We arrived in Broome noticeably early as we had no camp to put away or any breakfast to procrastinate our getting on the road. The climate became increasingly humid the further into the tropics we ventured, the land a little greener and glimpses of ox-blood earth quite sparse. We stopped briefly in the Visitors Info and found a campsite near the coveted Cable Beach. It was hot and humid, the kind that makes your glasses steam up when you go outside from an A/C'd room. We sweated profusely setting up the camp. The site was lovely, a much needed pool, a shop and a pub were all a stones throw away.

That afternoon we did little else but laze around in the pool under the sail shade thinking this wet season thing isn't all it's cracked up to be with the sun blazing, attempting to burn any exposed flesh. The night offered no relief from the humidity and after a broken sleep we peeled ourselves from the bed (which was a little water logged, it's not all cocktails on the veranda you know).We sought the hustle and bustle of the town, It wasn't quite what we expected and if anything we were a little disappointed. It did have a china town, as promised, which was quaint, yet something was missing. It had no water views from anywhere in the town, surrounded by mangroves and swamp. Also we were here out of season so everywhere was quiet. In contrast, the central park was busy, a place where the local natives would congregate and make merry throughout the day. Also, everything seemed very costly the clothes, household goods and especially the real estate.

A little dejectedly we went driving to explore town beach and the Port. I deemed both a waste of petrol and time as they could be likened to something from the Bristol channel with admittedly bluer waters. I was finding it hard to work out where all the hype about Broome was coming from.

The afternoon we stayed in our campsite pool again, (so far the highlight) more so, lazing in the shade due to a little sunburn from the day previous. Only venturing out of the pool for short periods of time to carry out necessary chores building an immense sweat as we did so.

The next morning we perused the markets which were admittedly very nice, But again with an overzealous price tag. So in need of something free we'd caught a rumor of fossilized foot prints in the rocks at Cable Beach. We were disappointed to find that the originals were currently under 3m of stinger ridden water (stinger, the name given to jellyfish and other such creatures that reside in these waters for the wet season months. Oh yea did i mention they can kill you! Just something you might like to remember if your feeling brave and fancy a swim) There were, however, concrete replicas further up the rock so we got a feel for them. While we were at Cable Beach we went for a drive on the beach, which i find quite exhilarating for some strange childish reason, Gem doesn't seem to share this passion. The beach was beautiful but really doesn't compare with some we've seen so far, and did i mention lots of things in there can kill you!

Back at the pool, our new residence, we came to the conclusion that Broome does not live up to expectations. Maybe if we'd not heard anything about it it would have been a different story, a nice surprise after the isolation of the past few days maybe. It just wasn't for us. So those of you with running bets on us staying at Broome, sorry to disappoint.

Gem's Note: I would personally like to meet the blind sod who voted Cable Beach 'Australia's best beach' so I could smack him (had to be a him no woman would be that aesthetically numb) round the head a few times before sending him on his merry way to Esperance or Rottnest or any of the other choice beaches featured in our photo album. Grrrr!