BROOME TIME

3rd, 4th August 2013

Friday: The Cable Beach Caravan Park was crowded with all sorts of happy campers; 450 campsites here. All the sites are under nice shady trees, and we had been given a site nice and close to amenities.

Our first exploration was to the town Museum, very interesting with lots of history about pearling in the old days; what a dangerous occupation it was to be a pearl shell diver in the early 1900s. when plastic was invented, the bottom fell out of the pearl shell market, and also today pearls are cultivated on sea farms at Broome. Dave and I thought it wouldn't be too far to walk to the main part of Broome town from the museum. Duh! We were the only silly duffers to be seen walking along wearing our long jeans and motorbike boots, as the sun got hotter, and Broome town central seemed to move further away as we panted along. Never mind, we finally got there, and quickly guzzled a cold beer on the front veranda of the old Roebuck Hotel. This is the only old part of Broome; everything else is brand new, even the so-called China town. The old Broome has gone with the ghosts! Oops, I forgot, the outdoor Sun Picture Theatre is another lovely old historic feature still left.We had a gander at various jewellery shops, all specialising in pearls of course, and some had Argyle diamonds advertised, but not to be seen.

I grumbled a little about having to walk so far back to Dave's bike back at the museum, but the view of beautiful Roebuck Bay helped; the ocean is turquoise blue and the sands are so white. If we had been more sensibly dressed for the climate, it would have helped. I usually do a "sarong shuffle" in the street pulling off my motorbike jeans and boots and changing into shorts and sandals when it's hot weather.I had to giggle at us going 2-up on Dave's big Honda as we passed lots of young backpackers on hired scooters, wearing singlets, shorts and thongs, compared to us oldies in full jackets and jeans and boots.

When we got back to our tent, it was time to get our bathers on and go for a swim at Cable Beach. Lovely! Being hot earlier made us appreciate the ocean even more. Dave saw a big line of camels getting ready to take people for a sunset ride along the beach; I didn't see anything because I'm blind as a bat without my spectacles, so I had to rely on Dave's vision. I've already had a great camel ride at Uluru at sunrise, with Dave getting sick halfway on the camel and having to be carted off to safety on a quad bike. He has vowed never to sit astride another camel! Saturday Today we rode to the Japanese Cemetery to see over 900 tombstones all facing the same direction, and most of them being sandstone, with Japanese script describing the sad graves. Some of the tombstones have been replaced with black granite obelisks. This is such a sad place, as it shows how many divers died, either of the bends or from cyclones while at sea. No such thing as occupational health and safety in those days!

The Chinese Cemetery is alongside the sad Japanese one, only this is a happier place, with local Chinese living longer, and many of these graves were well tended, with offerings, some having fresh mandarins left by the tombstone. Feeding the Ancestors. Another cemetery section is for the Muslims, all facing Mecca they are. A bigger section then caters for everyone else, a most unusual place. Dave and I reckoned this was a happy place, with chairs, benches, tables, lots of flowers and little gardens around graves. Almost as if family come and have little picnics there? A lot of the names on these tombstones have English names with Aboriginal names as part of this. This is not a gloomy Christian cemetery; it feels happier!

We did some shopping for food in the local big Woolies shopping centre. Full of lots of happy kids of all ages, and you can see how multicultural Broome is, with the mixtures of exotic people. You can spot grey nomads like ourselves; obviously visitors to Broome!

After we got back we treated ourselves to a swim at the caravan park, then off to the camp kitchen for our meal. What we both have really loved about this place is all the lovely young backpackers we are meeting at the Broome camp kitchen. They are so organised, a lot of them doing a working holiday around Australia, and we have noticed that most of the staff at outback places are delightful young Europeans, having the courage to have adventures. They all say they Love Australia. The huge distances and the scenery impress them. We are the only old people using the camp kitchen here, the rest are all young. I'm impressed with how well they cook for themselves; using local fresh ingredients. The other grey nomad have their own kitchens in their big caravans, they don't know what good company they are missing. Tomorrow we pack up to ride to Fitzroy Crossing.

On a really happy note: Adrian told me tonight that Orlena is now getting better, and she was even playing peek-boo with her Daddy and laughing. Great news!

Hot Nanna!