Broome, WA. (Part Two)

 After a relaxing quiet week up on the Peninsula, we headed back to Broome. We could only get 3 nights in the caravan park, and then we had to go somewhere else. We were speaking to Steve and Rhonda at Banana Well and they had stayed at the Pistol Club overflow in Broome which is a "first in, best dressed camp" so we planned to go there. We had a special birthday coming up so wanted to be in Broome for that.

First day we got back to Broome, we just went for a walk around town and did some groceries, and we wandered past an ice cream shop. The kids have been asking for weeks to have an ice cream so we indulged and all enjoyed some ice cream.

We also saw a big aeroplane coming in to land and it flew directly over our heads when we were standing on the footpath. This was very exciting, and very loud, and Kylie actually managed to get this one on camera (but the internet is not good enough  to load videos!)

We were lucky enough to have a camel ride along Cable Beach. Elsie and Zara rode a female camel called Alice. She got her name from the town she is from, Alice Springs in the NT. Kylie and Bridie rode a male camel now "Cloud" and he got his name because he is so relaxed it's like he always has his head in the clouds. He is getting a bit old and has sore shoulders, so they only put riders on the back seat. He also came from Alice Springs but he wasn't lucky enough to be driven in the truck, he walked with another camel and a man doing a treck from Alice Springs to Broome. The man caught Cloud in the wild, trained him up, walked him to Broome and then no longer needed him so sold him to the camel riding company. 

The kids loved the camel ride. Zara was a little bit concerned that Cloud was going to "get her"...because he sniffed her leg. But he didn't, and everyone was fine. They are such graceful and strong creatures, with big personalities.

After our camel ride we went for a walk to the boat ramp and looked for some dinosaur footprints. We struggled to find them due to all the sand and mud but we think we found a few in the end. We also caught the end of a wedding at the rocks. It was one of two weddings we saw during the week.

We spent each afternoon in the pool at the caravan park, knowing we only had 3 days. It was a very nice pool area with a little waterfall and palm trees. The kids were able to swim mostly by themselves with supervision and Bridie's new found confidence with her back pack. Kylie and Saul managed to take it in turns at the lap pool and both realized they need to practice their swimming strokes. 

On the day of our move to the Pistol Club, we were up early and our the gate and waiting at the Pistrol Club by 6:45am. There was already one caravan in front of us waiting and by the time we could get in at 8.30am there were 6 caravans behind us. We had breakfast in the van while we waited for the office to open and Zara had her school Google meeting with her class at 7:45am. She did her class in the car on the side of the road - talk about remote schooling. There was drama in the waiting line when a person tried to push in front of us. Saul and the man behind us were not going to let that happen, so they walked in to the office very quickly and made sure the manager knew who was in line first.

We got a good spot eventually, up against the fence with a little bit of space. Being an overflow camp, everyone was very tightly packed in. There were only a 2 showers and 2 washing machines at the camp so it was a battle to pick the right time to use the facilities. We stayed for 5 days, so that took our Broome Part 2 up to 8 nights, and it really was a lovely relaxing place to visit, it was just a pity it was so busy and accomadation was so squishy and competitive to get.

Steve and Rhonda were now back at the the Pistol Club too with their friends Neville and Sue and Greg and Denise. It was nice to see them all again. Saul was lucky enough to go out fishing with Steve and Rhonda one day in the boat. Rhonda caught the biggest fish of the day, a tusk fish. Steve and Saul caught a smaller fish each but they weren't photo worthy apparently. 

We visited Cable Beach for dinner on the beach and to watch the sunset and then after the sun went down we headed to the opposite side of town to watch the moon rise. This was a very fun experience - it definitely makes you feel more in touch with the solar system. We were lucky enough to be in town for the full moon and Staircase to the Moon apperance. At certain times of the year, the full moon rises over the tidal flats and the light reflects off the tidal pools and makes the appearance like stairs leading to the moon. They had a market on the night we watched, and there were people everywhere. It was very beautiful to watch, even if we bribed the kids to sit still with lollipops.

The pistol club still has active members come to shoot 2 nights a week. The kids were initially excited to go watch the shooting, but soon realized it is very loud standing near a pistol when it is shot, so they were happy to walk back to bed soon after having a quickly.

One day walking to do some washing, Zara informed us that we needed to walk back to the van along a different tracks. Once we started to walk along the new track it was easy to see why Zara wanted to go this way - there were some kids with a little shop at the front of their camp selling bracelets and things that they had made. They were very clever so we went back to the van and got $2 each for a bracelet/anklet.

Our last day in Broome was a very special day - it was Zara's birthday and she turned 7 years old. She had lots of people at the pistol club walk past and say happy birthday. The day started out with much excitment with balloons and presents in the caravan. Elsie gave Zara sone special shells she found and a shell bracelet she chose for Zara at the moonlight market a few days earlier. Once dressed we went around the pistol club and gave a lollipop to all the kids we could find. We meet Ella again who we camped next to at Banana Well and lots of other kids.

 Then we went into town to get some very special braids in their hair. The lady was half hour late for our appointment - she runs on Broome time apparently. But thankfully the joy and excitment at the end faded away the frustration at the start. We had to rush home from the hairdressers for Elsie's prep interview for school, and due to some technical drama it turned out we had plenty of time.

For lunch we had Bluey's Fish n Chips by request from the birthday girl. We ate these at the playground and also ran into our new friend Harriet there. So that was a pleasant surprise. All through the day Zara had lots of video calls and messages from family and friends back home. She thoroughly enjoyed all of these and it truely made her day.

We returned home for cake (which was actually a Clinkers Slice!!) and to sing happy birthday. We enjoyed some slice with ice cream, jelly and sprinkles. You only turn 7 once, right?!

Then for our special birthday treat for Zara, Kylie took the big girls to the outdoor cinema after dinner. Saul and Bridie stayed home to have a much needed early night after such a big day. We saw "Dream Horse" which was a great feel-good movie and we all enjoyed it a lot. The cinema was heritage listed and very cool, with the old equipment on display and the original deck chair seating. It also happens to be directly under the flight path to the airport, so we saw a few planes go over - closely look at the self of the 3 of us and above Zara's head is the aeroplane.