BROOME

The other end of the day can be beautiful too - morning on Cable Beach

Sunrise over the dunes - Cable Beach

The old and the new - Kayakers in front of The Young Endeavour which is currently in port in Broome on its way circumnavigating Australia.  We saw it in Darwin Harbour too.

Bridgie and another sandcastle masterpiece

My beautiful boy carrying water up the beach with the moon rising

Dancing around the campfire on Cable Beach

The kids.  The funny shimmering is actually the heat from the campfire rising up in front of my camera!

Ben made himself a "beach chair"

Ben dancing and singing from the car

Tessie showing us her great moves

Our campfire - soo much fun!

DAY 59 – BROOME                                                      Tuesday, 30^th August

The husband has all of a sudden decided to get creative.  He finally took the camera along on his morning constitutional – and came back with 150 beach photos.  So I really need to include some to make him feel, well …. like he is contributing!

This morning, I did a really stupid thing.  Thinking that Marj and Barry would have to sit in the car and put their luggage in there, I decided to clean the inside of the car as best I could.  Having stared at it for a few minutes, I then decided that cleaning the back was a ridiculous idea because we would still be going to the beach and the sand from the boogie boards and towels etc would make a mess again.  So I cleaned the front, with Beth’s help, as best I could with a bottle of Nifti and a dustpan and brush.  If you could all see the sand on Cable Beach … the bloody stuff is so white and fine it gets into everything!  Again, any sympathy?? 

After that, Ben and I had our Mummy and Son time which was beautiful.  He looks after his mummy so well – a real gentleman!  We went wandering around the shops, had an icecream, bought a shark’s tooth necklace and, most importantly, went collecting firewood for our beach fire that night.  Clearly Ben and I were the only ones taking it seriously!  I even went into 4WD mode to go down a track off the main road and went into the scrub, tearing apart trees with my bare hands (all the while terrified that someone else would come down the tiny track where it was impossible to turn around, or even pass someone!!  And my beautiful, law-abiding son constantly asking: “Are you sure we are allowed to do this, Mum?  Are we going to get into trouble?”

Back to the caravan park for some lunch and then down the beach for the last night with the Patterson and the Dearness families.  The Tedescos came down too after they picked their car up from a service (mechanics here must make a mint – EVERYONE  seems to use their extended holiday to get their car serviced).

We all had a fantastic night on the beach, more sandcastles, dinner, sunset and a big beach fire!  When David went to pick up Lawrence to take him back to his car, he found a factory with loads of pallets they were not using!  I think we have enough wood for a Melbourne winter!!  The kids played the IPOD from our car and danced around the fire all night, singing at the top of their voices.  About 4 packets of marshmallows were toasted around the fire with stick collected expertly by Bruce and I in the dunes (until we saw the glowing tell-tale sign of Wolf Spiders in the dune vegetation – I got out of there pretty quickly after that!)

At the end of the evening, with the water fast approaching for a 9.9m high tide, we packed up, the Dearness’ left and the Pattersons and Tedescos turned towards the south end of the beach when …. SHOCK HORROR … click click… no battery.  Not sure if it was all the John Denver my husband was playing (much to everyone’s disgust – except my poor children, who have been converted in a few moments of child abuse in the car over the last eight weeks) or if it was the one thousandth playing of “Dynamite” by the girls, but the battery was absolutely dead.  David jumped out and grabbed Lawrence’s attention.  Lucky Lawrence is incredibly organised and had, not only jumper leads, but two batteries under his bonnet!  For the first few minutes there was absolutely nothing – Sarah starting to panic, thinking something was wrong other than just a dead battery!  But, as the tide lapped within 3 metres of the back tyres, Lawrence tried the other battery and FINALLY got a spark!  Of course, as I have been telling this story, it has been getting better and better with Lawrence knee deep in the advancing tide, shoulder to the back of the 4WD!!  What a hero!! A fantastic night ended with a bit more excitement than I usually need!!!!