Derby 24-26/8/15
Luckily the idyllic remoteness of the Kimberley decreased gradually, firstly by being at THE (crowded) tourist spot “Windjana Gorge / Tunnel Creek”, so coming into Derby wasn’t as bad as we thought. It only has 5,000 inhabitants and even on the campground we had enough empty slots around us. We did what you have to do when you’re back in a town: stocking up supplies, doing the washing and making yoghurt. The first night we drove out to the jetty – the place to be for sunset. Martin tried fishing while Sarah and I got fish & chips. By the time we had our dinner and found a place to sit, eat, and watch (the sun and Sarah, because there was no railing on one side of the jetty), the sun was already gone but the colours of the sky just got better and better.
We just took it easy, went to an art gallery, tried chairs in a camping store and went to the local swimming pool in the afternoon. We even got a newspaper (which we used for starting the fire a couple days later because there was just nothing worth reading in it). A nice little town – we enjoyed staying there!
Broome 26-30/8/15
Shortly after you leave Derby in direction Broome, there is a gigantic boab tree. It’s hollow inside with a small opening to get in. It was used as an overnight rest shelter, especially by police to lock up prisoners on their journey to Derby gaol – hence it’s name ‘Prison Tree’.
At a nice little rest stop beside the road, halfway to Broome, we stopped for the night.
We arrived in Broome mid morning next day. Broome is the biggest city in the far north of WA (~16,000 inhabitants). It’s also a prime tourist destination and prices are accordingly – very high. There are several caravan parks, hotels and resorts. Tourists bring 200 million to the local economy each year. Unfortunately the caravan parks are filled with grey nomads again – people living down south escaping the winter cold for a couple of months. I say unfortunately as it makes it hard to find other families and kids for Sarah to play with. The percentage of travelling families was much, much higher in those places that aren’t accessible by bitumen roads.
After setting up our caravan, we first drove to the post office. We had two parcels waiting for us, which just missed us in Darwin about a month earlier.
We did some shopping (for groceries), but also had a look at some pearls. Broome is known as the ‘Pearling capital of the world’. It has a rich history on pearling and graveyards (separated according to nationality) full of people who died during their search for pearls. These days most pearls are cultivated and most of the south sea pearls are grown in the waters around Broome. We didn’t buy any pearls as our caravan is fully loaded and we just can’t justify the extra weight in it.
Next day we drove across Broome to the famous Cable Beach, named after a communication cable that linked this part of WA to the rest of the world. These days it’s famous for fine, white sandy beaches, azure blue water and amazing sunsets. Remember, we’re in the West of Australia, so the sun sets over the water here! Just amazing. This must be one of the best beaches in the world. However a sign reading “last Irikandji sting – 5th April 2015” reminded us that we’re still in the tropics with all it’s dangers and stinger season soon approaching again.
We still enjoyed our swim – after all it is a patrolled beach with flags.
Sarah was more impressed by the playground there. It’s a long time since she’s seen one.
We drove back to our caravan park at Roebuck Bay. I wanted to see the lighthouse at Gantehaume Point. I was just stopping for some quick photos, but Sarah wanted to go for a little hike in the middle of the day! So glad she did. The views back onto cable beach with contrasting red rock was stunning. We also got close to a sea eagle by the water and then we watched a young one on top of the lighthouse doing its first flight!
Since I’ve cleaned our car yesterday of all it’s red dust from the Gibb, it was time to take the gravel road to the port of Broome. Just to keep that red tint up on the car.
We went back to cable beach for sunset. As imagined it was pretty good. However Sarah was only interested in the camels just returning from the famous “Cable Beach Camel Sunset Tour”. After watching the tourist get off, she was able to pat some camels. It was a big day for her. On the short drive home to the caravan she fell asleep.
