The West Kimberleys - Broome, The Dampier Peninsula and Derby.

We spent the week there much like we had previously. We opted for another spot with ocean views and easy access to two beaches.  The wind had picked up for the week  and the tides were a lot lower so the water wasn’t as crystal clear, which led to less swims and less luck with fishing, however we managed to catch a ridiculous amount of undersized bream (at one stage two at once) but we threw them back to catch another day. One of the fellows reckons he saw a croc on one of the beaches, which was a little off putting, but we chose to believe he saw a rockodile (rocks that look like crocs, often spotted when you’re hyper vigilant about potentially being eaten). We also did some odd jobs around the camper, including fixing the headlight rattle – the fuse under the bonnet was loose again, after being fixed in Yulara… We also spent some time re-sorting and preparing for the Gibb, but mainly sat around, wandered and just enjoyed the outdoors. All in all a wonderful week.

I made bread on the fire for the first time - it was delicious!

the view from our camp site.

double hookup!

We eventually landed back in Broome, however decided to not return to our previous park, and forked out an extra $7 to stay at a much nicer van park – Broome Vacation Village, which came complete with a pool, allocated sites, real bathrooms and lots of grass. The first afternoon our car was booked in for a service so we dropped it off then spent a lazy afternoon by the pool. I was jealous of Michael’s haircut, so called the French hairdresser and eventually had some of my untamed locks lobbed off. Much needed! We had the Hulk back before sunset and set up in a rather lovely site and just relaxed. The next morning we had to get the Hulk to the suspension shop pretty early so we said goodbye to the lovely van park and hello to legging it once more. We were dropped off in town, so spent time wandering the streets looking at shops then sitting in a park and researching some of our trip. Whilst in the park I somehow managed to get stung by a bee, which led to a ridiculously swollen ankle and a bit of pain. OUCH!! Anyway we did some more shopping, after all we wouldn’t be seeing a super market for a month once we hit the Gibb. We picked the car up again, forked out some cash, but the result seemed well worth it in town, with a firmer ride and slightly more clearance, we will see how it goes on the dirt soon… We then had one last dip at Cable Beach (how could you not?) then continued on our way – just within the time we had set ourselves to be out of town.

Last drive on Cable Beach.

We made it as far as Nillibubbica Rest Area, where we gave in and spent the night. After a couple of hours of being settled, in a car pulled up next to the same shelter that we had chosen. After taking a peek out the window to see its rig, or lack thereof, we thought nothing of it and went to bed. In the morning Michael hopped out of the camper and was on his way to carry out usual morning duties when he heard “Robbie?” being called to him. Turns out the car from the night before was actually Michael’s old neighbours, Bruce and Margaret, who were out and about visiting relatives. Fate had somehow landed us at the same shelter at the same night, so we spent the morning catching up over breakfast, absolutely astounded that we had run into each other! Eventually it was time to get moving as we were meeting another Alice friend in Derby, so we said our goodbyes, wished each other safe travels and headed east.

Michael, Me, Margaret and Bruce - What a coincidence! 

We stumbled across the Fitzroy River and decided to drive a bit closer to have a look, we didn’t find any crocs, but loved the view and could understand why this water is not ok to swim in.

The Boab Prison Tree.

Eventually we found Derby, but not before stopping off at the Boab Prison Tree. A thousand or so year old Boab Tree that was once used to chain Aboriginal prisoners to before they could be transported elsewhere. We read about the spine chilling history of the area, including blackbirding – stealing indigenous people to make slaves in trades such as pearling – and looked at many historical sites. Derby itself is a rather small town and soon after entering it we were at the end. We went to the jetty that was once home to huge trades and looked at the water, which was low at the moment, but would reach a massive tide of 11.17 that afternoon. Derby has the highest tidal movement in Australia and the second highest in the world, sometimes going from .7 to 11.8 in a day. We checked out the old gaol, again another scary piece of history then decided it was time for nicer times and met up with Eseta. We spent the afternoon catching up, meeting Eseta’s various housemates and having a couple of wines. We then walked roughly two minutes into town to fetch dinner and sat out in the warm night air enjoying kebabs and fish and chips.

Eseta and I chilling on the porch.

We spent the night lavishly inside with a soft queen bed and a roof over our head then enjoyed wonderful warm showers in the morning. We had said goodbye to Eseta the night before as she had to leave for work at 5am and this thought was too much for us! We spent the morning preparing for what lay ahead – The Kimberleys, which means 3 plus weeks of no reception, dirt and corrugated roads, absolutely stunning sights to see( we hope), and a lack of civilisation (except grey nomads we’re guessing). So for now it is goodbye and we’ll see you on the other side!

Lesson of the week: It’s a small world after all – 20,000 km from home, hundreds of campsites, shelters and locations, and you can still bump into close friends.