Day 46 - 23th August. Pretty standard morning this morning. Quick round of muffins, the kids disappear to the pool, Nicole cleans up the inside of the van and I pack up outside. Clean the windscreen, check the engine oil and 30 second motivational talk with the engine. We check out of the Cable Beach CV park and head into Broome proper. After a visit to the Broome visitor centre the girls decide a stroll around the shops is in order. I must be learning as I arrange just to meet them back at the van in an hour or so. I wandered down to the old Streeters jetty where in times past the pearl luggers dropped off their catch of pearl shells. Broome has an interesting history which is mostly based around the pearl/ pearl shell industry. I visited a restored Pearl Lugger, at one stage around the turn of the century there were over 400 of these boats docked in Broome but now they are quite rare. Apparently a lot of luggers were burnt by the Australian Government in the war to prevent them being used by the enemy. Broome along with Darwin was attacked in WWII with substantial loss of lives. Along side the restored lugger was a jewellery shop specialising in pearls of course. It was here I bumped into the girls who were oohing and aarghing over the shops wares, a glimpse of the price tags was enough for me I exited as quickly as I had arrived before I was asked to contribute to any purchases. We regrouped a while later for some lunch ( delicious @ 18 Degrees) and a visit to the Broome museum. The collection of memorabilia in the museum was eclectic to say the least but non the less very interesting. The centre piece being the rubberised canvas diving suit complete with brass dive helmet and manually operated twin piston dive compressor. The diver would want to make sure your deck hand was fit and reliable as not only did he turn the wheel to supply the air he also pulled the diver off the bottom when he was ready.
The museum visit was cut short as we were now late to check in to our accommodation, a few nights out of the van to stretch our legs and do some washing. We are all looking forward to it. Checked into our accommodation dumped our stuff and headed straight back out. We were late for our camel ride along Cable Beach. It's possibly the most excited I have seen Grace, she was super keen. Whilst I understand the incredible endurance and stamina a camel possess, I've always thought of them as being smelly, awkward, unappealing creatures with a bad attitude and matching breath. At the completion of our 1 hour jaunt up the beach and back I know this to be certain with the additional knowledge that they have snotty noses. The camel that Matilda and Nicole rode was tied up behind the one Olivia and I was on. At some point it decided to wipe its snot on the back of my tee shirt, much to the delight of all behind me especially my wife. Lots of people around taking photos of the camels, we all felt a bit like celebrities! We bid our farewells to our stinky friends a made our way up to the beach front to grab a pizza and return to our accommodation. Hot shower, couple of beers and a good night sleep. Doesn't get much better than that!