DAY 43 – Broome

Good Morning Broome!
 
Low 19°c (66°F) – High 33°c (91°F)
50km
 
Well it didn’t take long – a quick conversation this morning and Shane was up to the office to extend another day here and lucky for us the site is available. 
 
Shortly thereafter we received a message from a friend letting us know that tickets to comedian Jimmy Carr had gone on sale for a venue an hour from home.  After trying to no avail to purchase the pre-sale tickets online and making 8 calls to the venue – 7 of which got disconnected after being on hold for about 5 minutes each – we finally got through and made the purchase.  Who knows how that will go because the show isn’t until March next year so here’s hoping I remember we bought them but looking forward to seeing him live!
 
So after all the important stuff was done we ventured out to have a look around Broome.  WOW – what a gorgeous place.  Often times popular tourist destinations are talked up by publicity and don’t live up to their reputations but this place is so pretty.  I’ll have to take more photos of the town centre but it is so different with all its gardens and so tidy.  The buildings are unique in style.  No really tall buildings, lots of Asian influence in style, some gorgeous homes and gardens.  Of course many with tropical gardens which both Shane and I love.  And then there is the water, such an incredible vivid blue with the contrasting rocks and soil colour.
 
One thing I did notice as we drove around town was that none of the buildings, residential or commercial, have gutters around the edge of their roof.  Apparently this is because guttering would not cope with the amount of rain falling on the roof during downpours in the wet season.  Another curious fact is that there are no mail deliveries to homes in Broome – people have to collect their mail from one of 5 banks of post boxes around the town.  There are also no traffic lights here, just a lot of roundabouts and divided roads.
 
Our first stop was Town Beach where a couple had been having lunch and were surrounded by seagulls and kites all hoping to catch a morsel to eat.  I love watching the kites soar, so graceful but also they can be so swift if they spot food.
 
Near the Jetty is a unique memorial to those who died in the bombing attacks from 1942.  It was sad reading the stories but the way they are displayed on human forms really makes it a moving and somber experience.  I can’t begin to imagine the terror and confusion people felt at that moment.
 
We did a bit of a drive around some of the housing estate in that area – so many beautiful homes with almost a Balinese influence and gardens to die for.  Meanwhile on the beaches, great rock formations provided an interesting contrast to the pristine sand and clear blue water.  The tide was out so it was an opportunity to fossick around rock pools and mini caves and even drive onto the sand in some places which seems to be a really popular pastime here.  Kitty enjoyed a little walk on the beach, something she has always responded positively to but these days she is a little apprehensive about going for walks with her sight being so poor.
 
We also took a drive back to Cable Beach to see where the famous Camel rides take place.  As I was heading back to the car one group of the camels were arriving.  We don’t want to ride the camels but were hoping to take some photos at sunset.  Unfortunately there are so many people on the beach and sadly worse than having a whole bunch of people there are a whole bunch of cars parked so you just can’t get a decent photo of them as Shane discovered when he went back at sunset to try.
 
Back to camp for a late lunch and a bit of a break.  Kitty was a bit tired of the back of the car so I decided to stay at the van so she could stretch out and relax for the afternoon while Shane went back to check out the markets and the sunset.  Once again it’s so nice to be able to sit outside under the awning for dinner and to enjoy the warmth.