8 itchy feet

Had you been sailing the West Australian coast a hundred or so years back and prior to any settlements, it’s not really clear why you would have picked Roebuck Bay to establish a town. Unlike Sydney or other major coastal cities there is no great harbour, just a peninsula where the vast outback meets the vast Indian Ocean. Scarcely a sand dune separates the two. Broome obviously came to be because of the money in pearl shell. Broome continues to be because of the money in tourists. The tourists come because the colours are exquisite, the Indian Ocean is warm, the history is rich and the pearls are pearly white. Continue reading “Day 38-41 Colours of Broome” →

‘Watch your step as you get off the plane. We have a couple of pets down there, and they bite’. No kidding. As we stepped off the seaplane and onto the pontoon three or four unmistakably sharkish shapes could be seen swimming just below the surface. We were in Talbot Bay, the water was blue and clear and all around us the reddish cliffs and hills of the Buccaneer Archipelago stood. The seaplane was tethered to a little complex of pontoons; a floating hotel, harbor and picnic spot. Two sleek looking boats with both with twin ‘V6’ engines the size of wheelie bins stood at the ready, one slightly larger than the other. Continue reading “Day 37 Horizontal Falls” →

We weren’t sure we could fill 5 days in Derby and before we arrived we had been plotting where else we could go for a few days before our booking in Broome. As it turns out, we’re still here on day 5 and have had no trouble filling our days. I’m writing this blog from the Derby Memorial Swimming Pool. This is our third visit. It’s a 25m pool, water park, playground and kids pool… And we are currently one of two families here. The locals think it is too cold at this time of year…. Hmmm it’s 33 degrees outside?! Speaking of the temperature, it’s great for drying washing, there is a slight breeze which helps too. But this, combined with the 12 industrial sized hills hoists was not enough for some people I met at the laundry today. They were one their way to the office to get another $3 for the dryer… That would be $3 for the washing and $6 for the dryer! And they were complaining it was taking a long time… I kept my mouth shut. Continue reading “Day 32-35 Derby days” →