Lap Around Australia : Broome to Derby

Broome to Derby

On our last day in Broome before heading to Derby we went in to town to take a look around Chinatown. There's some nice shops and cafes in this precinct and we spent a very pleasant morning dawdling through the shops and buying a few knick knacks and gifts.

We had coffee and the famous mango smoothies at the Shady Lane Café and it has to be said that both were pretty good! The we continued down the street looking at the street looking at the statues commemorating the early Chinese residents of Broome who were involving in pearling.
We also took a look at the old open air movie theatre that reminded Barb of the old theatres that she used to go to as a kid.

Back at camp, Jess and Barb headed back to the glorious pool to read books poolside and take a cooling dip before starting to pack up a few things in preparation for our departure tomorrow.
There was time to head down to the beach again (so good to be within walking distance) to watch the magnificent sunset. It was too crowded to get seats at the main bar, but we did find a less busy restaurant to sit and have cocktails and nibbles as the sun went down.

Next morning we got away by 0930, which wasn't a bad effort since we had to dismantle a tent as well. The drive to Derby was uneventful. We called in at Willare Roadhouse again so Jess could experience the delights of their outback dunnies. Complete with "sheilas" sign on the ladies that's spelt wrong!

We arrived in Derby and managed to set up at the Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park with barely a cross word between Barb and John as John backed in. Jess did retire to a park shelter at a safe distance during the process just in case.
We drove out to see the Prison Boab Tree just out of town and also the longest trough in the southern hemisphere (who knew?). The tree is impressive...but its history as a place where blackbirders chained and herded together Aborigines to use in pearling and other industries is cringe-worthy and cruel.

It was getting late in the afternoon, so we headed down to the jetty to watch the sunset. The jetty is accessed on an isthmus of road out along mudflats. There were a few keen fisherman fishing off the jetty and a big sign proclaiming Derby to have the largest tidal range in the Southern Hemisphere (greater than 11 metres) Other than that it was a bit underwhelming. We came back to camp and played Sequence instead.

Lap Around Australia...Gantheaume Point

Kayaking and dinosaur footprints

Barb and Jess had booked in for a morning of Kayaking at Gantheaume point. They were picked up at the front of Cable Beach Caravan Park and taken to the beach right beside the point. The tide was pretty full and it was perfect weather for kayaking. There was a group of about fourteen of us and three guides who each took a child or less experienced kayaker with them in the two man kayaks. We all donned our life jackets and paddled out to sea.

It was so lovely to be out on the water. We'd seen people exercising horses in the shallow water on the beach prior to leaving. Hopefully no crocs or sharks round here. Or stingers for that matter!
As we paddled along we could see whales breaching not too far out to sea and also saw some turtles in the water swimming on the surface before diving below and there were plenty of sea birds soaring majestically above us. It was pretty wonderful! The colour of the turquoise sea against the red colour of the pindan cliffs was quite stunning.

We pulled in to some flat (ish) rocks to stop and have drinks and bikkies with dip and a swim in the ocean off the rocks. The guides also pointed out some fossils in the rocks and told us where to come later that afternoon at low tide to find the dinosaur footprints on the rocks below the lighthouse.

We paddled leisurely back to our starting point on the beach where there were a couple walking their dog. The dog was running maniacly around in circles, very excited to be at the beach. Turns out he'd been kicked in the head as a pup and when he gets excited he just spins!

Later in the afternoon we went down to Gautheaume point by car to find the dinosaur footprints.
We saw the lighthouse we'd viewed from the water with its nest of sea birds being guarded by dad and baby chicks fed by mum.

We had to clamber down the cliffs to the low tide mark to see the footprints. There were lots of other people with the same idea as us and eventually someone found some prints and called the rest of us over. It was rather fun climbing all over the rocks and examining the coral , fish and even squid in the rockpools.

Afterwards we drove back to Cable beach to watch the sunset from the foreshore. We could see the camels being ridden at sunset and there were lots of 4WDs on the actual beach to see the sun go down. The Cable beach resort bar looked pretty packed. We thought that might be a nice place to visit tomorrow evening.