necklace. Wins all round. We misjudged the bus times and found ourselves at the bus stop 30 minutes early and sat people watching.

The bus spruiks the local sights as you are driven around town. They have deals with certain establishments for freebies, one of which is a 2 for 1 cocktail deal at Zanders. Since we were lunching there we thought we might commence with a cocktail. I had a passionfruit margarita and Jayne had a mango daquiri, followed by a very nice seafood platter for two. We made our way through the oysters Kilpatrick, prawns, calamari, cooked prawns, battered fish, barramundi, blue swimmer crab, fries and salad, washed down with a Margaret River rosé. The food was beautifully cooked and the staff were attentive, the view of Cable Beach is brilliant. We sat and watched the sun move towards the horizon and the crowds built steadily to watch the sun set. If you've never seen the sun set over water it looks something like this:

There goes the sun

There goes the sun

And I say, it's alright

Well, that's what they would have sung had they thought more about it.

We bailed just before sunset to avoid the larger crowds. When paying our bill, we presented our cocktail discount voucher as we had been directed to do by the wait staff, but the manager would not honour it. Apparently you have to have a specific bus ticket. Interestingly we had never been offered a ticket on any trip. I re-read the timetable when we got back to the apartment and while technically he was correct, the wording is not very clear and they are doing sound business as a result. His, "not my fault" claims were not well supported when he also stated "you are not the first people". So, he knew and has done nothing about the misleading advertising. While we would still have eaten, there we certainly would not have had the cocktails. A disappointing finish to an otherwise lovely day.

Back home to some wine and cheese on the verandah once the sun had set to watch the wildlife and the stars.

Until next time.