Around Oz the First Time - Chapter 50 - Broome Day 4

Today marks 6 weeks on the road and of course there is much more of Broome to investigate. Up early to ensure the driving light issue is dealt with, and after much cussing and cursing at the difficulty of accessing the holes for the screws and the Allen key that is required to move them.

Success for now, the new ones are in and hopefully locked and all the adjustment screws are also as tight as I can possibly make them.

Today we are breakfasting at the local markets. The Missing Link calls, returning my call from last night. I called them as I saw some Facebook posts of Tullamore, which they stopped last night, devoid of vegetation in any direction and the recipient of a massive dust storm that has made the morning news. This morning though, the path is clear and cloudless as they head towards Nyngan and then to Bourke. I muse with him about the gun barrel straightness of that leg, which he is looking forward. The van seems to be travelling OK for them and I ask about the issues we have been having and were they having the same issues with the TV. They like us are early into their trip and are yet to get it out.

Its Sunday, and that means Markets Day in Broome, as did yesterday for that matter but we didn’t get there yesterday, getting side-tracked by a visit to the port and the subsequent lunch. We finally get going, having talked about leaving at 9.00am, we are still waiting for Rosalie to ready herself at 9.30am. No worries really, except Robyn has washed the floor in the van in readiness for time at the markets for it to dry so we cannot return for now.

Talking with Forbsy as he too is waiting, believing he might be the one we waited on, we look to clean the van’s outside as well. At least a little as it is actually against van park rules to clean cars or vans in the park We still have the bucket from the inside clean and I use this clean the windows, but the dirt already in the water makes it virtually impossible to get the outside of the van anything like really clean.

Silver Leader and Rosalie finally bundle themselves in the Cruiser as Forbsy finishes a phone call he started because he had the time, and we head off to the markets. The markets are not huge, but they are spacious and easily walked. I get the message from last night wrong, which I thought we were to breakfast here, so I am hungry unlike the others who have breakfasted. Feeling the pinch, I quickly make a decision on the Indonesian truck, ordering a chicken and cashew dish which when I get it, reminds me of one of mum’s stews, only with cashews in it. Most acceptable.

The others are wandering, Robyn is on a mission, she wants to obtain a birthday gift for our daughter-in-law. I offer my support at times, but nothing I suggest comes close to what she has in her mind. We look at some jewellery focussed around opals and the stairway to the star’s attraction, that occurs here in Broome on the full moon. We also grab a mat for the front door section of the van, in an attempt to slow the accumulation of dust and dirt on the floor, especially after the cleaning effort today.

Marketing done, what to do next. How about we check out the town centre. Our GOS especially has been surreptitiously trying to get us there the entire time we have been driving around Broome. As we hit the town centre, we notice the Tackle World shop is open and at one end of the commercial area. Parking here will allow the boys to wander into that shop and check out fishing spots and potential charters, while the girls wander past the Paspaley and the Argyle Diamonds shops inter alia (I trust we remember what that term means from prior chapters).

Our time spent in the Tackle World shop does nothing to assist us with either the spots we should be fishing or the best of the local charters. The young salesman (junior actually) comes across as knowing his stuff, but every spot the Silver Leader suggest, he poo poos. Not much for the confidence of the older fishermen here, but it is what it is. We make some minor purchases and confirm the information of the youngster with the manager, unfortunately. Silver Leader had explored the coast line yesterday and picked out a number of potential spots only to have the youngster suggest in the words of Daryl Carrigan – Ya Dreaming.

When we finish having Silver Leader’s fishing prowess blunted, we wander out to look for the girls, trusting not to find them with large bags full of purchases. Robyn calls to confirm our position, luckily we are more than 10 steps out of the shop, so we can realistically say we are on the way to them. We wander up the street, noting the Paspaley and Argyle Diamond shops and shudder how close they are together, but thankfully devoid of our womenfolk.

The end of the commercial area and no women. Silver Leader and Forbsy enter into a Rip Curl shop and much like the women folk might, they give it a good louse over. Whilst waiting outside I spot the girls about half way down and beckon the window shopping gentlemen to join me in the direction of them.

We catch them just outside a café which promotes smoothies on their chalk board, and I talk Robyn into one of their finest. Rosalie joins her, while I indulge myself in an iced chocolate. The girls are both in their element with their smoothies. We walk back to the Cruiser and look to head back for lunch, but Silver Leader suggests we should take a quick look at the look out on top of the hill and instead of going right as the GPS wants, we head left. 

This platform gives a view from the middle of town beach, the beach we were looking along from the jetty the day before. My stomach is playing up so I stay in the car with the air conditioning running, while the others head up and take the obligatory pictures. I see them start to come back so I pull out from the parking spot and move closer for a quick pick up. Bad mistake as photo mad Rosalie has not come back with them, and here am I parked effectively, in a no stopping zone. Thankfully no traffic comes up behind and when she finally comes back we have disturbed no traffic.

Still not able to get to the van and let my stomach settle, we head to the beach to see what id the go for dinner tonight. We find the sunset can be a writhing mass of people at times. We can make a reservation or look to take our chances with an outside table from about 4.30pm. The latter wins and we head back to the Cruiser, my stomach feeling OK for now, I ask whether a drive on the beach is in order and I get only agreement.

There are no restrictions for driving on the beach other than you need a four-wheel drive, although when we get there, there are several cars that are not even close to being a 4WD. We hit the beach and it is so smooth I don’t even engage the 4WD in the Cruiser. After traversing between various rocks at the start we head around a little headland to see vehicles parked on the beach as far as the eye can see. I video about 30 seconds of the drive before wandering a little further away from the water to test the softer looking sand.

Although the sand is not that much softer, I engage the 4WD, just to be safe. We drive a good percentage of the distance along the beach. There are vehicles of vast numbers, but they are very spaciously separated. We turn back and I try a little further up the soft looking sand. The 4WD does what it needs to and although there is no risk of bogging, the vehicle does feel sluggish in the deeper sand. We notice there are a number of cars with nudists, Forbsy notes he saw somewhere, there are places on the beach that clothes are optional, obviously right here is one of them.

Back through the rocks and back to the van park, it’s time for lunch. Robyn has hurt her back again and needs to lay down. I am not hungry as I had such a late lunch, so I relax as well. The other lads were considering a fish this afternoon, so Robyn resting is an excellent opportunity. Over lunch Silver Leader has called various fishing charter operators and has the drum. We get together in Forbsy’s van to discuss the options and rather than take the cattle crush bottom bashing option, we go the barramundi chase and crab hunt. 

This is set for Wednesday, guess that means we are staying two extra days in Broome which is fine by me (and I suspect Robyn as well). Decision made, now we need to get to the fishing spot, as it is close to the top of the tide, and in our area at home, the top o the tide usually produces best of the rocks, and we need to get to the other side of town.

We get going, Robyn is snoring as we leave, and we head towards the jetty at the port. At the jetty, we are able to secure spots under it and in the shade. I load up a lure onto my rod and propel it into the water, only problem there is no line attached as the bail arm accidentally closes and the force snaps the line. Reload and try again, this time success and I retrieve it at speed as suggested by Silver Leader

He has the same luck as I do, losing a lure almost immediately trying to get too close to a jetty pier, a barnacle grabs it and it is his no more. We continue to fish this spot until Silver Leader decides to head around the point. I am enjoying the shade and the chance to simply stand here and change lures as I see fit. Forbsy decides to follow Silver Leader.

As time goes by more people come down to try their luck, but its all on the fish side today. I go to a soft plastic rig and immediately get it back without its tail. A good sign? As the tide falls the water obviously recedes and lowers making the snags more prevalent in less water and I lose a few to them.

All of a sudden there is a commotion just to the left of me. A fisherman is being dragged into the water by whatever has attacked his line. He is not winning at all, it seems like he will be barefoot water-skiing at any moment. Drag too tight I think but he can’t really play with it too much as the jetty offers too much ability to snag the line. Again, the fisherman is almost hauled along behind his adversary, then snap and an expletive fills the air as the unlucky fisherman has lost his battle.

Unfortunately, none of us have anything other than the loss of the tails on a couple of nuclear chickens. Forbsy after seeing the fight just end, of which he caught the final part on film, thinks better of another cod episode, and retires up the rocks and makes a family phone call.

We call it a day and head back to the vans, to ready ourselves for dinner. We quickly pack the rods away and we are shortly waiting for Silver Leader and Rosalie so we can go. Do we try the car park by the restaurants or take the conservative option and park at the Council car park and walk down. Nah, let’s give it a go and what do you know there are several spots here. Earlier we were told we may get an outside table if we were here around 4.30pm, its now 5.15pm, will we still get a table. Forbsy takes on the alfresco setting and easily finds us a table with a perfect view of the sunset, as well as being adjacent to the bar and ordering post.

As the sun lowers, I take shots of the vista, playing with the lighting in an attempt to get THE shot. I notice the seagulls are diving and hovering around the tables, I pull out the Super Slow Motion option and capture some great shots of the birds with the sunset as a backdrop.

We order the Rambo pizza, a dish with prawns, chilly and tomatoes as well as mozzarella cheese and a couple of drinks. For me it is Coke as I am driving, and I am having a little cleanse session here in Broome. We are seated with a couple from Perth. He, like Forbsy is a fireman, and has plenty of experiences to enlighten us about the areas in which we are visiting next, the coast between here and his home town.

He suggests Silver Leader’s option in Perth is one of the best available. He gives us a few pointers as to fishing and surfing points along the coast. The sun is long gone by the time we retire, and as we need to be out and about early tomorrow to get the van’s solar sorted out, we hit the sack early.