Friday 03 May - Out of Point Samson on the dot of 7am, beginning to enjoy our check out precision. Another long day on the open road, with little or no radio coverage by now. We started listening to podcasts, namely Conversations with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanosky. These half hour shows were engrossing to say the least, informative, tragic, funny, heart rending, uplifting. We gained insights in to people’s lives, some famous, some unknown to us. We heard conversations with William McInnes, Kitty Flanagan and other well known identities. While we had never heard of Beverley Bass, we learned that she was the first female pilot employed by American Airlines. She was en route to the USA from Paris on September 11, 2001, when the Trade Centre was razed to the ground. Her plane was diverted to a little town in Canada called Dander. She and 156 passengers and crew were stranded there for a week, along with many other planes. One of the focal points of her story was that a musical was created about that incident in Dander and Beverley has a starring role, so to speak. It may not be of interest to many but when you are out of the endlessly open road, it’s riveting stuff!
We arrived in Broome at 3.30pm, and checked in to our accommodation, Cocos Beach Bungalows, at Cable Beach. We were lucky to book the last available bungalow for our preferred dates. This was to be our home for the next two nights and we couldn’t have been happier. The bungalow was huge, airy and very comfortable. It was well equipped, built in laundry, aircons in each room, wide verandah complete with outdoor setting and clothes line. The kitchen was well stocked with everything from dishwasher to coffee maker and all the condiments you could want. (Confession time - I accidentally nicked the salt and pepper grinders, thinking they were ours from the picnic basket. Found ours when we got to Darwin. Sorry Terry and Angela! Will send them back when we return to Darwin).
Terry and Angela, who are the managers of Cocos Beach, invited us to join them and their friends for a drink in the Sunset Bar at Cable Beach which we duly did, while watching the sun drip spectacularly into the ocean. We ended up staying there for tea, enjoying tasty pizzas under the star studded sky.
Saturday 04 May - no travel on this day so we slept later than usual. Donning our bathers, we went for a lengthy walk along Cable Beach. While walking, I phoned my baby daughter Alinta, whose 31st birthday it was. We did the skype thing, spoke to the kids, baby Harley who said gwanny, gwanny in his frantic way, then proceeded to call for poppa, poppa, non stop, in a deeper and calmer voice. I think it soothes him somehow. Weird kid, but cute.
Then, for the first time ever for me in Broome, we swam in the ocean. Well, swam might be a slight exaggeration. We bobbed about like the other derring doers, ever mindful of what might be lurking amongst us. No, not crocodiles, although that’s always a possibility. It’s those tiny, transparent, lethal jellyfish that can make life extremely unpleasant, if not down right precarious. Happily, we emerged unscathed, very refreshed and invigorated.
After a quick shower, we shoved some clothes in the washing machine, and left them to it while we headed into town to meet up with my good friend Shirley for coffee. The Dragonfly Cafe is the place to go apparently and it didn’t disappoint. The coffee was great, especially after extremely ordinary offerings on the trip up. We made arrangements to meet for dinner, then after fuelling up, grabbing a few things from Coles, we headed back to the bungalow.
After hanging out our washing, we had a swim in the pool which was as refreshing as the ocean and far less dangerous. It was a lovely lazy afternoon, followed by dinner at a restaurant called Tapt, which was just down the road. Terry and Angela joined us as well as Shirley and the five of us enjoyed a lovely meal, a few wines and good company. A great way to end our Broome interlude.
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