I got up early today and went for my first run of the trip from Chinatown to Town Jetty and back. I figured that since today marks our halfway point on our trip I guess I should start getting fit for touch when I get back in two months!
We marked this milestone with a relaxing day around Broome. Finished off the day watching the sunset at Cable Beach one more time and then heading to the Town Jetty Thursday markets for dinner.
Today we said goodbye to our beautiful seaside campsite with one last sunrise and walk along the beach. We then travelled back into Broome to the same caravan park as last time (Broome Caravan Park). After setting up camp Theo and I headed to the doctor to get the bit of shell out his foot. Afterwards we went to Spinifex Brewery for dinner, where Theo polished off a rather large chicken parmy.
Today the other three families packed up and headed off to their next camps while we were staying for another night. The three families that were next to each other were all up for sunrise together. For the first time we saw lots of humpback whales in the distance (until now it has only been one or two a day). Several of them were breaching and tail slapping. They were still pretty far from the shore but with binoculars we could see them playing. Closer to shore Olivia was the first to spot the two dolphins swimming along the shore below camp. What a big marine wildlife morning to see our new friends off.
After all the excitement, the kids all squished in as much play as they could before everyone left camp around 10:00am. It was then very quiet. I went for a walk down the beach that was now littered with jelly fish that had washed up the previous night. Later in the afternoon John and the kids went for a snorkel. While snorkelling, Theo got closer to a jelly fish then he was comfortable with so he decided to get out of the water. While making his way to shore he stepped on a rock covered in sharp shells, cutting his heel, and leaving a bit of shell in his foot. We tried to get it out but had no luck. As we were travelling back to Broome the following day we decided to just wrapped it up and take a trip to the doctors back in town.
Since it was our last night at Pender Bay we had a campfire to use up our remaining firewood that we had been lugging around since Litchfield National Park.
Today the kids had another day hanging with the three other families. They spent a bit more time on the beach, but also roamed between campsites playing everyone's card and board games in the shade of the various caravan awnings.
Later in the afternoon the kids had a game of beach cricket follow by more playing in the sand. This time they made a big pizza. With eight slices that each individual got to decorate. It was very cool to see all the different styles and amount of details that went into each slice.
After dinner we hosted part 2 of Ratatouille with all eight kids watching this time, before heading to bed. Again the fires could still be seen burning along the northern coast.
I told the kids the previous night that they were not allowed to get up and play until the sun was fully up and they had had breakfast. I forgot that they would take this as a challenge rather than boundary setting. So when I got up to watch the sunrise over the ocean Theo was up with me waiting for Arlo (from the neighbouring camp site) to have breakfast so that they could both head back and continue adding to their hermit crab world. It wasn't long before Olivia and Arlo's brother Henry also joined in. A bit later in the morning James and Max also joined the construction crew.
Once again the kids were down there for most of the day. Only coming back to camp when asked to put on sunscreen, eat snacks, and fill water bottles. Although we did drag them away from their creation for a swim at low tide off the northern beach.
John and I spent most of the day going for a walk along the beach, looking for humpback whales, catching up on reading, sorting through photos, and writing blog posts 🙂.
In the evening we had a movie night at our caravan for the kids to watch Ratatouille. We had 7 kids crowded around our little TV screen. We started pretty late, so they only got through part of the movie, with the promise to finish it the next night.
Rather then heading straight to Pender Bay we figured we would take advantage of being in the north of the Dampier Peninsula to have a bit of a look around before heading south again to the Middle Lagoon area.
So we packed up the caravan and parked it near the roadhouse so that we did not have to take it with us back up to Cygnet Bay Farm. In the morning we went on the pearl farm tour to learn about the history of the Cygnet Bay pearl industry and the Brown family that have owned the farm since it was started three generations ago. We got a tour of the facilities at Cygnet Bay and learned about all the uses for pearls and oyster shells. The kids got to pick out an oyster for our guide to open up and show the tour group if there was a pearl inside. The guide showed us how to open it and what all the different parts of the oyster are used for. Inside we did find a pearl (and a small crab) and so the next step was to head over to the evaluation room. Here we learning about the way they grade a pearl. It turned out our pearl was not a very good one and not worth anything, which illustrated rather well how the process is not perfect every time.
After the tour we had a quick drink and snack at the cafe before we returned to the roadhouse to pick up the caravan and head into Pender Bay. When we got to the turn off to the Middle Lagoon Road we joined the queue of 4WDs with boat trailers and caravans letting down their tyres for the drive in. When then drove the 33km from the highway into Pender Bay Escape.
Our campsite for the next few nights was on the top of the small cliff above the two beaches in the bay. As we pulled in we realised that a family we had met the previous day, with two boys our kids age, were in the campsite next to us. Our kids ran down to the beach to play with them while John and I set up camp and spotted a humpback whale swim past in the distance.
The kids spent afternoon collecting hermit crabs and creating a world for them to live in out of sand. It was quite the maze of tunnels, hills, and trenches. By the end of the day they had also gain another four boys to help them out. The other boys fortunately were also only a few sites away.
Meanwhile the adults went on a walk along the beach to heart rock at the end of the southern beach or relaxed with a book. Being perched above the beach like were were meant we could keep an eye on the kids without going anywhere. Bliss.
After the sunset we could see the glow of the fires still burning in the distance further along the coast.
Today we once again packed up camp to head up to Pender Bay on the Dampier Peninsula (north of Broome). However just before leaving camp I got a message saying that the road into the Pender Bay Escape campsite was closed by the emergency services due to fires and thick smoke in the area.
We decided to head north anyways as the camp manager was hoping that the road would be open after lunch. We stopped at the Beagle Bay community for lunch and to see the Mother of Pearl Church. The local aboriginal community built this church decorating it with pearl shells.
Just before we left Beagle Bay we received another message saying that the road was still closed. So we looked for an alternate campsite for the night. We ended up getting into the Djarindjin Roadhouse which is run by the community from the northern part of the peninsula.
After pulling into camp, we dropped the caravan and continued north to Cygnet Bay for a look around the pearl farm before heading back to camp for dinner.
At 5:00pm we got a message that the road into Pender Bay was open again, so we could head into our originally planned destination the following morning.
Today we got picked up from the caravan park at 7:00am to head out on a 4 hour snubfin dolphin tour on Roebuck Bay. As the tide was still low we took a tender (small boat) out to the tour boat. The tender was a pretty cool in that it had wheels, allowing it to drive up onto the beach to pick us up. Once on the boat we headed out into the bay. As we headed south we saw a few snubfin dolphins (including a mum and calf), several brown footed boobies, and some green sea turtles. When we turned around to the north again they droped a boom net out the back of the boat so that we could all go for a swim.
Once out of the water we made for some sea grass meadows to see if we could find any dugongs. We saw a few from a distance but they were hard to tell apart from the dolphins. However, we did get a closer look at a baby green turtle, some bottle-nosed dolphins, and a lot more brown boobies.
Just before returning to port we came upon a large pod (6-8) of snubfin dolphins. They stayed near the surface for a while, swimming near the boat. One even turned on its side to give us a good look in the eye. It was an amazing way to finish our tour. We then speed back to shore as we were already 20 minutes late. The kids really loved the fast ride back!
We then had another quiet afternoon at camp before we walked to the Broome Rodeo just down the road from the caravan park. It was family night and we arrived in time to see the bronco and bull riders. None of us had ever been to a rodeo before. Theo noted on the walk over that he was going to see a rodeo when he was only 9, whereas I had to wait until I was 50 to see one. Thanks Theo!
Another early start this time for the kids and I, as John opted to sleep in. We headed out to Gantheaume Point to look for dinosaur footprints in the rocks during the low tide. The footprints at this site can only been seen when the tides are very low, which today was around 7:00am. There were no clues where to find the footprints so we (and around 50 other people there) wandered the rocky shore trying to find them. All I had to go on was a photo from the website, lining up the rock outcrops in the photo we got to roughly the right spot. About an hour after we started looking we finally found one, then a few more.
Once back at camp we again had a quiet day around the caravan park, going for swims and reading books, etc.
I got up early this morning to meet a fellow Antarctic seabird team member who happened to be in Broome the same time as us. Ben and I caught up while walking along the mangroves near Chinatown. Then I had to race back to camp to help pack up so that we could move to the Broome Caravan Park for the next three nights.
As we have been on the move for almost two months now we were all getting a bit tired, so our plan for our time in Broome was to do not much. This first full day was spent doing hundreds of loads of washing (again!), going for a swim in the pool, and then heading to Cable Beach to watch the sunset.
Once the kids were in bed I again headed out to see if I could catch the last night of the Staircase to the Moon. The moon did not rise until 8:30pm and there was no market on, so it was pretty quiet at Town Pier. This time I headed out to the end of the pier and waited, and waited. It was a slightly better night as there were fewer clouds, but it was a bit hazy due to the humidity. Again really cool to see, even for the second time.
