This morning we left Barn Hill Station bound for Broome.
Before we left, we said farewell to John and Pam. This couple has been so kind to us since we met them back at 80 Mile Beach; as they have given us fishing tackle, and John is responsible for introducing Bec to 'up top fishing'. I'm still trying to decide if I should be thanking him or not, as Bec is now becoming obsessive about fishing and has already given me a shopping list of fishing tackle that I need to purchase while in Broome.
The drive to Broome was really uneventful - other than the very very long driveway out of Barn Hill Station. There are 3 x gates that need to be opened and closed to reach the highway, and this provided a little bit of entertainment as both Bec and Scarlett had to open and shut every gate - as they had to do it on the way in as well. Sometimes driving does have its benefits.
We have been experiencing strong headwinds all the way north since passing through Port Hedland. It's been that bad that I swear I could see the fuel gauge dropping as I drove today. Not really what I want to see at the moment, as we are now in Broome and there is a million things to see and do and I need to watch every dollar being spent. Bugger!
We arrived at the Broome Information Centre just before lunch, and we ended up grabbing a wealth of touristy information on Broome and 'The Kimberleys'. We have some serious reading to do now. During our visit to the Information Centre, we ran into Martyn, Nikki and Scarlet; another family we continue to run into during our travels. We exchanged numbers, and we've now planned to catch up and have dinner one night in Broome before we leave.
We checked into the Broome Caravan Park and found our site. What a relief it was to not worry about red soil or sand for a change. We actually have grass and a concrete pad for the van here, so I didn't even have to worry about levelling the van or anything. Unfortunately, as we soon discovered, there is a price to pay for the grass - burrs and prickles!
After setting up our site, we all climbed onto our bikes and decided to go for a ride back into town. we soon found out that there are no paths to ride on, so Bec, Scarlett and I ended up riding our bikes the 5km's back into town on the edge of the road; which consisted or gravel and rocks the whole way. Occasionally we found some grass to ride on; but remember what I said about a price to pay? Scarlett ended up with two flat tyres so tomorrow I have to find a local bike shop and buy four new heavy duty tubes for her. Two to replace the flat ones, and two as spares. Apparently its not worth repairing the tyres we have as the burrs and prickles up here are huge and soon deflate all but the heavy duty inner tubes. I'll have to wait and see how Bec and my bikes fair during our Broome stay.
I just want to add that I am very proud of Scarlett today. She hasn't been riding her bike without trainers for very long now, and after riding her bike around the caravan park most of the afternoon, Bec and I took her on an 'epic' 5km bike ride over mainly rocks and gravel. Not once did she complain as the bike slid out from under her on the rocks and she hit the dirt - she just got back on and said "that didn't hurt much" -and she didn't complain (much) as we continued riding all the way into Broome central (knowing that we still had to ride back out again). As a reward we let Scarlett have a McDonalds Slushy, but I know when enough is enough, so I left Bec and Scarlett at McDonalds as I rode back to the caravan park to get the Pajero.
I soon returned and placed both remaining bikes on the roof rack and brought my two girls home.
I must appologise for the lack of photos today. By the time we reached Broome, a wee bit was happening so we didn't take the camera along with us. Oops! I will make sue that I rectify this for tomorrows blog!
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