Life in a Humpback

Day 66: Broome (Day 4)

Today we headed out to the Broome Bird Observatory on Roebuck Bay. I think the kids favourite part of the day was hanging out in the observatory discovery centre trying to see how many wing flaps they could do in 60 seconds (to determine the distance they could fly). John held the family record of just shy of 3000m where as the kids are I couldn't break the 2000m mark. Once we all had sore arms we went for a walk along the Pindan Trail and over to the view point out onto to Roebuck Bay. Along the way we saw lots birds, two small snakes, a bower bird nest, a few blue tongue lizards and a large python under one of the buildings.

Back in Broome we had one last look around Chinatown and Town Jetty before calling it a day.

Day 65: Broome (Day 3)

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.

Day 64: Pender Bay to Broome

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.

Day 58: Broome (Day 2)

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!

Day 57: Broome (Day 1)

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.

Day 56: Roebuck to Broome

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.

Day 55: Ellendale Rest Area to Roebuck

Today we drove the rest of the way to Broome. As we arrived a day earlier then planned we had to call around to find a place to stay. In the end we could only find a campsite at the Broome's Gateway Caravan park in Roebuck (about ~20km from town).

Once at camp we all had our first showers in a few days, then headed into Broome to catch the Staircase to the Moon and market. Three days after the full moon in Broome (in the dry season) when the moon rises it reflects across the mudflats to create "steps" of light. We arrived early to wander through the market and grab dinner from the food trucks. As it got dark we set up on the grassy area with a few hundred other tourists to wait for the moon to rise. Sadly when it did there was a lot of cloud on the horizon so there was not much "staircase" but it was still beautiful to watch the moon rise.