Today we head back to Broome. Were feeling a bit sad as we leave our little shack in amongst the sand dunes. Well maybe shacks underselling it a bit. The resort calls it a villa, and whilst its certainly very nice, I usually associate villas with mansions high on the cliffs of the French Riviera. The name does at least differentiate it from the tents.
Like just about everyone up in this neck of the woods, the young lady who checks us out isnt an Aussie; shes from the UK. We ask her if shes stuck here due to COVID. Every time we ask any of the many European and South American hotel and restaurant staff up here this question we get the same response - they say yes, but with big smiles on their faces, and then quickly add that theyre Most would like to go home and see their families but they know that if they do they wont be allowed back, so they stay on. Their demeanour is in stark contrast to that of any Aussie staff. They all look surly and bored, and like theyd rather be almost anywhere else, doing almost anything else.
We start the long trek back to Broome via the resorts 12 km long sandy and corrugated driveway, before turning off onto the relative calm of the highway. We stop in Chinatown for lunch. We were warned by a friend before we came up here that we should assume that everyone in Broome wants to run us over. I blame the council for this. Theyve installed strips of distinctive coloured paving across Chinatowns streets every hundred metres or so, and they all look like pedestrian crossings. Well they would look like pedestrian crossings if half of them didnt have pedestrians must give way to vehicles signs next to them. The other half dont have these signs, but otherwise look exactly the same, which is more than a tad confusing for us poor tourists. The local drivers of course know that they dont have to give way to pedestrians, so they just barge on through and take any unsuspecting tourists with them. I think it might get quite busy in the emergency department at the Broome Hospital at peak shopping times.
We check into our apartment and then go for a dip in the pool. Its freezing, which brings me to another gripe about this neck of the woods. with a lot of the pools up here, this one feels like someones put ice blocks in it. If Id wanted to swim in icy water I would have stayed at home and taken early morning dips in Port Phillip Bay. ... and the air con in all the buildings. Again, if Id wanted to feel like I was in Siberia I would have stayed in Melbourne.
Our apartment has a washing machine, which is good, as clean clothes, particularly mine, have been in short supply for a few days now. Issy told me early on in the trip that I didnt need to change my shirts at lunchtime every day. I thought I was being good and following instructions, but it seems that wearing the same shirt six days in a row is not acceptable either.
I decide to head off to take some happy snaps of the sunset. The car park at Cable Beach is jam packed so I head down to Gantheaume Point where its
a bit quieter. The tides out so I scramble down the cliff on my hands and knees to a rocky shelf which seems to be about level with the water line. Im glad Issy isnt here; Im not sure shed approve. Im even more sure she wouldnt approve when I realise that the tide seems to in at a rather alarming rate and I cant seem to find my way back up the cliff again. Hopefully she wont read this post.
I get back to find that Issys been speaking to her mum. It seems that Scotts let it slip to Issys mum yet again that there are crocodiles up here. Im sure in Issys mums mind theyre wandering up and down all the streets looking for their next meal. Shes apparently demanding that home on the next flight.....
