A quick interesting web page – who says the internet is a waste of time.
“National Public Toilet Map (the Toilet Map) shows the location of more than 14,000 public and private public toilet facilities across Australia” : http://www.toiletmap.gov.au/default.aspx
Now the blog.....
Mikayla made us all pancakes for breakfast before we set off to explore more of the Dampier peninsula. We drove into the Bardi aboriginal community at One Arm Point to visit the aquaculture Hatchery. This was fascinating to feed the turtles, barramundi and other fish, and to touch a lot of the corals and sealife in the holding tanks. The girls bought polished trocus shells (to add to our shell collection!)
We spent the afternoon relaxing back at the Gambanan aboriginal camp – reading while the kids explored the waters edge and Ryan tried fishing off the rocks. Their exploration ended when Mikayla slipped and cut her wrist on an oyster shell and Ryan lost 2 lures by snagging them on rocks.
We enjoyed another evening around the campfire listening to some dreamtime stories from the locals and hearing about the day’s fishing adventures.
Ryan holding a pencil urchin
Amy feeding a very friendly turtle
Pretty but deadly Lion fish
One of the beach shelters at One Arm Point
Day 65 (Tuesday 20/7) Gambanan - relaxing - Press here for map linkWe decided to stay here for a few more days as it is such a beautiful place to camp overlooking the brilliant blue Indian ocean. We had also made friends with a couple of other lovely families (the Brieffies with 2 girls and the Dunley’s with 3 boys) so we simply spent the day relaxing together while the 4 boys did a lot of fishing (thanks to Lyndon Brieffie and his boat) and the 4 girls played a lot of girl games and lazed in hammocks. Chris and I chatted to the adults (Lyndon, Jude, Matt, and Meg) and read our books. One of the Dunley boys cut his leg badly on the rocks which needed 13 stitches at the One Arm Point medical centre which added to the events of our day. We all shared dinner together and cooked the fish that the boys caught (mostly Golden Trevally) on the campfire watching another beautiful sunset.
Ryan fishing with Lydon Brieffies and the Dunley boys
The girls just hanging around in hammocks
Our beautiful campsite view
In the morning our family went to do a tour of the local pearl farm at Cygnet bay. We were fascinated to hear about the history of this oldest operating pearl farm in Australia and to learn about the process of culturing and harvesting pearls. It was a great experience to see and feel all of the different size, shape, colour and lustre of pearls and to wear an exquisite $53,000 string of perfect pearls if only for a moment! We had ordered a loaf of fresh bread cooked in the wood ovens at the Lombadina Djarindjin aboriginal community, which was delicious for lunch. Back at camp in the afternoon Ryan and I were fortunate to go fishing with Lyndon to witness him catch a 1.3m Spanish Mackerel fish which was quite a fight and then filled the middle section of the little tinny when we got it in the boat! His catch was enough to feed all 3 families for tea on the campfire (with leftovers). The kids enjoyed damper cooked on sticks over the fire for dessert then more stories by the local aboriginals at their campfire.
Learning about pearling
Trudy with the $53,000 string of pearls (Chris said to put it back)
Trudy, Lyndon and Ryan with the 1.3m Spanish Mackerel
Got to get the fire just right - sunset over the bay
Day 67 (Thursday 22nd July) Cape Leveque to Broome - Press here for map linkIt was sad to say goodbye to our new friends and to leave the lovely campsite at Gambanan but it was time to begin the journey south. We travelled down the dusty red dirt Cape Leveque road, over more corrogations and dodging washouts. One washout caught us by surprise and sent the prado airborn yet again! We checked into the Palm Grove caravan park in Broome and went about doing jobs (washing, groceries, and a wheel balance and alignment on the car).
New friends - Matt and Meg Dunley, Lyndon and Jude Brieffies (and Ellen 3)
Contrasting yellow flowered wattle trees along the red Cape Leveque road
Sunset at Cable Beach - Broome
Day 68 (Friday 23rd July) Broome - Press here for map linkChris took the Prado into Toyota to get a service done so he spent a good part of the day filling in time in town while the kids and I spent time at the caravan park. They were happy to play and swim in the pool. We all did a bit of sightseeing in the afternoon and were thrilled to watch a hovercraft take off on a tour across the mud flats and around the coastline of Broome. The highlight of the day was going to the outdoor movies after dinner to see the film “Bran Nue Dae”. We all had a good laugh and enjoyed seeing so many of the local spots in the film that we had been to around Broome (including the sun cinema and the very deck chairs where we were sitting). It was a beautiful night under the stars with an occasional 737 plane flying over us during the movie.
Broome port and jetty
Loved watching the Broome hovercraft
The outdoor garden cinema (Sun Cinema), heaps of fun !
We packed up the camper and took it into a local mechanic to have a service done on the trailer brakes before we left Broome. Fortunately we did because the mechanic discovered that the brake pads appear to have been installed incorrectly so we have had metal rubbing on metal. By this time it was Saturday lunchtime with shops closing so the mechanic was unable to get replacement pads. So we changed our plans to stay in Broome for the weekend to wait for the shops to open on Monday and hopefully get it fixed then. We filled in a few hours at McDonalds looking at maps and re-assessing our travel plans while we waited until 3pm for the PCYC overflow office to reopen so we could see if we could get accommodation here for the night (as all of the caravan parks were booked out). We were lucky to get a site near our friends the Dunleys, so the kids were especially excited to have playmates again and Chris and I could enjoy Matt and Meg’s company.
Playing cards with the Dunley boys
Fun at Cable beach testing the new snorkelling gear
Day 70 (Sunday 25/7/10) Still in Broome again
After breakfast the 6 kids played monopoly together while we read and relaxed. We had all purchased a snorkel set (in preparation snorkelling at Exmouth and Coral Bay) so we spent a few hours in the water at Cable Beach before having a ride on the "Ships of the Desert" camels. This was so much fun for Mikayla, Ryan and I while Chris ran along taking some great photo's.
Camel rides on Cable beach
Our camel train
We were ready to pack up and travel south until we got the bad news from the mechanic that the replacement brake pads would have to be sent from Melbourne. So we will be here in Broome for a few more days yet! The kids had a fabulous day playing on their scooters and ripstick, card games and a movie with friends while we spent the afternoon updating the blog and just relaxing.
More cards games and relaxing with the Dunleys
Chris finally getting the hang of the ripstick
Trudy mastering the ripstick as well
Bye for now, take care and stay warm, XX xxx
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