We arrived in Broome after a couple of days in Derby, washing, fixing stuff and grocery shopping. It was amazing to see the ocean. We booked into a huge but lovely caravan park that had about 500 sites! We were 493! It took us longer to walk to the front of the park than it did from there to the beach! Which is exactly what we did once we had set up and had lunch. We were thrilled to be seeing the famous Cable beach! What a beautiful spot. The boys really enjoyed a swim in the sea and a roll in the sand after months of dirt! To make it even more special we ran into a family from Scone (the Williams') who are also travelling and we all enjoyed the company of friends for the afternoon til the sun set. And what a sunset it was! We made a plan to come back and do it again the following arvo. The next morning we got up early and went down to the south end of Cable beach before the tide came in to see some dinosaur footprints. Wow! They were so clear and it was magnificent to imagine that real dinosaurs were once walking around the area. After finding a bakery and coffee we went back to the van for breakfast and to do some washing. We then headed into town for a look around. We walked down the wharf and watched the cranes load freight from the ships onto the trucks, then had lunch on the beach. After some grocery shopping we headed back to the beach for a lovely play and swim and watched the sunset again with the Williams'. The next day we had a lazy morning and a cooked breakie then did some washing. We headed down to the beach for the rest of the day. Again we caught up with the Williams' and the two Dads (and sons) had a go on a paddle board for an hour. It was lots of fun and we could hear lots of laughing from out in the waves. We had lunch up at the top of the beach under the shade and the boys had a play at the park. At about 3 o'clock we headed back down the beach to wait for our camel rides. Once they arrived and all sat down we were paired up with a camel and were able to get up close and personal with them! They are beautiful and strange; huge, hairy and smelly but somehow almost regal as well. Getting everyone on and the camels all up took quite a while but it was an adventure in itself and lots of laughs. Once we were off and going it was cool to be up so high and we had a great time. However, we were also grateful that the ride was only half an hour as the saddles were not particularly comfortable and the ride very wobbly! I was worried Lachie would actually get motion sick! After the ride we hurried home for showers and had tea while we watched the outrageous game of State of Origin. Bah!
The next couple of days turned out cool, overcast and showery so we headed back into town for some shopping and found shelter in the local Brewery, Matso's. It was fantastic. I had a delicious apple based cider with mango and lime while Ben tried 5 different beers in a 'tasting paddle'. Unfortunately the next day, our last day in Broome, the weather was the same but we ventured out anyway and just played on the beach and at the park. We also tested out a frozen yogurt place called "Yo-Play" where you could serve yourself soft-serve frozen yoghurt, in a variety of flavours then add toppings. The boys of course went for the lolly toppings, Ben had Tim-tam chunks and I had choc drops. Yum! I would LOVE to see this shop pop up on the East coast. Delicious! Better than ice cream. We loved Broome and have left with some very special memories. Again, we have made note of some beautiful restaurants and places to visit when we come back one day.