This Adventurous Age

November 26, 2017
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2000 Travels September 4

MONDAY 4 SEPTEMBER MIDDLE LAGOON

It was a beautiful hot, sunny day.

After breakfast, John went to look for bait and try fishing in the lagoon.

I walked along the beach, right around to the creek.

Creek mouth area – with old limestone reef formations

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Looking from the creek mouth, back towards the settlement, marked by radio mast

The tidal range here is quite pronounced. At low tide, a reef is well exposed at the lagoon entrance. At high tide, it is covered. It is interesting to watch the changes.

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Reef exposed at low tide

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Reef covered at high tide

John got some oysters and crabs for bait. He lost his little plastic bait catcher in the tide – it was not anchored to anything.

After lunch, we went back down to the beach and fished on the rising tide. John let me use the new rod he bought at Wynyard in Tasmania. The red one that was once mine, that John has used a lot, had something wrong with the reel mechanism, it seemed.

I think I got one nibble from something!

I enjoyed the effort, but got a bit tired in the legs after a couple of hours of standing. The sun was strong, too.

We returned to the van about 4pm.

There were lots of birds around the place, in general, and around our site, which was lovely. A pair of tawny frogmouths live in a nearby rough-barked gum tree. There are doves – both peaceful and bar-shouldered, and a funny little mob of brown quail. The great bower birds are really amusing with their antics. We saw singing honeyeaters, rainbow bee eaters, zebra and long-tailed finches, mudlarks. So there was a real variety.

Bower birds

I made soup – green minestrone. John liked it. Tea was some of the soup, and cold roast pork, mashed potato and cob corn again.

November 26, 2017
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2000 Travels September 3

SUNDAY 3 SEPTEMBER BROOME TO MIDDLE LAGOON 187kms

It was Fathers Day today, but there was no contact from any of the offspring, despite the time lag between west and east. John was quite hurt.

John washed the van before hitching it up. Given the sort of road we would be going on, I failed to see the point! But it guess it removed any salt from being so near the sea.

Even doing that, we still managed to get away at 8am!

We had to go to Coles first, because a computer magazine that John bought yesterday did not have with it the disc that it was supposed to have. Apparently, I was supposed to have collected this when going through the checkout.

The drive out to Middle Lagoon was the same route we’d already been on. It was hot and rather tedious. Just red pindan dirt and scrub. There was not much traffic, which was good, considering the nature of the road.

Dampier Peninsula road – note the sand banks at the sides

The van towed well on the sometimes rough road.

Burnt sections by the Middle Lagoon road – probably a deliberate burn off

Paid our camp fees – $198 for the six nights.

We had quite a bit of bother trying to get the van onto the Gum Tree site that we’d booked. The track curves and slope of the land were against us. It was harder than it should have been because a couple of the local men were trying to direct John, but he wanted me to do it. Eventually they realized that he was angry, and went away!

John said we should have gone to a more remote, unpowered site by the beach, instead of me opting for this powered one. However, I was sure he would utilize the power too!

After setting up, John had a sleep, and I went for a long walk along the beach. I thoroughly enjoyed the exercise.

Still life – beach variety

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The beach and huts for campers

There were fewer people here than when we visited last week.

Tea was cold roast pork, potato, corn on cob.

09-03-2000 to ml

November 26, 2017
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2000 Travels September 2

SATURDAY 2 SEPTEMBER BROOME

In the morning, J tried to phone daughter R but got the answering machine and left a message.

We went to the markets and bought some vegetables. Then did the shopping that didn’t happen yesterday. I wanted to go to the book exchange to stock up a little, but John wanted to go straight back to the van so he could watch the football final on TV.

After that was over, we drove around Broome to see if any of the fuel depots were open. They weren’t, so we bought the more expensive fuel from a servo – $1.10cpl.

We did the usual preliminary pack up.

John tried phoning R again – still no answer. He left another message.

Tea was roast pork – very nice and lean.

November 26, 2017
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2000 Travels September 1

FRIDAY 1 SEPTEMBER BROOME

Spring! It really does not make much difference in Broome, except that it is getting hotter.

I worked on letters in the morning, filling in time, waiting for John in order to go and do the shopping. John was working on his next long letter to relatives. I set up the printer to do my letter – which involved hauling it, and paper, out from under the bed and setting it up on the bench. John then claimed it to print his letter to Landrover, asking for compensation money for the bearings fiasco. He then had to go to the Post Office to send it.

I got his lunch organized while he was gone, and he then went to bowls.

I did washing, including the bedding. It all dries really quickly, here.

There were a few people in the laundry, chatting, as one does. A lady came in with a bag of washing. She commented that she was so pleased to be staying two nights in one place, because it gave her a chance to do the washing. She said that she and her husband were driving right around Australia – in four weeks! This was the first time since they had left home, in Sydney, that they’d stayed longer than a night in one place! Basically, they were seeing what was on either side of Highway 1, and not much else. She was not enjoying it.

At bowls, John met and talked for a while with Mary – of the TV documentary program Grey Nomads fame. Her journey around Australia, from the Ballarat area in Victoria, had ended when she decided to stay a while in Broome. It was Mary whom we’d emulated at Wonga Beach in ’98, sitting on the driftwood log on the beach. It was interesting to find that she was still in Broome, several years later. She helps out with cooking at the bowls club, and does some work at the markets, so she has carved out her interesting niche.

For tea I cooked some cobbler from the freezer – it was rather dry. We bought chips to go with it.

Dusk over Roebuck Bay

November 24, 2017
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2000 Travels August 31

THURSDAY 31 AUGUST BROOME

Took the plate to the dentist, early. It had to be there all day, so I walked around with a big gap where one front tooth should be, and tried to keep my mouth shut!

This was, officially, the last day of winter – which is rather a hard concept to believe in, up here.

Left at 10.30 to drive out to Willie Creek. Took the Dampier Peninsula road for a short way, then turned off it back towards the coast, on the road that goes to James Price Point. Then, turned left and drove over tidal salt flats and then beside Willie Creek itself – really a little inlet.

There was a very high tide. We’d been told it was a spring tide and this was a king spring tide because there was no moon, or only a very new one.

Willie Creek at very high tide

Willie Creek is so called because the pearl luggers used to shelter there from cyclones (willies), which are regular occurrences along this coast over the summer months.

We joined the tour group that arrived on the bus, together with a couple of lots of independent travellers like ourselves.

The tour lasted 90 minutes, and was excellent. It was more a talk than a tour, since the actual pearl farms are well offshore. A man explained the government controls and the reasons why Broome pearls are in strong demand.

We learned about cultured pearls – the round ones. Baroque pearls are the odd shaped ones. Keshi pearls are ones the oyster grows without being “seeded”, but in the same sac as the seeded pearl grows; thus they are not the same as a fully natural pearl because they do not have a nucleus. Mabe pearls are half pearls grown on an oyster shell – several on each shell, for earrings and the like – like we bought the other day at the Shell Shop. All of these types of pearl are nacre coated and so have genuine pearl qualities.

Freshwater pearls are imported – grown in mussels in places like Fiji.

The pearl seeding process was demonstrated. This is where a foreign object – a tiny piece of shell mantle, or a bead – is put into the oyster. This is an irritant and the oyster secretes nacre around it as protection, and thus grows a pearl. Back before pearl farming was begun, pearl divers would be looking for oysters where a grain of sand or similar, had been a natural irritant and started the process.

Watching a pearl seeding demonstration

We were offered beer, sultana damper, tea or coffee.

We both thought the tour was excellent value.

They had a gallery there, too. The guide talked up the investment value of pearls, and there were certainly some buyers, afterwards.

I think I like the baroque and keshi pearls the best, because of their irregular shapes.

John also investigated whether he could buy pearl shell here, in the future, and what he would have to do to get some sent.

We drove along a track, from the pearl farm, a little way to the north and then pulled up behind a beach area to have lunch. The area was really bare and barren, but the beach was really long. There were some great shells lying about on it. However, when I investigated more closely, most had hermit crabs in and scuttled away when I put them down again.

We drove back to town – the pearl farm was 38kms out – and did bowls practice for a couple of hours.

Then it was back to the dentist to collect my plate. He’d rebonded the tooth as a temporary measure, but I am to get a new one, at home. That cost $43.

Tea was chicken marylands done with a honey and lemon recipe, with rice. Very nice.

November 24, 2017
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2000 Travels August 30

WEDNESDAY 30 AUGUST BROOME

There was a heavy dew this morning. I could see the fog over the bay, to the south.

Today was another tourist day.

First, we drove around to the wharf area. The jetty was closed because there was a big ship in, so that put paid to our idea of a stroll along its length.

Drove around the red pindan dirt Kavite Road, following the shoreline around to Gantheume Point. We stopped there and looked at the brilliant turquoise sea and the contrasting red rocks. Saw some brilliantly coloured red-backed wrens.

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Contrasting colours at Gantheume Point

Continued driving, on around to Cable Beach again. The tide was right in, so there was not much beach! But we walked around there, for a little while, looking at what there was of the beach, and at the Cable Beach Resort, behind the beach – from the outside of it, though.

High tide at Cable Beach – no 4WD’s on the beach now!

Then we visited the Willie Creek Pearl Farm Gallery, at Cable Beach. It had, to my taste, the best range and styles of pearl jewellery I’d seen in Broome. I bought a freshwater pearl necklace, earrings, and a bracelet made of pearl and ironstone. The total cost was $94, so that was affordable, unlike “proper” sea water pearls! I really liked the colour mix of my pearls – pale pinks and greys and creams. I put an entry in a draw for $500 worth of pearl items – it would be nice!

The gallery had an unusual outside water wall, featuring water running down into a pool, and decorative pools with big carp in.

We went back to the van for lunch.

After that, we drove out to the Broome Bird Observatory, further around Roebuck Bay. We had to drive a little way out of town, then take an unsealed road to the south for a way; it then followed the coast to the Observatory. The road was rather rough, in parts.

The Observatory exists because of the tidal mudflats around Roebuck Bay. These attract migratory shorebirds that breed to the north, in Asia, but there are birds there the whole year round. It is a study and scientific facility.

There was a little campground out there and we wanted to check that out, for future reference, as well as look around. The camp area was basic, but pleasant enough.

We went down to the beach to look for birds, but the tide was right out – a long way away – so, of course, most of the birds were out there too. There were lots of crabs on the flats – big ones – and mud skippers and the like. We resolved to try to come back when the tide was in, and the birds with it. Gave a $5 donation to the place.

Tide out at the Broome Bird Observatory

After a brief stop at the shops in town, that was it for the day.

A tooth on my part dental plate was loose – one of the only two teeth on it! Phoned the only dentist in Broome and have to take it in at 8am tomorrow morning.

Tea was dory and fries – nice.

November 24, 2017
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2000 Travels August 28

MONDAY 28 AUGUST BROOME

There was a thick sea fog this morning, hanging over the town. It was quite eerie.

Today we drove north, up the Dampier Peninsula. We had not been up here before, and wanted to get an idea of whether it would be worth bringing the van up for a stay.

The road was unsealed and rough in parts. Some of it was graded well down below the surface of the surrounding land, and there were banks of sands at the sides of where the grader had gone, so passing oncoming vehicles was a challenge. Someone had to drive part way up onto the sand.

The scenery was rather monotonous – all red dirt and sand roads, dry scrub, burnt in parts.

We stopped first at Beagle Bay, where we paid $5 each to enter the community. I wanted to see the Catholic Church. This was completed in 1918, using mud bricks made on site and mortar made from shells gathered by the community. At that time, the Church was run by Palatine monks, though various orders have been involved at Beagle Bay, over the years, from the 1890’s.

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Inside the Beagle Bay Church

The church decorations are unique, made of shells and mother of pearl. Even the floor is “tiled” with shell inlay.

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Floor detail in the Church. Note the stylized creatures

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Intricate detail at the altar

In some ways, we were lucky to be able to view the church at all, because there had just been a collapse of part of the front, under the bell tower. That area was vaguely roped off and we went in through a different door.

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Partial collapse at front of church

The church really was unique – something special. So much painstaking work had gone into its construction. We hoped that any further collapse and damage could be headed off. It would be a real shame to lose something as unusual as this.

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Luminous effect created by use of shells

We continued north, after some way turning to the west, off the main road to Cape Leveque, to go out to Middle Lagoon, where we’d heard there was a campground.

It was about 30kms from the main road to Middle Lagoon. We paid $8 for day entry to the place.

Middle Lagoon was a most attractive spot. It is so called because a reef extends across the bay entrance.

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Beach and bay at Middle Lagoon

We ate our packed lunch sitting on some rocks, overlooking the lagoon. Then we walked on the beach and found some interesting shells.

Along the beach

There was a campground there, set up by the aboriginal family whose land it is.

We encountered D and R there – again! Last seen at the King Edward River. They were off to go mud crabbing, so we did not chat for long.

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Creek mouth at Middle Lagoon – home to mud crabs

We decided to bring the van out and stay here, because it looked so lovely. We saw the lady at the “office” and booked one of their powered sites for 6 nights – at $33 a night! Costly, but we hoped it would be worth it. Already felt that it was a pity we could not stay longer, but cannot afford the time, with John’s Games schedule.

We were later leaving there than we should have been. It took us three hours to drive the 190 kms, or so, back to Broome. It was well dark by the time we got back at 6.45pm.

The outing gave Truck a decent run, after the repairs, and all seemed well.

Tea was pasta with my tuna, caper, olive etc sauce.

Watched the football Brownlow Medal count on TV.

November 24, 2017
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2000 Travels August 27

SUNDAY 27 AUGUST BROOME

The weather seemed to have changed. The days were still sunny and hot, around 30 degrees, but there was much more of a heavy dew at night. I wondered if this was indicative of greater humidity in the day time?

The remaining winter people in the park were all making departure preparations.

John managed to catch up with S, who was pleased with her thesis result. She is looking forward to being “home” in Canberra again, but is apprehensive about the cold, after over two years in PNG.

John also talked briefly again with R. I talked with V, mostly about the time she spent here. She has been skiing at Mt Buller – the idea of snow seems strange, right now!

After lunch, we drove out to Cable Beach. No visit to Broome is really complete without spending some time there. In ’93, we hadn’t, due to the ongoing torrential rain.

Broome is located on a narrow sort of peninsula. One side – the town side – fronts onto Roebuck Bay, essentially with a south-east outlook, sheltered by the curve of the land. The other side faces west, with different sea and weather influences, and thus there is a long, flat, sandy beach, that is not found on the town side. Since the place began as a pearling port, the shelter of the bay was the important factor in determining where the settlement grew up.

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On Cable Beach, looking towards Gantheume Point. Tide out.

In 1889, an under sea telegraph cable was laid, from Cable Beach, to Java. The existing one from Darwin, had proved vulnerable to undersea volcanic disturbances to the north. Hence the name, Cable Beach.

In the 1980’s, Lord McAlpine, who had visited and fallen in love with Broome, developed a resort away from the town, at Cable Beach, and this was the start of development in this second part of Broome. The Cable Beach Resort did not at that time become the success that he envisaged, where it would rival the great Qld resorts. But some Cable Beach development has proceeded since. There are now caravan parks and some homes out there, and a business that offers camel rides on the beach.

Cable Beach was certainly a long stretch of sand! It was quite busy, with both people and vehicles on it. Driving on the beach was permitted and a Broome pastime seemed to be to park there and picnic, watching the sunset. Because of the westerly outlook, the sun set into the Indian Ocean here is directly observed – and reflected in the sea.

Cable Beach, near dusk

We stayed for sunset, which was partly obscured by smoke. That meant great colour effects. A sailing boat and a hang glider got themselves silhouetted against the sunset.

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We watched the camel ride parade with their loads of tourists – two per camel. Camel riding on Cable Beach is now part of the Broome mystique, for tourists.

Camel riders on Cable Beach

Tea was sausages, eggs, bread.

November 24, 2017
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2000 Travels August 26

SATURDAY 26 AUGUST BROOME

After breakfast, we went to the Courthouse Markets. Bought corn, tomatoes and honey. And a half watermelon, that cost $4.60. Not cheap!

Before we left the van, John had phoned daughter R, but she was too busy to talk to him.

We went from the markets to the Chinatown area – part of “old” Broome, and looked in a couple of the modern pearl galleries, and also a rather impressive bead shop.

I could really spend serious money on pearl jewelry, here! A lot of it is too chunky for my taste, but there are some great items. A long way removed from the traditional image of a string of pearls, to go with a twinset! Beautifully modern designs.

I might be tempted to go back and browse in the bead shop some more, before we leave here. Am trying to decide whether I want to do some beading, as a change from the Hardanger work.

John was looking for mother of pearl for jewelry box lid inserts. We got referred to the Shell House and went there. It was a fascinating place. There were all manner of shells for sale, and mother-of-pearl trinkets. John was able to buy some pearl shell.

We also bought and attractive display, decorative oyster pearl shell half, some 15cms tall, that has four oyster “buds” on it. It cost $80 – an extravagance, especially given recent vehicle costs, but it will be a great trip memento that should sit well on the red gum mantle shelf over our fireplace at home.

While we were out, S phoned and left a message that she’d gained a really high mark for her Masters thesis – very pleasing, since she was working at the same time as she did this.

After lunch ,John worked on checking and greasing the van wheel bearings. Suddenly, we have a new awareness of wheel bearings!

I sewed. We listened on the radio to Carlton lose the Preliminary Final of the football. It was not on TV up here.

Completed piece of Hardanger work

Tea was cold roast lamb and mashed potato, again.

There was a very visible red fire glow across the bay at night, and lots of smoke about.

November 19, 2017
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2000 Travels August 25

FRIDAY 25 AUGUST BROOME

In the morning, I cycled to the shops and bought some food needs. Only having the bikes has meant only doing small shops – and frequent ones.

John finished the tax papers, and mailed it all off to our accountant. It was a great relief for him.

At lunch time, John went to pick up Truck. The repair work cost $2,300!! More than we expected. However, in all of this, I can’t fault Landrover Assist or Shinju Motors. We did not have to pay for the retrieval from Fitzroy Crossing. Given the remoteness of Broome, Shinju Motors did well to get Truck fixed – a big job – in such a short time. John was very impressed by what he saw of their mechanics’ work, too.

It does feel so much better to have Truck back – less like something essential had been amputated! Now we should be able to do some of the tourist things that really require a vehicle.

Refuelled Truck. $1.10cpl.

In the afternoon, we went to Broome Bowls Club and played “Pirates” bowls. This involved a random draw for teams and local rules. My team came second, and I received a $5 club voucher, which I used to buy a Broome Bowls Club drinking mug.

John was not happy with either his team or his game.

There was much camaraderie at the club, as it was the last Pirates match for the year, because of the exodus of the Winter People to their homes in the south.

The relationship between Broome and its Winter People is an interesting one. The town has had a high dependence on this form of tourism, as they are predictable and inject their living costs into the town economy, over 3-5 months. They also are the backbone of places like the Bowls Club They, in turn, feel a degree of ownership and belonging. Some do actually own the sites their vans are parked on, at places like the Vacation Village. “Our Broome” some say. At the same time, there is an element of defensiveness – it is the only real “resort” on the tropical north west coast, weatherwise, but it falls a long way short of Qld and northern NSW, and they know it. However, it is their choice and they need confirmation and affirmation of its appeal – and hence their good judgment – from transients like us.

Broome is certainly changing quickly, and acquiring some of the elements of its east coast counterparts: apartments, holiday hotels/resorts, shopping malls, more backpackers places. The “old Broome” is submerging, which is a pity, because it had so much character. The hippy/dropout element of Broome sits a bit uneasily alongside the upmarket yuppie side.

I saw no evidence of an Asian tourism boom, despite the airport being able to take international flights, from 1992.

Real estate prices seem surprisingly high for a place with unpleasant summers, and cyclones!

However, our outlook here, over Roebuck Bay, is delightful, and I can understand why people keep coming back.

Low tide in Roebuck Bay

Our tea was bought fish and chips. Being able to drive off in Truck and bring same home, hot, was much appreciated!