Day 83 Thursday 28th May 2015, warm again Broome We spend another morning captivated by Broome’s colourful history at the museum. Then whilst meandering the back streets (we’ve thrown away the map now and cast our fate to the wind) … Continue reading Go West, Day 83 – Broome
Day 82 Wednesday 27th May 2015, warm 32 degrees Broome We ‘do’ the Pearling Lugger Tour and sit in an old wharf shed learning about the romance and horrors of the pearling industry of the past. In its heyday there were 404 pearl luggers operating out of Broome harvesting pearl shells for mother of pearl and sometimes they found natural pearls. What a far cry from today’s industry. We were surprised to learn that like in Queensland, ‘black birding’ (a polite term for slavery) was practised to coerce the Aboriginals into doing the shell diving. This was prior to the … Continue reading Go West, Day 82 – Broome
Day 81 Tuesday 26th May 2015, 31 degrees, not sticky Broome I only wish that I could photograph every old building in this town as they are so interesting. Town Beach is small with a nice park and the tiny … Continue reading Go West, Day 81 – Broome
Day 80 Monday 25th May 2015, warm 31 degrees Broome There’s no need to rush now, we’re on Broome time. We have lunch in Chinatown (this whole town smells of Asian food) then meet the Ollies for drinks under the … Continue reading Go West, Day 80 – Broome
Day 79 Sunday 24th May 2015, overcast, steamy Barn Hill to Broome It was a hot sweaty night but we slept well. The birds wake us up and the air smells wonderful. There are green tree frogs in the dunnies, … Continue reading Go West, Day 79 – Broome
Day 78 Saturday 23rd May 2015, warm 26 degrees @ 8:20 Eighty Mile Beach to Barn Hill A connection snapped off the water filter this morning so we’ll just use our own tank water until we get to Broome. We pass through grassland and low scrub, termites and wandering cattle. We pull into the Sandfire Roadhouse for fuel and I jump out to get a photo. I reckon that this place must come alive during the night because there are more animal and bird foot prints in the red dirt than there are tyre marks. The countryside is alternating now … Continue reading Go West, Day 78 – Barn Hill
Day 77 Friday 22nd May 2015, overcast, clearing and muggy 29 degrees @ 9:30 Pardoo Station to Eighty Mile Beach Wow, we get 4 spots of rain before breakfast, can I call that a wet day? We leave Pardoo station and follow the highway through flat scrubby grazing land. We turn left onto the red dirt road into Eighty Mile Beach undecided as to whether we will stay or continue on to Barn Hill. I get the feeling that my ‘Outback Jack’ is a little over red dirt as he is starting to grumble about the corrugations on the roads. … Continue reading Go West, Day 77 – Eighty Mile Beach
Day 76 Thursday 21st May 2015, patches of dark clouds Pardoo Station Now that we’ve adjusted to the climate of this latitude it is very pleasant, especially the warm dry breezes. The Pardoo homestead has a high spreading roof over the … Continue reading Go West, Day 76 – Pardoo Station
Day 75 Wednesday 20th May 2015, clear light breeze Pardoo Station Those cows are still angry. When we wake I say to Woody “Smell that air isn’t it great?” “Smells like cow shit to me” he says with a grin. … Continue reading Go West, Day 75 – Pardoo Station
Day 74 Tuesday 19th May 2015, some cloud, sticky Port Hedland to Pardoo Station Like so many other towns on this coast Port Hedland was bombed twice by the Japanese in 1942. We hit the road again. The country is grassy and flat with lots of termite mounds. In fact, one section has each mound wearing a white hard hat! Large white Brahman cattle munch happily along the roadsides. As we pass, the De Grey River has water in it and shady white gums. The camping area extends along the bank and is huge. The road into Pardoo Station is … Continue reading Go West, Day 74 – Pardoo Station
