BROOME HEADING STH

,Well hi to everyone, things are going good here weather is so nice & not many people about. This is what has happened since last blog posting....TUESDAY 11 OCT.......Up at 5 & we went for a walk into town and then for the rest of the day we just hung around the camp, as the tide is coming in and the water is so beautiful,so inviting. Rans goes to the Dr's for some scripts ( gout still giving him trouble!) etc. Late arvo John & Rans went on a kayaking trip, where you head off from near the Pier and paddle out and around the pier whilst fishing.

 The trip went for 2 hrs,John caught a baracuda (not edible !) Rans.....nothing ! Rans enjoyed his time out on the water, so smooth & peaceful and after paddling for 2hrs, thinks he may try out for the 2012 Olympics..not likely. WEDNESDAY 12OCT.....The highlight of our trip so far, we boarded a sea plane around 6.45am, along with 8 others, headed up to Talbot Bay in the North Kimberleys. We flew over flat vast land at first then over King Sound, where the Fitzroy River enters the ocean, then over the mountains & hills which spring up near the oceans water edge, it looked so magnificant, we then flew over Talbot Bay, a serene, calm aqua blue water bay, where we landed on the sea & pull up at a floating pontoon, which has a speed boat, a shark cage and an eating/cooking area.

 Here we both got the chance of getting into the shark cage and get up close to Tawny Nurse & Bull sharks,with a underwater clear screen between you and the sharks and an open air cage between you and the shark, it was great one of the blokes was feeding them with only inches away, making sure you don't put your fingers and toes through the cage.(we can tick that off our bucket list now!!)Caz did hang her toes over the side of the barge whilst they were feeding....just to show how close they were to us......she is becoming a real daredevil.

We then had some breakie with this 360deg view of the water with the moutains & ilands surrounding you, it was just so awesome. its just so pretty almost undescribable. We then got on the speed boat (2 x Yamaha 300 outboards!!) and traveled over to what is called the Horizontal Falls. It is where tidal waters hurdle  through 2 narrow gorges (12m & 7m) causing rapids, whirlpools and of course a horizintal fall, where it can be 2-3meters difference from one side to the other, as the tides come in or go out so fast, that it is not wide enough to let the water through.

We got the chance to go through both gorges at least 3 times and even went backwards into one, and for us to be not moving in the falls, we were going 28km/h and they can get up to 50km/h. We were so fortunate as  the next tour would not be able to get through the 2nd falls due to the tide changing so fast. We then went for a cruise up Cyclone Creek. On the way we stopped at a pontoon, where 2 of the blokes & 1 girl live for 8mths of the year, it has a water tank on board, a generator, one bed,  2 hammocks and not much more. Here the driver Christian leant over the side of the boat & picked up a huge bat fish which he has trained to come alongside the boat. We then continued up the river, seeing wonderful escarpments & then returning to the the plane, where we flew off, heading over the Buccaneer Archipelago's, which is over a 1000 islands surrounded by beautiful aqua blue water and uninhabited beaches, with the whitest sand.

We then landed at One Arm Point, an aboriginal community on the ocean where we visited a hatchery for Trochus Shells (the only licenced one in the world) Green Turtles & other sea creatures. We saw how they farm & produce the shell, what they are used for, eg buttons, jewellery and in Asian countries the meat is an afrodisiac. So a lot of the time they illegally enter our shores to steal the shell,  as well as turtles, barra, sea creatures etc off the ocean bed. From here we got on Big Bertha, a 4wd truck/bus that carries 13 passengers.

We drove to Cape Leveque, which is an aboriginal camp on the tip of Nth West WA. A beautiful area where you can bushcamp, or have safari tents (Sand & John had their anniversary up here) or a a beach front shelter. We then had lunch, barra of course at the restuarant ,which has great views.We then went down to the beach for a swim, which was so so good

. We then started to make our way back south along the dirt road,watching a dvd on the way back before stopping at Beagle Bay, a small Aboriginal community, where there is a church built in the early 1900s with shells used as its alter, wall hangings etc.

 Here we had arvo tea, before making our way back to our cara park arriving at 5.15pm, so a pretty long day but well worth it.... so so AMAZING. Our day didn't stop here, as we were still on such a high we got a couple of drinks together and bikkies and went down to Sth Cable beach to watch the sunset, here we caught up with the other 4. They then took off when the sun had set whilst we watched the moon come up. We then and went got a Pizza and sat down on the point with a beautiful moon. After eating we headed off to the pier as the Pacific Sun was in port and was preparing to leave, so we took some "more"! photos before heading back to our van, getting there about 9pm so it was a longgggg dayyy..  THURSDAY 13/10....No sleep in, up early and we walked out onto the mud flats out the front of our park as it is a low tide, we see the old peir and a relic of an airplane, we estimate it is about 1.5km out from the high tide mark, it was a little muddy in parts, sunk in a few places.

 The 3 girls went to the Pearl Luggers Museum, which gave them a very informative insight to the early pearling industry and what the divers had to endure, its was such a hard work & definately a lot were treated very badly.....definitely no unions, work cover, or OH & Sin those days. Caz even got the chance to hold a $100,000 pearl in her hand, if we had of known she could have taken an imitation and swapped!!!

 Then Caz & I went and had lunch at the golf course which looks over the Bay & Lge Pier, then back for swims etc. Late arvo we headed over to the point near the c'van pk, where we set up to watch the "Staircase to the Moon", a natural spectacle where the moon rises over the mud flats, casuing the reflection to look like a staircase up to the moon.(happens only 3 nights each month bet March & Oct) It was very difficult to get photos, unless you had a excellent camera. It is a big event in Broome with  markets set up in a nearby park and music playing, there would have been over 1500 people there.FRIDAY 14/OCT......Up early again & us 2 headed down to the Lighthouse rocks to find the Dinasour footprints.

 There were about  40-50 people at 5.45am looking for the prints on the rocks, as its a low tide, well of course our Carol found the prints, which were quite small considering it was a dinosaurs print but anyway we took some photos. Later that morning the 3 boys and Sand & Carol went down to the pier for a fish....more like to feed the fish!! The tides this week are so fast it is difficult to fish, let alone catch one, anyway we all had a  go, it was fun & relaxing. In the arvo Rans went down and does his theory test for his boat licence & passes, doing the practical on Sunday, he then came back for a snooze, which the whole park heard.....boy can he snore!!! We all then headed down to Cable Beach to have a Sunset Camel ride along the beach.

What a laugh watching us get aboard. Terry lasted a short time and had to get off due to his back injury. There were 14 camels in our group and Caz & I had the camel that was used in "Australia" movie, with Ollie the camel having the previlege of having Nicole Kidman & Hugh Jackman & now US ride him!!! The ride was good, Carol really enjoyed it, but Oh Boy watching Sandra getting off the camel.....she was rather frightened, and with a few hiccups she was finally off !! very happy to be off actually !!! We then immediatley headed into town for a Thai meal which was very nice.  Another great day.

 SATURDAY 15/10.....We sleep in 5.45am 'ye ha'!. Its going to be a hot day so we stayed inside a bit to do computer work, tidy up etc. A few swims in the ocean to cool down.  After lunch Rans went to the Tavern to catch up with an old Woy Woy football mate, Votzy aca Lance O'Sullivan, Sandra dyed Carols hair, then they started packing up as they are leaving tomorrow,we leave on Mon after we get the van serviced. Rans had a good arvo  but it caught up on him early nite, Caz & the Bewells went down to watch the staircase to the moon. SUNDAY 16/10...The other leave early whilst we done some shopping, Rans went down to the pub to watch the Footy, it is the hottest day by far getting up to 42deg. We have absoluely loved our stay in Broome, a great place to stay with so much to see & do, but it is time to move on to see other great parts of the country.

We hope again that you are all well & doing ok. Its now been 5 months since we left on our trip!!! so we are getting closer to see all of you !! Take care, miss you heaps, Rans & Carol XXXXX

P.S. Big HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY TO GREG MANSON & VICKI NUMAN, Happy 25th Birthday to Samantha Murphy all celebrating their birthday on the same day. Happy wedd anniversay to Greg & Lousie, Karen & David & Happy Birthday 51 to Brad.  Also all the best to Mitch Manson doing his HSC.