As we didn’t do the Mitchell Falls while we were on the Gibb River, we ended up with 2 days spare so we decided to have a couple of days rest and relaxation before heading into Broome.  We went to a spot that had been recommended to us, just north of Broome, called Quondong Point. It is a free camping area with no facilities and a 3 night maximum stay.  It was a beautiful spot overlooking the sea.  I spent all day on my chair with my binoculars watching humpback whales offshore.  One mother and calf were really close in and we could hear the sound of their tails slapping the water as they were playing.  It was amazing.  There must have been about 15 different lots that I saw throughout the day.  Some alone, some in small groups of 2 or 3.  I wont need to pay for a whale watch tour again! 

After our couple of days rest we headed in to Broome via the Willie Creek Pearl farm.  We had a guide talk about the pearling industry and how the modern farming is done then we went out on the water for a short trip and saw our first saltwater crocodile.  They are very different from the freshwater variety. We went to the Pearl Luggers museum in town where we had another guide talk about the history of pearling. Cable beach was amazing.  We have never seen so many vehicles congregated on a beach before.  They all head down onto the beach to watch the sunset, and the camel treks.  We were down there nearly every night.  We had one evening there with Geoff and Sofia and her sisters family with wine and nibbles watching the sunset.  We really liked Broome.  It has a really nice atmosphere and some lovely eating places.  We found a really nice Turkish Kebab shop which we ate at a couple of times – the best kebabs I’ve ever had.

We all decided that we would like to do a flight over the Horizontal Falls especially as we had missed out on the Mitchell Falls early in the trip. We were picked up from the caravan park at 5.30am and taken to the airport and onto a seaplane.  After flying for about an hour we landed next to a pontoon near the falls.  A boat picked us up and took us into a cove to a houseboat where we had a cooked breakfast and fed some resident Tawny Nurse Sharks.  We then got back onto the boat for a ride through the falls which was exhilarating.  Then it was back to the house boat where the plane was waiting to take us on a scenic flight over the Buccaneer Archipelago before heading back to Broome for our last meal with Geoff and Sofia.  We had a lovely lunch at a brewery that Sofia had found the day before.  They make fantastic gingerbeer but unfortunately they only make enough to sell in the restaurant so we couldn’t take any home.  Sofia flew back to Perth the next day, Geoff was off inland to do some training on the mines and we were headed back to Kununarra to pick up the caravan.  It was a nice way to end our trip together.

Paj and Heather's Big Adventure 2008

Part Four - Broome