Upgraded in Broome

Well we decided to accept our patch of red dirt and enjoy Broome, we set off to the night markets, which was in walking distance, and Stairway to the moon, very busy and people 3 deep at the rail waiting for Stairway, took lots of photos but very hard to get a good one, was magical just watching the moon rise and the stairway appear on the water....

The next day Sunday was misty and foggy till about 9.00am and then we suddenly got upgraded to a power site..... I think the change in the weather moved people on, anyway it was lovely to have a normal site.

We decided to stay for the week which is the limit here, have been enjoying Broome, love Chinatown and the little shops, cafes etc.

I was able to catch up with my friend Ann from Albany who has relocated herself to Broome, she took me to a brewery/wine bar called Matso, great place, haven't had "girlfriend" time for a while, was good.

We have driven along Cable Beach and also Gantheume beach where we went for a sunset, was fantastic, we took wine and nibbles down there and watched the sunset, again just magical to watch.

Each day has been about 30 degrees with cool mornings and evenings.

Broome time is a very relaxed time, we took the car for service Tuesday and didn't get it back till late Wednesday morning, but we were given a small Kia Rio to keep us mobile......

Our normal site, Brian did some good reversing to get between the coconut palms

Night markets

My not too good Stairway photo, Brian did a lot better, it was easier to just enjoy and not worry to much about a photo

Windsurfing at town beach, lovely cafe here too, had coffee of course

Our Kia Rio which kept us mobile

Pearl Lugger, in dry dock now

At beach ready for sunset can you see Bentley, he just ran and ran to the water

So happy with himself, on one leg here, 

Sunsets

And after the sunset, it was very hard to leave, just wanted to sit and watch the sky change colour 

Outdoor area at Matso where I met Ann and then took Brian and we enjoyed a Mango Beer and chips........ Loved it 

Cable Beach, had to make Brian park as he just wanted to keep on driving......

We have both enjoyed Broome, has been great to have the week here, hope we can get back here another time

Kununurra and Derby

 In the last week we have travelled from Lake Argyle to Broome.

We stopped at Kununurra for a couple of days and then Wyndham for a night, then two nights on the road and down to Derby for two nights, now in Broome........

Broome, well not sure how long we will stay, couldn't book anywhere as no dogs at the caravan parks so there are three overflow areas that take dogs. PCYC, Rifle Club and Seven Day Adventist church, we are at the PCYC, the powered sites are full, the, overflow sites are full so we are on the overflow, overflow, first impressions are not good, just a red dirt area covered in Bindi weed and a few old cars pushed to the side, about a dozen other vans or campers here. Stairway to the moon is happening with the full moon shining on the water looking like a stairway and that's why it's so busy.

We took a drive to the two other sites and both full, in fact one was so jammed packed that the awnings of the caravan were touching the next van!! I began to feel a bit more grateful for our patch of red dirt 

Another Rock Wallaby

Boab tree at Wyndham

Lovely cafe where we had coffee and cake at Port Wyndham

Derby at high tide

Lower the next morning 

Coffee and muffin at Wharf Cafe Derby 

Caught up with our nephew Nigel and his wife Jade while in Derby, had a lovely meal with them at Spinifix Hotel

Our patch of red dirt and bindi weeds at Broome, but plenty of space ........ $30@ night .....

Lake Argyle WA

On Tuesday we crossed the border back into WA........ Been 4 months on the road. We decided to head down to Lake Argyle for two nights, the turn off is only 5 ks from the border and about 30ks down a good road into the Caravan Park/resort. We couldn't book a site, it's a matter of turning up, queuing up and hopefully get a site, we are finding this is happening with popular parks, they don't take bookings. Anyway we got there at around 10.30am and had no problem getting a powered site, they even help you reverse in, and it was $39 @ night which we found good value after Darwin  at $40.

Such a lovely place, big caravan park, a few cabins, infinity pool, beer garden, restaurant/cafe, it is situated high over the lake and access to the lake for swimming is down a steep rocky path, so most use the pool. No phone coverage but some free wi fi in the afternoons

The Ord River was dammed in 1971 creating this massive freshwater lake, the water is used for irrigation of properties around the north west. Argyle Downs was a million acre cattle station run by the Durack family and when the dam was built and before the lake was formed the original homestead of the Duracks was taken down stone by stone, numbered and put together again not far from the dam and is now a museum,  there were problems reassembling the homestead as some of the numbers had disappeared but it got sorted. We went on a breakfast cruise, very informative about how many mega litres and how big the dam is but all I can remember is it volume is equivalent to 54 Sydney Harbours....... We did a two hour cruise and only touched a small corner of the lake.

We had planned only a two night visit and as we had to hand over any fruit and veg at the border we had no fresh food!!! But we were enjoying our stay so much we coped, imagine 4 days no fresh fruit and frozen veg.

We left today, Saturday and we are at a caravan park in Kununurra, been to Coles, got fruit and veg, but not much as Coles was low on fresh stuff!!!

Anyway a lovely 4 days at Lake Argyle

 Our cruise on the lake

The Dam wall, not very big....

Rock Wallaby

And the a crocodile, freshwater one, not as dangerous as saltwater ones

And a swim at the end of the cruise and yes the lost Grandad is in there amongst the sparkles, later he joined the kids and jumped of the roof of the boat.......

View of the dam wall and lake

Looking down on the Ord River from the dam wall, there was a lovely grassed area, picnic spot down there but no access to the river, we took Bentkey down and had our lunch 

Sunset changing the colour of the rocks by the Infinity pool

Looking back at the caravan park from our bush walk

Durack homestead that was reassembled

Cabins at the resort

And the beer garden where we went each night to get free WiFi between 4.30 and 6.30pm 

Mango tree.....

Infinity pool 

Our campsite

Sunset

And this morning the sun peeks over the hill

Katherine

Well after we left Darwin our plan was to head to Katherine and we headed to a rest area outside of Adelaide River for an overnight stop, and played with our new Metal Dectector that we bought in Darwin, lots of fun, the next morning we thought we won't rush off and spent time with the Dectector. We realised a camper van ( whizz bang) was having trouble getting going, Brian and a couple of guys went over to help, I chatted to the girl from the camper and realised we had crossed paths before, she had been driving a Hyundai car and we had been crossing paths from Queensland to NT, she had headed to Broome and sold her Hyundai there and was heading back to Germany, hitched a lift in the camper at Kunnanurra to get Darwin  for her flight to Germany...... Once we  realised she needed to get to Darwin and the camper was not going to move, Brian drove her back to Adelaide River (33ks)  and she got a lift to Darwin, someone towed the camper to Adelaide  River with the hope it would get fixed.......  By that time it was  lunch, getting warm and we headed down the road to Hayes Creek, roadhouse there and a caravan park behind. We decided on a stop, needed power, air con etc, turned out to be a great little spot, stayed a week...............  Met Cherie and Chris from Mandurah WA, Cherie does hairdressing on the road so both Brian had I  hair cuts. We played with our detector, digging holes and filling them in around the park! Anyway there was a gold info afternoon on Sat18th July about 30ks away at Grove Hill so we stayed around and went there on Saturday, learnt a few tips, mostly, keep playing, using the Dectector, in between we visited a WW2 U.S army hospital site and fossicked around there. So far between the Caravan Park and the hospital base we have found $4, rusty nails, car parts dating back to the late 40s and a bullet casing....... No gold YET.

Anyway after a week relaxing, having a swim in the pool, walk at the creek and fossicking we finally made it to Katherine.

Our lovely site at Hayes Creek, plenty of room for Bentley to roam

Walk down to the creek

Fossicking at WW2 US  Hospital 

Spent time working out where everything was, we found the mechanics area I think

Grove Hill Hotel where we had Gold Info Day

Caravan Park at Katherine, entertainment by Ken O'Shea, country and a bit of rock and roll, was a good night

We will head off tomorrow towards the WA border with an overnight stop on the way