Day. 89 Thursday. 20th September. Broome

This morning we went out on a whale watching boat at 8.30 am. Our boat  was a lovely approx 20m craft  & sped out in search of whales. The captain found a mother & her calf who we had a good close up of & another larger whale from a distance. It was particularly rough & Leanne did not cope very well with this, spending most of her time at the back of boat with other "sickies".  When we were being ferried onto a smaller boat to go back to shore, this was done in 3 groups. Leanne was the first one to line up for the ride back off the boat!!!!!! In the afternoon we enjoyed a swim &then had happy hour watching the sunset on Cable Beach. Stunning.

Day 88 Wednesday 19th September Broome

Got up at the crack of dawn to go & see the Catalina flying shipwrecks which were shot down during WW2  by the Japanese, about 1 km out from Roebuck Bay. These are only visible at very low tides throughout the year, and luckily we are here for one of them. Since low tide was at 6.35 am we needed to be starting the 1 km walk out at 5.30am!!!! It was quiet erie walking out that early in morning as the humidity was at 100 percent and was like a fine mist in the air. Visibility was about 3 metres so we had to rely upon advise from our neighbors at the CP who knew where to go! We finally found them, partially submerged in sand, took our photos then had to walk back into shore before the tide came back in! Luckily Leanne had a compass on her phone as this was the only way to tell what direction we were going! Leanne went to the hairdresser after this  while Jason did some maintenance on the van. In the afternoon we went for a camel ride at our nearby Cable Beach & watched the sunset. This was a beautiful site, the girls loved the camels & chatted to the guides constantly asking questions about the camels they were riding. When we got back to the van we had a farewell BBQ dinner with Josie & Chris & Milo & Mark & kids, as they are off to Cape Leveque tomorrow.

It was clear at the start, however the mist did role in!!

 

In all there is three plane wrecks. The planes were loaded with people when the Japanese attacked, the remains were moved to unmarked graves at a later stage. 

 Josie Leanne and Lucy, they really are enjoying the walk!!

 The deep sea Wharf, currently the area is having 10m tides, .38m through to 10.86m high tide.

The Camel ride was fantastic!

Day 87 Tuesday 18th September Broome

Another lazy start to the day. Jason took the car into be serviced and we all had an early morning swim.  After this we walked down to Cable Beach and had a coffee and an ice cream while the girls played at the park on the foreshore. We walked along the pristine beach to the well know Northern end of the rocks! Some interesting sites to be seen sunbathing on the beach…!  We walked back along to the surfclub flags the girls had a paddle and played in the sand with the hired beachtoys! ( what a bargain at $2 for hours of fun!) . After this Jason went fishing with Chris and Mark and the girls and Leanne sat around the pool for the afternoon with Josie and Milo.

Day 86 Monday 17th September Broome

Lazy morning around the campsite, girls enjoyed playing with their friends while Leanne and Jason booked the car in for a service, and booked our  sunset camel ride and whale watching cruise. We then went into Broome to collect a few bits and pieces. After lunch Leanne plaited and beaded some of the girls hair by the pool as they had been promised they could have this done in Broome since seeing a women doing it in Cairns. After dinner Lucy, Leanne and Jason had a Uno play off which Lucy won!! 

Day 85 Sunday 16th September Broome

Today we caught up on our overflowing washing pile, whilst the girls played with their new friends around the park. Jason cooled off in the pool in the afternoon with the girls while Leanne went grocery shopping.  We then had a bbq dinner on the beach with Josie and Chris and kids   and some other campers. It was magic sitting on the beach watching the sunset whilst enjoying a few cold drinks and dinner…..

You never can get sick of this!!

Day 84 Saturday 15th September Broome

It was so nice waking up this morning knowing no pack up or driving was required….We headed into the Courthouse Markets in Broome and picked up some bargains. In the afternoon we cleaned out all the dust in the van from the GRR and met up once again with Josie and Chris and Mark and Milo.  Our friends from GRR Mandy and Ben came to watch the footy with us after dinner. Being Queenslanders we filled them in on some of the footy terms!! Jason even tried to recruit them as Carlton members!!!!

The Old Court House Markets.

Day 83 Friday 14th September Winjana Gorge – Broome

Packed up early before the scorching heat came. We hiked  approx. 1km along the gorge track and took in the beautiful serenity of the Winjana Gorge and its wildlife including freshwaters crocs, bats, birds, fish and lizards. We then hitched up the van and headed on to Tunnel Creek. We hiked by torchlight off and on in the shallows of the creek which runs through a tunnel. This was quite refreshing after the many hot and dusty hikes we had done so far! Back on the road into Derby we came onto an asphalt  road  once again which was cause for celebration!!!! No more dust or corrugations…

All we could rummage up to celebrate this momentous occasion was 1 chupa chub! We  all decided to donate it to Jason since  he had done all of the driving along the GRR. We made our way to Derby to view the Boab Prison Tree. The girls were fascinated by this unique tree and had lots of questions about what the tree was actually used for…..We had a look around in Derby the enjoyed Barrumundi and chips on the wharf. We arrived in Broome approx. 5pm and the girls had forgotten what civilsation looked like, Lucy commenting; "Why is everyone dressed up?" We simply said, "They're not dressed up, we are just used to everyone being dusty and dirty!"We checked into Cable Beach Caravan Park. Nice shady spot next to pool.

Winjana Gorge

 Some bats on the Winjana Gorge walk

 Winjana Gorge

 Winjana Gorge

 Leaving Winjana Gorge heading for Tunnel Creek

 Tunnel Creek

 Inside the tunnel which is up to 3km long. 

 Some of the walls inside the Tunnel

 Almost on Bitumen!!! We were told it started from this turn off, but we had a little bit more to go.

 The end of Gibb River Road, all the warning signs etc.

 The prison Boab Tree, where in the early days it was used as a prison when on route from or to Derby.

Frostys Pool was built in the second world war with limited resources for the army as some relief from the heat. It was the first pool to be built in Derby.