Al and Zita had managed to get in touch with the Horizontal Falls people. Apparently they have a mechanical breakdown with a pump but offered us a change to a rather different tour on Monday 26th instead of the cancelled one on Thursday 22nd. We’ve booked in for this so now we have to find 3 more days of accomodation in/near Broome to get us up to the morning of the 27th. It also means that we will be fast-tracking the trip down to Karijini over a couple of days instead of five days once we leave Broome.
We are scrambling to plan how we will manage all this, but aware that there is plenty to see in and near Broome and that this will give some time up the sleeve for Al and Zita’s van repairs to the electricals in Broome even if they get held up.
We stopped at the Mowanjum Arts Centre just a little out of Derby to learn more about the Windjana artwork and how it fits with aboriginal culture. No photos taken here due to their “ no cameras “ policy. Then, after a quick stop to see the “Frosty Pool” ( a small pool built for the military in the past) we were on the road to Broome.
We lashed out like big spenders and bought pies and ice creams for lunch at the Willare Bridge roadhouse next to the Fitzroy River before continuing on. We washed these down with a free cuppa for tired travellers. This is actually not a bad little oasis , with lawned sites and a swimming pool.
We came into Broome and found a camping shop where we found a chair to replace our broken one. Camping chairs are essential.
Then we drove down on to Cable beach and wow!!!!! What a contrast to Derby. This magnificent white beach with stunning clear water and the smell of the beach was so fantastic. We parked on the beach and went for a swim in the warm salty water. Wonderful!!!!
The whale watching tours go out from here using this tricky little land/water craft for the transportation out to the bigger boats
We are not due at our Airbnb till tomorrow so we decided to follow up on advice and head for the bird observatory. We could have camped in any number of spots off of the sandy, corrugated track, but decided to drive to the actual sanctuary and have a look. They hadn’t been answering our phone calls, but when we arrived we were greeted by a national parks camp host and given the last empty spot in their little campground there. Our$36 gave us access to showers and toilets and a really terrific camp kitchen surrounded by mesh (they call it the shade house).
We took ourselves down to the beach through the scrub to see the last of the fading light.
We were there to hear their regular 6:30 bird call (90 birds found within 70 km of the observatory) as we ate our tea in the camp kitchen.
We booked in for a shorebird tour the next day and took ourselves off to bed to prepare for the early start.
Luvapuzzle 