When in Broome

 

Saturday 29 May 2021 – When in Broome

Today was a mixture of business and pleasure so after a leisurely breakfast of bacon and egg wraps we hopped in the car and headed into Broome.

First on the agenda was a trip to the Broome bookshop to make sure we had new and interesting reading material for the Gibb River Road as we will be without internet for most of the time.  We were there early and it’s probably one of a handful of times the owner has people standing on her front doormat waiting eagerly for the doors to be unlocked.  Potential future book club book purchased and Larry with another thick Peter Fitzsimons to devour we headed over the Courtyard markets and wandered around the various mango themed or pearl themed stalls.  Only ended up purchasing some hot cinnamon donuts (never can walk past those!) then it was back in the car and down to Town Beach to check out all the upgrade they have done. 

Well they have certainly spent a lot of money and have done a very good job with lots of terraced lawns, seating areas, picnic areas, paths and a spanking new boat themed playground.  Even the rubbish bins were Broome themed and labelled so that the Shire of Broome gets full credit for the facilities.   Very impressed and Town of Cottesloe could learn a lot with their foreshore redevelopment.

Back to the car and after a quick trip to the camping store and Repco for various things we need to have on the GRR, we then drive down to check out Cable Beach and the new overflow short-stay caravan park they are trialling in one of the carparks – looks quite nice but not very secure!  Time to refuel the car before heading to Matso’s for our midday booking.  Lucky we did book as it was busy when we got there and only got busier whilst we were there.  We had a nice table on the verandah in the shade (about 32 degrees by now) and Larry had his customary mango beer (or two) while I tried something different and had a Hard Berry which was very nice and refreshing especially served in a glass of clinky ice.  L and I shared some salt and pepper squid and a serve of grilled fish and chips and just enjoyed being in Broome and together.

                                   

Our romantic interlude over it was back to the other inevitability of being married to Larry – a trip to Bunnings.  Ho hum.  A few bits and pieces for the van and then time to hit the shopping centre for all the groceries needed to sustain us until we get to Kununurra in nearly 2 weeks time.  Also to the chemist to get all the drugs Larry requires to combat his hay fever/cold – still haven’t decided which it is.  Our final stop was the grog shop so I could top up my cider supply only to discover Broome is having some special ‘lockdown’ this weekend and only half strength beer and one bottle of wine per customer permitted. Disaster!  Larry was very smug (and not that sympathetic to Jenny’s plight) as he has secreted at least two slabs of beer somewhere in the van.  Still, I did manage to wipe the smile off his face when I suggested I might have to start drinking that if my cider runs out!

Having pretty much filled the van with all our purchases over the day it was time to head back to the van and find places to put it all.  Took quite a while but we managed it in the end and then Larry spent some time doing various things to the van to prepare it for the rough roads we will face from Monday onwards (tomorrow will still be on bitumen). 

We spent some time trying to tune the television and caravan radio so that we could follow the Eagles game and ended up having to listen to it on our phones.  We ate dinner at half time (Continental chicken curry pasta pack with some of a hot chook and fresh veg added) and then retired inside the van for the rest of the game.  Eventually decided it was more fun to go and have a hot shower and do some pack up than listen to commentators just recite various Essendon players names so not a very happy end to the day.  Now blogging etc until it’s 9 o’clock and our official ‘go to bed’ time.  It’s much quieter here tonight as it is the weekend and there is way less trucks on the road.

Experimental Washing Day

 

Friday 28 May 2021 – Experimental Washing Day

We both had terrible sleeps last night – my mistake was having a hot drink after dinner and hence it was up and down a few times to the toilet, Larry’s probably was the windy conditions bringing on hay fever symptoms.  It was also quite hot and stuffy in the van as the day had been sunnier and the MDC seems to retain the day’s heat for quite a long time.  Our Sirrocco fans are certainly getting a workout!

After Vitamin C drinks and toast for breakfast we packed up the van which took a fair while as a three night stay had meant we had unpacked most things including floor mats, table and chairs etc.  We were on the road by about 9ish and followed a convoy of cars and caravans leaving about the same time up to Sandfire Road House to refuel.  Tut tutted a couple who fuelled up and then both wandered in to the roadhouse together before finally heading back to their car and caravan at a leisurely stroll clutching their roadhouse fare even though there was a large line of cars/vans waiting to refuel at their bowser.  For those newbies out there, the etiquette is to fuel up, send one person into pay and then move your car/van out of the way of the bowser for the next person THEN go in to do a leisurely perusal of the bain marie.  Also had to roll my eyes at a Boomer who burst through the door of the roadhouse and shouted “Number 4 thanks love!” at the lady behind the till blithely ignoring the queue of people waiting to pay for their fuel.  Fortunately she was made of hard bitten country stuff and firmly (but more politely than he deserved) put him in his place.

A couple of hours drive north in a convoy of vans with an equal number going past heading south with the only excitement being two large overwidth trucks to negotiate.  Fortunately there are a number of floodways in these parts where the road widens enough for caravans to get past these big loads.  Heading across Roebuck Plains it was easy to see that there had been a good wet and the flood plains had actually been just that with a lot of green pasture and a lot of robust looking cows “heads down bums up” turning cow into beef.

Arrived at Roebuck Plains Road House about 1ish and after setting up decided to stay put for a while rather than heading into Broome as Larry was still feeling a bit average and it was very pleasant sitting in our grassed shady spot out of the 33 degree heat.  So we had a leisurely lunch and then dealt with our experimental washing load.  We had found a collapsible rectangular bucket with lid that was the perfect size for the kitchen sick so, before leaving 80 Mile Beach, we had filled it with a small load of washing, detergent and enough water to cover the clothes, and ‘swooshed’ them for 3 hours in the van to see if it’s a way to keep on top of washing our smalls whilst on the Gibb.  It seemed to have worked but they still needed rinsing so, in the end, it was easier just to throw them and the rest of the things that needed washing such as towels and tea towels, into a washing machine in the caravan park.

Sat and chilled in the shade until the washing was done and hung out then thought we would pop along the road to The Mango Place where we had been to last time with Kate hoping for a mango smoothie for afternoon tea and maybe purchasing some mango chutney again.  To our dismay it was no longer there which is surprising as I had thought it was very popular and successful.  We decided we may as well continue on into Broome.  On the way I told L to Google a new distillery I had heard of that has opened in Broome that do a couple of gins so we headed there as it was in the new industrial area on the outskirts of Broome.  So we didn’t quite get into Broome proper and, much like our first trip in 2016 when we had to head straight to an industrial area to buy batteries , this time it was straight to an industrial area to buy gin (so obviously more enjoyable and a heck of a lot cheaper).

Although not in the most salubrious of surrounds, the Moontide Distillery was sparkling new and as a young boutique business (10 months young) it only does two gins, an aniseed spirit and a bitters.  All have a distinct ‘Broome’ tilt to them with the use of lots of native botanicals and use of mango, pineapple and coconut.  We had a try of all four of them neat then bought a tasting paddle consisting of the White Pearl Gin, served with tonic, grapefruit, lime; the Black Pearl Aniseed Spirit served with lemonade and garnished with lemon and star anise; and a lemon, lime and bitters with the Roebuck Bay bitters, lime cordial and lemonade garnished with lime and mint.  All served with loads and ice and all delicious and so refreshing on a hot day.  To our surprise our favourite was the aniseed spirit but we also really liked the gin and the bitters and luckily they had a gift pack of all three in convenient, caravan-sized bottles so we are set for the next few weeks.  If we get through those out on the GRR I hear the distillery in Kununurra now does a gin as well....

We took a lot longer at Moontide than expected so we headed back to Roebuck Plains RH just after 4pm.  Even then the shadows were getting long and we had to remind ourselves that we are already a lot further east than Perth and the sun sets much earlier than we are used to.  Still there was time to get back, get in the washing and have a swim (or foot paddle mostly) in the still freezing CP pool and then have showers before it got completely dark.

Headed over the Road House tavern for our standard fare when we stay here – juicy steaks with creamy garlic sauce, chips and an enormous salad with a whole boiled egg.  We got there right at the start of food service and were glad we did as the place was heaving – far busier than other times we have stayed here – probably a mixture of all the Covid campers plus, it being a Friday night, quite a few locals as well.  A huge queue formed to order dinner shortly after we ordered so that was well timed.  We had to share a table but no biggie as they were like minded travellers and so it is easy to pass the time telling caravan stories.  A very pleasant evening even though we both watched another footy tip go down the drain with Melbourne flogging the Bulldogs.

Back to the van for a spot of blogging and for Larry to sort out Luke with our footy tickets for tomorrow night.

High tide

 

Thursday 27 May 2021 – High tide

As the high tide wasn’t due until 11:15 we had a cooked breakfast, Larry’s scrambled eggs were “ok”. He is still getting used to the marine bbq that came with the van and getting the right temperature can be a bit tricky.

After brekky and some sorting of some fishing tackle we were off again in search of the elusive big fish. Trundling along the beach a bit further so as to make it a 2 beer trip back we set up with the car parked above the high water mark facing the dunes as per normal (take note:  important).

We threw our bait out and set ourselves for some action. Well that didn’t happen as the tide was a super high one and the wind was blowing extra hard from a more nor-east direction so the bait was coming back in quickly. The big rod with the heavy sinker stayed out but the 2 smaller rods were an effort. We knew it was going to be a very high tide so had put the car high up on the beach out of the way but the water kept coming.

Larry stopped fishing as the car became the priority. He moved it up a few metres and we thought that would be ok but 20 mins later realised that was definitely not ok. The tyres were already down to 25psi so L dropped the pressure further to 18psi. Dug away some sand, raised the car suspension and this time he was going to go parallel to the beach as high as he could. Jenny was looking on feeling a bit stressed (as is Jenny’s want when sand and the car (and water!) is involved. Backed back a bit, close to the lapping waves and gave it a healthy dose of right foot and went on a 45 deg until stopped again. Backed back a bit and more right foot and we were away with apparently an impressive amount of sand being flung and we ended up parallel to the water but up high. referring to the pic below the eventual high tide was the water reaching nearly to the rods but we knew that was going to be the highest level.

Jenny’s stress levels reduced and we were back to fishing. We caught a salmon but as it was borderline legal we threw it back after getting photographic evidence.  Time to pack up as the tide was receding and it was getting a bit warm. It was a 2 beer trip back to the CP but we called into the wash bay and gave the Jeep a good hose to get off the salt and sand.    

                        

Not much else to report other than a few more beers and some chores done in getting ready to depart for Roebuck Plains road house tomorrow. We are having a roast and this will be the first in the marine bbq. We do miss the Weber.

The roast beef was delicious so another tick for the bbq.

The One that Got Away

 

Wednesday 26 May21 – The One that Got Away

 Casual start to the day the only thing on the agenda was to go fishing at about 9am. Packed the car with the fishing tackle bag, bait and bucket and off we went to the beach in eager anticipation that today was the day to bring home the big one. Well not quite as we caught quite a few soapie’s(juvenile mullaway) and a few small skippy (trevally) AAAANNNNDDDDD Jenny lost a monster fish/shark/ sting ray or whatever. 

Apparently it is Larry’s fault even though he was fishing 10 meters away and running to help. Quite impressive to see the beach rod bent so far and Jenny was, we shall say excited, and all of a sudden the rod went straight and there was nothing on the end of the line. We had a bust off and apparently it is Larry’s fault because Jenny wound the drag in as that’s what we always do when the line is being peeled off by a fish. Yes that is the case when fishing for bream in the river but not in the ocean with a big something peeling line off.

At least we got some exercise but we learned a few things for tomorrow. The wind was annoying and apparently it will be the same for tomorrow but we only have tomorrow to catch the big one so we will be out there again. It was only a 1 beer drive back so we might go further up the beach to make it a 2 beer drive back. Have to keep hydrated.

Back to the snugger for lunch and a couple of refreshments and Larry did some repairs and mods to the van.   Finished off the door blind and that is now working well.  Glued Jenny’s handbag and that is good to go for a while. The important thing was the van’s electrical cable was damaged on the way here.  By the look of it, it was pinched in the hitch most likely when we were turning tightly and it damaged the outer cover and Larry found 1 wire broken and insulation peeled back on another 4 wires. Could have been worse so separated all the wires, joined the broken one and wrapped insulation tape around each individual wire and then all of them to form a tight bundle for protection. Plugged the cable into the car and Jenny expertly gave the thumbs up to all the lights working on the van.

Whilst Larry was ‘playing’ with the van, Jenny did a load of washing so we are all up to date with the essentials. Larry has a mission to drink all the stubbies in the Waeco as we can’t take them on the Gibb so he has been dedicated in that pursuit.

Larry walked to the beach and put his new drone up to get the feel of it in a wide open area so more video downloaded to be put into a trip package when we get home. Jenny walked to the beach and messaged Larry to come down as the tide was way out and as there were clouds around so it was a great sunset. Larry found Jenny halfway out to the water (so about 500m out) and she had taken some great photos with the reflection of the sunset sky reflecting in the wet sand.

We now know why it is near impossible to buy a 200 series Landcruiser in WA as a fair portion of them are at 80 Mile Beach CP. It is quite incredible the amount of them here.

Chicken katsudon and rice for dinner and most likely followed by an early bed.

Larry’s “Day One”

Tuesday 25 July 2021 – Larry’s “Day One”

According to Larry, today is the first day of our holiday as he isn’t doing a half day of work and isn’t anywhere near Newman.  Unfortunately Larry’s tired brain last night didn’t remember he was on holiday today so we were reminded of Larry’s usual work day routine when his alarm went off at 4.30am!  Suffice to say it won’t be happening again!!

We dozed on until it was light and then enjoyed looking out at our surrounds which we hadn’t seen arriving in the dark.  We noticed that the grass is a lot higher than the first time we stayed here when we were out in paddocks in a sea of cow pats.  No chance of that now and all the vans were on the gravel  roads and by-ways.

We had a leisurely coffee and breakfast but our early awakening plus the very limited pack up required with the van still hitched meant we were driving away by 7.45am!

We had a leisurely drive up the coast and would have had brilliant fuel economy except for the fact that it was howling a gale and overcast and rainy – not what we were expecting at all!  A quick stop at Pardoo roadhouse to partake of their facilities and then trundled on to Eighty Mile Beach and the caravan park.  We saw lots of vans heading out as we got there at check out time so we weren’t panicked about not being able to get a spot (Eighty Mile CP being one of those places you can’t book ahead) and sure enough, we got a powered site and set up on a nice grassy spot under a tree.  A very cloudy and windy day so lucky we don’t have to worry about solar power for the next couple of days.

                              

We had a leisurely set up and then wandered up and down the rows of vans checking them out.  There are a lot of vans here from all over Australia and everything from old Jaycos to a top of the line Zone and lots of big vans towed by big Cruisers and RAMS.  Larry only turned a little green at some of the set ups and was a little too gleeful about one bloke who was having trouble unhitching his brand new Cruiser from his brand new 22 foot Crusader.

We headed back to the van for lunch of toasted ham, cheese and tomato sandwiches with the Onion Jam that Jen had squirreled away months ago for just such an occasion and they were really yummy.  Why does food always taste that much better when you are on holiday?  We also had a cup of soup each as the weather looks so wintery today (even though the temperature is still shorts and t-shirt weather).

After a suitable length of chilling out we went for a drive along the beach and marvelled at the size of the beach when the tide is out.  Got out and wandered down to the shore line checking out all the tiny sea creatures left behind in the puddles and collecting shells etc.  Larry tested out his new Go-Pro in the car and along the beach and Jenny,  influenced by her friend Karen who always takes amazing photos and looks for interesting perspectives, tried to do same (and probably failed miserably!)

Back to the van and spent the rest of the afternoon getting the blog started and fiddling around with van related things. Steak and salad for dinner tonight and hopefully the weather will improve tomorrow, the wind will drop and the fish will bite!

Half day holiday

 

Monday 24 May 2021 – Half day holiday

Larry had done the gentlemanly thing and slept on the air mattress with a sleeping bag so that Jenny  could have his single bed in his unit.  Consequently neither of us slept very well as air mattresses are never fun and Jenny was too cold in the air conditioning and too worried about falling out of a single bed (when she is used to a king sized one) to sleep very well.

Larry headed off to work whilst it was still dark (and also cold and wet as the weather had closed in overnight) and Jenny managed to sleep on until about 7am.  Up and breakfasted and rang Larry who came back from work to drive me around to the van which we then drove back to the units and unhitched.  L headed on back to work again and Jen took the Jeep to refuel and then a trip to Woolies to stock the van with all the perishables.   It had been interesting to note that last night the whole carpark in front of the visitor centre, as well as the overflow down at the oval, had been chocablock with caravans but they had mostly driven away by the time I drove past this morning.   Back to the van and Jenny used all her spatial awareness skills to squeeze a trolley load of food into fridges and cupboards only to remember all of the stuff in Larry’s unit fridge that also had to be squeezed in!

Larry had sweet talked his bosses into letting him leave work at ‘lunchtime’ so he was back at the unit  a few minutes before midday.  A quick change for L (bye bye high viz for 7 weeks!) and we had the van hitched, unit keys dropped off and had hit the road by 12.30pm.

Just as we were congratulating ourselves on a quick getaway we realised we had hit Great Northern Highway just as an overwidth load passed the intersection heading north so we had a very slow trip out of town.  We probably could have walked faster!  Then it was three of four sets of roadworks heading north with all of the road shoulders being retarmacked.  Interesting to note they had also closed off all of the rest stops with signs saying “closed, please use next rest stop” except that when you got to the next rest stop it was also closed and had the same sign.  A quick text and FYI to Miranda whilst we had reception but hopefully most of the work will have been done by the time they drive through in a couple of weeks.

 

We decided to just drive as far as possible today to make a dent in the km’s up to Broome so basically just drove for six and a half hours with only a short stop at Auski (just long enough to a toilet break and for Jenny to fall over in the carpark in true Ben style – oh well, at least my calamity for the trip is already over and only a grazed knee to show for it) and another stop in Port Hedland to refuel.

We eventually made it to De Grey river campsite about 7ish and fortunately Jenny’s two major concerns about driving in the dark (one being hitting a cow wandering onto the road followed by arriving at a full campsite and not being able to find a spot) didn’t happen.  The roads were devoid of animal life and, although there were quite a few vans at De Grey, there was plenty of room for us and we quickly found a level spot away from other campers and soon had dinner cooking.  A quick meal of calamari on the hotplate tossed through a crunchy noodle salad went down a treat.

Although it had been cool and cloudy in Newman in the morning it had warmed up as we headed north and it was still in the low 20’s when we went to bed so we had all the windows open and the Sirroco fans whirring us to sleep about 9pm.

Let’s get this party started!

 

Sunday 23 May 2021 – Let’s get this party started!

Having sent Larry and van ahead to Newman at the beginning of the week

Jen stayed in Perth for a few more days of work, dentist, haircut and last minute trip planning.  Thankfully we had packed the van pretty well so I didn’t have to do a emergency visit to Hendrik and Miranda’s with any forgotten items needing to be transported in their van.  Just a couple of cables etc which easily fitted in my overnight backpack.

A leisurely start to the morning – surprisingly I didn’t wake at the crack of dawn – and Ben drove me to the airport mid morning with Kate and Jordan coming as part of the farewell party (but really so they could go to Costco afterwards!)

The plane left on time and I had a window seat and a whole row to myself which was nice.  Covid has resulted in having to wear a mask in the airport and on the plane but a canny traveller I know (ie Larry, who does this trip every week) suggested that if you get two drinks and slowly eat your food on the plane you can manage most of the 1 hour 20 minute trip maskless. 

It had been cloudy, cool and rainy when I left Perth but I left the cloud behind about 15 minutes south of Newman and landed in warm and sunny conditions.  Larry was at the airport to pick me up and we headed back to his unit via a few of the highlights of Newman and a drive-by of Phil’s house to check the van was okay.

Larry then headed back to work and Jen spent the afternoon in Larry’s unit completing the puzzles in the magazine bought at the airport and keeping track of the Eagles game.  Having discovered their loss to GWS I was disinclined to watch it on the delayed GWN telecast and watched ‘Restoration Australia’ instead.

Larry was back around 6ish and we jumped in the car to grab the sleeping bag out of the van and then to the Purple Pub’s mess for a quick dinner.  Larry’s workmates tend to congregate in the courtyard back at the units for a couple of beers and a chat or watching the footy after work so we headed back there and joined in.  At  first the lads just had some beer and spicy hot jerky on the table but perhaps my presence encouraged them to up their game as they all disappeared back to their units and returned with cheese, crackers, spicy sausage and olives so that we eventually had an enviable  charcuterie board happening!  A very pleasant and balmy evening but short and sweet and all the boys headed back to their rooms about 8.30am as they have an early start in the morning.