Broome

Our friends from Windjana, the Metcalfs, had recommended Roebuck Bay Caravan Park to us, and in particular a beach-front site if possible. So as soon as the office opened we called and sure enough they had a beach-front site available. When we arrive at our site we were blown away by the view. There was the bright blue water of Roebuck Bay just across the grass and down the sand, and the site was massive. You could not ask for a better position.

Maddi up early the first morning to watch the sunrise

After being on the move almost continuously for two weeks since leaving Darwin and only once staying in a place for 2 nights, it was great to unpack a little and relax (yeah right). We did settle in and while we only booked for two nights it was hard to leave even after four. 

There is so much to see and do in Broome, but we managed to do very little in the way of tourist points.   We did however, make great use of the sand flats at low tide for building sand castles and high tide was great for swimming. There were many loads of washing done and plenty of trips to town, where we saw Andrew Metcalf who runs Chunes of Broome music shop. We did our shopping and got hair cuts for the boys.

Kids building sand castles on the mud flats

We did manage to visit Cable Beach one afternoon and the kids and Tig enjoyed a dip while Thea chilled out on the sand. All the kids really enjoyed the waves as our beach at the caravan park was flat water due to the protection of the bay. The sand was not like Sydney sand, it was so compacted it was more like a runway. One lady near us had her bike on its stand beside her on the beach which was such an interesting sight that Thea just had to take a photo. From the beach we headed back up the stairs to the grassy area for more relaxing and playing around, before a quick takeaway dinner while watching the sun set. It was gorgeous. It was a little windy and chilly, so as soon as the sun was down it was back to the van. We saw the 4WDs and camels in the distance but decided we didn't need to venture up the beach, we were just too relaxed or perhaps lazy. 

Cable Beach for another swim

Sun baking with one's bike

Cable Beach for dinner

Cable Beach sunset

While in Broome we had the chance to meet up with another Sydney family traveling Australia in the same direction as us. The Wheatleys were friends of Thea's sister, Saskia. They had left Sydney a couple of weeks after us and have two children, Will (10) and Eleanor (7). The girls had a ball with Eleanor and Thea got a good dose of Will to make up for her missing her nephews in Tanzania. 

We were also fortunate to enjoy a meal with the Metcalf family on our last night. Maddi had found a great friend in their son Bow who is only one week older than her. They made us laugh at how they just got on so beautifully and Bow was greatly missed. 

So after four lovely days, it was time to say farewell to Broome and start the journey south. More or less down the WA coast, which was not without its challenges. Stay tuned for our next blog to read all about our extended stay in Tom Price along with the picturesque spots of Eighty Mile Beach and Karijini National Park. 

Until then.....

Tig and Thea