Broome 2016 - The Final Episode.

While family and friends down south, have been battered with the wind and rain and cold, we have continued to bask in Broome's sunshine. In fact, it is now getting damned hot! But thankfully, there has only been the odd day with high humidity. We are loving every minute of it! The air conditioner is working overtime!! We have been watching the tourist numbers dwindle more and more, with some days only a handful of caravans left in the park. The wet season is on its way. In the local paper, the council is warning residents to prepare for Cyclone season. Trees are being trimmed of dead branches, and rubbish is being left out for collection. It will soon be time to move. We've stretched this visit out as long as we can!!

Chinatown Broome.

More Horizontal Falls Tourists.

We all occasionally get reminders of how small the world is. We had yet another reminder recently, when a new arrival in a huge 5th Wheeler, towed by an equally huge American GMC Truck, pulled into the site next to us. The usual greetings were exchanged, and gradually the recognition came into focus, as John met John again, for the first time in close to 40 years!! John Lord and I went to Primary School together, and in subsequent years met up again in the late 1970's, when we both worked at Duesbury's. Since then, the only time I had seen John, was on TV! He was appointed as the Receiver of the failed empire of Alan Bond! He is now retired, and living the dream. Sadly, John's wife Laraine, is suffering from advanced emphysema, and mostly has to get around with a walker or wheel chair. She is very frail. My hat goes off to John, who does everything, even washing & colouring Laraine's hair!! We enjoyed some great happy hours, reminiscing, as John also knows my brother Neil quite well, having worked and played cricket together. 

Settled at Roebuck Bay C/P.

Right on the beach.

There are 6 caravan parks in Broome, and the one with the prime position right on Roebuck Bay at Town Beach, is the cleverly named Roebuck Bay Caravan Park!! We had watched with envy, whilst partaking of coffee at Stan's Town Beach Cafe, as the tenants walked across to the beach and across to the cafe, just metres away. We made inquiries at their office, and found out we could get a spot on the front from early October, so we grabbed it. On October 11th, we hitched up and took our shortest drive ever, just 7 kms over to Roebuck Bay, from Tarangau at Cable Beach. So here we are, and we are loving it! At high tide, the water is almost on our doorstep and ideal for swimming, whilst at low tide, the sand flats spread out for up to a kilometre!! This is as good as it gets!! The caravan park itself is pretty run down, and has a large population of permanents, but we have a great site. We will be doing our utmost to understand the booking processes here, for future years!!

Coffee at Stan's.

A storm on the horizon.

The loss of the tourists sees a lot of changes to the cafe and restaurant scene around Broome. The owners start to schedule days off, and work reduced hours. Many now, including Stan, only do breakfast and morning tea, and close at around midday. Being mostly outdoor eateries, we fully understand that people don't want to be eating lunches in the hottest part of the day!! The only time this changes, is if a cruise ship comes to town, which happened again recently, the third one since we've been here! Stan, and many other cafes, close down altogether at the end of November, and reopen 1st of March, which gives you an idea of just how different it is living in a remote outback region. With Stan so close, and a number of our other favourites on restricted hours, we now just wander across and if Stan sees us coming, the order has already been placed!!

The 18th at Broome Golf Club.

The Clubhouse.

We have been making the most of the excellent Broome Golf Club, so much so they asked if we wanted to join!! Carol has now somewhat embraced the game, and we regularly head off with Carol playing nine holes and me doing the eighteen. We almost have the course to ourselves! We hit off early to avoid the hottest part of the day, but there always seems to be a nice breeze. The day is quite an adventure, as the wildlife is prolific. Each round, there are dozens of wallabies, lazy kites swirl high above, and there are parrots, ibis, butcher birds and bower birds all over the place. On the fairways, we regularly come across a big goanna or blue tongue lizard! The locals and visitors must spray the balls around and be a lazy lot! I've never found so many golf balls in my life, and not even hidden in the scrub!!

Big crowds for Staircase to the Moon.

The Pearl Luggers Centre.

There is a large indigenous population in Broome. When we stayed out at Cable Beach, you hardly ever saw any of them. Only when we came to town to shop. However, here at Town Beach it is a different story. There is a lot of Aboriginal housing in this area, and they frequent the parks and beaches. They also bus in large groups of kids from the remote communities, so they can have a swim. Out in front of our caravan site, and just along a bit, is a favourite gathering spot under a big shady tree. They arrive in dribs and drabs, carrying slabs of beer and cases of wine, and stay until it is all gone. Occasionally, they light a fire. God knows why?? It's 35 degrees!! They get progressively louder and eventually stagger off in a flurry of language, both from men and women, that would make anyone blush. They leave everything behind! Rubbish, chairs, eskies, fishing rods and nets and the odd chair!! They never come back looking for their possessions. The park residents clean it all up, otherwise the place would resemble a tip! They call it "getting a return on their tax dollars!!" The police regularly drive through, checking all the known gathering spots, and moving them on when they are too loud and abusive. You have to question what is really being done at the grass roots level to overcome the problems of alcohol and health. There is no doubt that a lot of money is spent. Just doesn't seem to be getting down to the bottom of the chain!! Quite sad really. The alcohol  purchase restrictions, of one purchase per person per day, are a joke. They turn up in mini vans or large 4WD's, or even maxi taxis, with the entire family, and buy the limit per person per day, most days!!

Sea Turtles at low tide.

Purple dye from a sea urchin.

This past couple of weeks we have witnessed Broome's biggest tidal movement of the year, a whopping 10.5 metres!! On this day, the sand flats out front went all the way out to the main channel, around 1.5kms! You can walk right out to the edge, to see the flying boat wrecks, from the infamous Japanese air raid during WW11. A number of Flying Boats, that were evacuating Dutch Nationals out of Timor, landed at Broome to refuel. Sadly for them, a Japanese bombing mission was scheduled to hit Broome that day. The Japanese destroyed all of the Flying Boats killing more than 50 Dutch people. The wrecks that remain visible are war graves, and only seen on a few days a year when the low tide is less than one metre. We didn't really want to peer into this sad sight, so didn't get too close. With the low tides came another Staircase to the Moon. We could see this one from our caravan site!! Always a very special sight.

Movies at the Sun Picture Show.

My Spangled Emperor.

We have been regulars at the Sun Picture Theatre. We now look like a couple of locals, as we take our pillows and get cosy on the less than comfortable deck chairs.  I couldn't believe that on one occasion they had run out of choc tops!! There was almost a riot!! With sunset at around 5.45pm, and no twilight, it is dark at 6.00pm, so they have a 6.15 session and an 8.30 session. We've seen Sully, Girl on a Train, and Jack Reacher, and enjoyed them all. For the 6.15 session, we leave the caravan at 6.00pm, park right out the front, buy tickets and are seated with choc top in hand, at 6.10pm. And that's on a busy night!!! We will miss the outdoor movies when we leave. It is very special sitting out under the stars with the warm balmy breeze blowing, ducking as another low flying bat comes through!

Absolute Ocean Charters.

Ready to fish.

Fishing is something that doesn't come easy to me! That is why I enlist the aid of experts like my mate Fred! However up here, with no Fred, I decided to seek the aid of local experts. I googled, Trip Advisor, and did just about everything else I could, to choose the right experience. It came down to two, and in the end I finished up doing both, a couple of weeks apart. First day out was Reef Fishing, with Absolute Ocean Charters, supposedly the biggest and the best. There were six Intrepid anglers on the day, and at the safety briefing when the skipper announced he would hardly break even on the day with such a small contingent, the first alarm bell rang!! The boat was good, the gear was good, the lunch and morning tea were good, but the fishing was average. This was an ocean cruise with some occasional fishing!! We were out on the water for over 7 hours and spent maybe one hour fishing!! We all caught 3 or 4 nice fish, but it was evident that these guys were never going to let us over fish any one spot. We'd stop and drop our lines into the water, and within minutes it was "OK, lines up, we need to keep moving!" When we got back the skipper said he hoped we had a good day, and asked us if we did, could we write a nice review on Trip Advisor. If we didn't, could we keep it to ourselves!! Based on the reviews I saw, lots of people keep it to themselves!! Still, I brought home 3 nice Spangled Emperor. Probably worked out around $125.00 per kilo!!!!

Launching the boat.

Mud crab was a bonus.

My next experience was much nicer. This time I went with Geoff from West Kimberley Fishing, an owner operator, and right from the beginning it was a much nicer feel. This was a very big trailer boat, and there were 5 of us fishing, targeting the incredibly good eating Threadfin Salmon, that are bountiful around Roebuck Bay. I've not seen this species anywhere else around Australia, but it is prolific in the North West. Unlike most salmon which has a pink flesh, this is firm white and sweet. Excellent to eat, with the locals reckoning it is a better eating fish than Barramundi! We tend to agree!! The weather was average, with a strong westerly blowing, but Geoff took us into sheltered creeks and bays along the shores of Roebuck Bay. On this tour we spent about 80% of our time fishing. In one of the creeks, I caught a very good mud crab on my line!! He was delicious that night as our entree! In addition I caught some really good Threadfin, and a couple of other species that looked like Mulloway. From this day out, we now have some really nice fillets of fish in the freezer! The price per kilo is on the decline!!

Pied Oyster Catchers.

White Breasted Sea Eagle.

At the caravan park when the tide is very low, we enjoy walking out across the sandy flats of the bay. We find some amazing marine life left behind by the receding tide, and also see so many species of water birds. There are lots of different crane and heron species, terns, sandpipers, pelicans, shearwaters, oyster catchers and even the occasional spoonbill. Circling above them all is the resident White Breasted Sea Eagle. Two days ago, while Carol was cooking up a storm I took myself out for one of these walks, and had the most incredible experience. I was slowly walking along one of the little streams the receding tide makes, when I heard this commotion from a couple of seagulls. As I turned around, I saw they were chasing the Sea Eagle, who had a large fish held in one talon, the weight of the fish seemed to be stopping him from flying up higher, and he was flying straight at me at about head height! About three or four metres in front of me, he landed on a large rock, and turned around to fiercely screech a warning at the seagulls. He then must have sensed me, as he jumped around on the rock to look at me with those fierce eyes, let out one piercing cry after another, daring me not to come closer! It was the most incredible encounter! After a minute or two staring at each other, he balanced himself and raised those immense and powerful wings, flying straight over my head, heading for the mangroves. I just stood there with my mouth open watching him go! Wowwwww! Of course I didn't take my camera or phone, but I have a memory I will never forget!

Huge working boat.

Sea Princess came to town.

From our caravan site, we get a great view of the port. It is a very busy port, serving the needs of the off shore oil and gas rigs. One of the strangest ships we have ever seen, called in recently. It is a construction vessel servicing the oil rigs as well as laying cable. It was huge, with the biggest crane mounted at the bow. I was left wondering how it could ever lift such huge weights, floating on the ocean?? It created quite a lot of interest with the locals, as there has never been anything like it visiting Broome before, and according to the local paper, it is very new, and very unique!!! With the westerlies blowing this time of year, we don't need to look, to know another live cattle boat is docked! Thankfully there has only been one since we arrived here!

Our last few days here will be spent getting ready, and planning for the next part of our journey. With the heat inland, now starting to crank up, we will most likely be moving pretty quickly from coast to coast. Yesterday, the maximum temperature at Fitzroy Crossing, which we will be passing through, was 44 degrees! We think we'll pop up to Darwin for a few days, then head down to Threeways at Tennant Creek, then straight across the continent towards Townsville. From there, we will just meander down the Queensland coast. Well, that's the plan, but as we know, our plans have been known to change!!

Broome 2016 Continues and Continues

Well, its official. This is the longest we have ever stayed in the one spot. We have seen so many wonderful parts of this great land, and few, if any, can match the Kimberley. A long stay allows us to become quite intimate with the town, and to become known around town at the cafes, the supermarket, the butcher. We do feel right at home here in Broome.

Traffic hazard Broome!

Lord McAlpine had a vision.

September came and went, and we just did much more of the same, lazing in the sun and soaking up all that Broome has to offer. We love the place and now really feel a part of the Broome scene. The first week of September had us wondering whether we had missed the Evacuation Siren!!! The grey nomad brigade (Don't call me grey - says Carol!), are quite the predictable lot. They come to Broome for winter, gazetted as June to August inclusive, and that is what they do! The first week of September saw an evacuation of epic proportions. Every caravan park is the same, being full in the last week of August, and then being half full by the end of September week one, and less than a quarter full by the end of week two!! There is a queue to leave town!!

Downtown Broome.

Reminders of Pearling history.

With the evacuation underway, we moved sites within the caravan park, choosing one of the now vacant, huge grassy, shaded sites, which we had hoped to get from day one. It has been interesting to find out, that the three month winter stayers, who arrive beginning of June, get the preference in choosing sites. Many of these people choose Broome as their only caravan destination, and actually store their cars and vans here in Broome for the other 9 months of the year, and fly up from Melbourne and Sydney!! I guess it is no different to having a holiday cottage up or down the coast!! Our new site is a huge improvement from where we were, and we have even taken to watering the grass to keep our lawn green!! I've drawn the line at mowing though!! The groundsman Alex, looks after all that stuff!!

Coffee at Town Beach Café.

These Sea Leg boats are popular

since the tide goes out so far.

When we called in at Town Beach Café we lamented with owner Stan, the huge evacuation. He has been in Broome at the café for 5 years, and has been amazed each year. He reckons that September/October are the best two months of the year, and so far, we are in complete agreement. We visit Stan two or three times a week, and it is lovely to be greeted warmly by name, and have your coffee order placed without having to move your lips!! Stan has even shouted us a free coffee, which was a great gesture. It is the best café location in Broome, and we have whiled away many an hour chatting and watching the activities out on Roebuck Bay, and Town Beach. The weather has been wonderful. It is so predictably good.

With Sammy the Dragon.

Japanese Dancers.

The month of September sees the celebration of the Shinju Matsuri Festival, the Festival of the Pearl. It is in its 43rd year, and is a celebration of the Chinese heritage of Broome. Held in the second week of September, the festival lasts a week, and the locals really embrace the many events that occur all week. We too, got into the swing of things. There are Art Exhibitions, Pearl Jewellery Design Competitions, Fun Runs, extra markets and heaps more. Every organization seemed to be putting on a morning tea or lunch!! The information booth, set up all week in the carpark of the Roey Hotel, saw a constant stream of visitors, and the first day of the festival got off to a huge start, as the cruise ship Sea Princess was in town for the day!! It is hard to miss the extra 2000 visitors in a town the size of Broome!! The huge ship, sitting at the end of the wharf at the Port, on the turquoise waters of Roebuck Bay is quite a sight.

Waking up Sammy.

Cooling the crowd.

For us, the opening event of the festival was The Waking of Sammy the Dragon. This took place out on the lawns at the Civic Centre, and was followed by a parade into town, and a free concert at Male Park on the edge of town. We were blown away by how many people turned up, mostly locals, and the standard of the costumes and the presentation of the floats in the parade were first rate! Sammy the Dragon was a beauty, and he twirled and twisted his way through the local streets, to the frantic beating of drums and sounds of fireworks. The floats featured the local dance groups, and followed Disney themes, cartoon themes and things we just didn't understand. But one thing was for certain, it was all fun. All the emergency services were involved, with the favourites being the local Fire Brigade, and Bush Fire Brigade, who took great delight in hosing down the crowds! The biggest buzz of all came from the huge Fire Truck from the airport, whose water cannon fired lots of water a huge distance, and no one was safe!!!

The winning sculpture.

Lots of good entries.

Mid week, we took in the sculptures on display, on the lawns at Cable Beach. They were very good, and we were tickled pink that our favourite took out the award for best sculpture. In town at the Good Cartel Café, they were running a fun photographic event called "Coffee Dogs". Photos of owners and their dogs were submitted, and the public got to vote for their favourite photo. We both put in a vote. There were some great photos. We never did find out the winner!! It should have been an overall dead heat. They were all fantastic. The Dragon Boat races got cancelled because it was too windy, which was a real shame. If they had waited a couple of hours they would have been OK, as the wind dropped off as it usually does. We wandered through the many galleries and jewellery shops looking at the exhibits. There seems to be so much art and jewellery these days. You can only wonder how they make a living. There is no doubt that there are so many talented and passionate people around.

Setting our lantern free.

Lanterns heading to sea.

On the Friday night we joined in the Floating Lantern Matsuri. This is a ceremony dedicated to the memory of passed love ones, whereby their spirit is sent out to sea. We had previously purchased our lantern pack from the Information Booth, and assembled and decorated it. The lantern design was quite ingeneous. An open box, made from hard plastic, was assembled and glued together. You got to decorate it with your own designs using paints, crayons, stickers, glitter etc. provided. A Perspex cap and rudder, inserted into the polystyrene base, held it all together and ensured it didn't capsize. We all gathered out at Gantheaume Point on the Friday evening on sunset. It was a big crowd of onlookers as well. As the sun set, we all lit the little candles in our lanterns and started to head out into the water to set them free. It was quite a sombre mood, and quite a few tears were shed as the lanterns drifted away on the breeze and current. As darkness crept in, the lanterns presented a beautiful sight bobbing about and drifting out to sea.

Sunset Long Table Dinner.

Chef Adam Liaw.

Saturday, the big ticket event of the Festival took place. The Sunset Long Table Dinner on Cable Beach, was introduced last year, and was so popular that this year the numbers were raised from 150 to 400 guests. It was already sold out when we heard about it, but we went down for a look. Dress was listed as smart casual, but in fact turned out to be everything from formal, to shorts and T Shirts!! There was of course a celebrity chef, this year Adam Liaw from Master Chef. Drinks were served at the Surf Club overlooking the beach, and as the sun set, the guests made their way down to the beach to the dinner table. The whole event had to be brought forward an hour because of a miscalculation on the tide! A pretty smart place to hold an event like this. No problem with the guests not wanting to leave. By 10.00pm the table would be under water!!

Crowded Amphitheatre.

Fireworks to end the night.

Sunday was the Festival Finale, with a huge family picnic, concert and fireworks all staged in the grass amphitheatre at Cable Beach. The car park became a street market of food stalls and vendors, and it was a wonderful atmosphere as a huge crowd gathered. It seemed like everyone in Broome was there. We took our chairs and small table, and feasted on tasty foods from Mexico, Thailand and the Philippines, washed down with our BYOG. The concert presented an interesting mix of artists, with the headliners being Archie Roach and the Pigram Brothers, neither of whom we have heard of!! Sammy the Dragon was put back to sleep for another year, and the fireworks display was excellent. It would be hard to imagine a nicer setting, and it was only a short walk home!

There always seems to be something to do in Broome. As the month neared its end,

Matso's Brewery, celebrated Oktoberfest, early. The whole place, and all the staff, were decorated in German theme, and we enjoyed a couple of hours listening to the live music. It was a bit of a price gouge though. Beer prices were up from the every day prices, and they were selling German Sausages in buns for between $12.00 and $19.00!! That was the Wurst part!! Still, Matso's is such a lovely spot to sit and relax, either on the verandah, where we were, or under the huge Mango trees. Actually, on the previous Saturday, we had called in to try breakfast at Matso's, and it was very good.

Beautiful Broome Golf Club.

Now that's one ugly fraulein!

We have played a little golf at the very good Broome Golf Club. We go early to beat the midday heat, but there always seems to be a breeze. The Clubhouse is just a tin shed, serving bottles of beer, but situated on one of the only hills in Broome, it commands amazing views out over the course and Roebuck Bay. It is a shame they don't serve food! Of course we have been hitting the beach. The tans are getting pretty good now!! We had a crocodile sighting off Cable Beach, which caused quite a stir for a day or two. The beach was closed for a day, but with the water so clear it was easy to see that the croc had left. Apparently the crocs come out of Willie Creek, just up the coast, when the sea temperature rises. Crocs don't like cold water as they are cold blooded. That is why they sit on the bank soaking up sun. At present, sea temperatures are up, so hence the crocs come out to sea. They don't have to fly spotter planes. There are so many tourist flights by fixed wing and helicopters, there is no chance of a croc sneaking in!!

Sun Pictures.

The Cartel "Coffee Dogs".

We had a fun night at the outdoor Sun Picture Theatre. We went to see the Tom Hanks movie Sully, which is the story of the pilot who crash landed a passenger jet on the Hudson River in New York, saving all passengers from certain death. As the tension rose on the screen, and the jet was about to hit the water, a real life one came zooming in over the theatre to land. Everyone in the theatre crapped themselves!! Then there was the delayed laughter of the embarrassed!! Sure beat surround sound!!

Sea Princess in Broome.

Well that about sums up our recent life in Broome. September weather has been so good here, and the weather down south and over east has been all wet, cold and windy, so we won't be leaving any time soon!! It is the great advantage of owning a retirement home with wheels. The wheels go where the weather is best!! Looks like we'll be extending through until the end of October. We'll just keep watching the weather, and take it a week at a time. Right now, the final term school holidays have begun, and there are quite a few more people in town. Most have flown in as it is a hell of a drive from anywhere to get here! The caravan park population hasn't changed much, but just to make sure, I've asked Stan to put the reserved sign our table at the Town Beach Café!