Week 14 of the DownUnder Tour

The last week we spent in Broome was much better than the first in many respects, with one of them being the relocation to a much nicer caravan park at Roebuck Bay (see pics). The sites are far more spacious than where we were and have a look at these views! There is a fair bit of history associated with Roebuck Bay with it being one of the sites of the numerous ship wrecks off the West Coast of Australia. A careful look to sea at low tide shows shallow areas and some rocks that could prove lethal to a vessel caught unaware. Thankfully today we have the benefit of good oceanographic maps and the all too familiar GPS systems to keep us out of strife. If you have a close look at the middle photo
you can see a number of vessels moored in the bay, enjoying the calm water off of the Broome Coast. While there we did, however, get the experience of the wind the locals complain they get, causing accelerated drifts while bottom fishing. Personally I think they have it pretty good as they say they can typically get to sea all but a handful of days each year, and the fishing is even good for the vast majority of those! We also appreciated the friendly atmosphere at Roebuck, even bumping into someone from Ballina, just a few kms from home. More on that later...



Another highlight of our time in Broome was the travelling Questacon Exhibit from the National Science and Technology Centre in Canberra at the local library. This is a brilliant exhibit with a broad diversity of interactive science related information for children of all ages. The design of the presentation / activities makes learning about science & technology great fun!

Speaking of fun, we sometimes make our own and few are better at this than Christian. All he needs is a good angle on a curb to make a BMX track and he is airborne! (See pic)

Maree also had the chance for some two wheeled fun on this scooter. It had been hired by Rick, the fellow from Ballina NSW who just happened to be on the caravan site behind us at Roebuck Bay and was kind enough to give Maree a lend of it for a couple of laps around the park. Just one look at the grin on her face is enough to tell you she was really enjoying herself. (It is good that the flies are not thick there at this time of year. :) )




While in Broome we also bumped into Marilyn, a friend of Maree’s who also works at the hospital in Ballina. What a small country it is at times. Marilyn and Daryl had come straight across from the east coast and were planning to see the west coast in 8 weeks, so were on a mission, with their days packed with tours and sightseeing. This was of great benefit to us as they could give us some guidance of those which were good or otherwise.

The children just get easier and easier to travel with. Mariah has become very responsible and is quick to offer to help with anything from making meals to setting up the site when we arrive someplace. She is also good about attending to independent schoolwork such as her reading. She just grabs a folding chair and her book and gets started on her assignment.


Christian has a harder time staying focused but I think we were all probably more distractible at age 7, (especially with every bump looking like the beginnings of a BMX track). Incentives work well for Christian so “work before play” is a well used strategy.

I also think that the children have become much closer since the start of the trip. They have become more skilled at resolving differences and due to the close living quarters, absenting oneself can be a pretty limited option at times so they are inclined to discuss matters and then move on.

Just a few hours drive south of Broome is a little spot called Port Smith, located 20+ kms down a dirt road where there is reportedly good fishing and they even rent out boats. This sounded like an opportunity not to be missed, though I had some serious reservations as the road was very soft in areas and was graded to form a “V” shape. This is not too much of a problem if there is no oncoming traffic (for the 1 hour drive in) and you can maintain speed in the soft sand and stay in the middle of the road. If however, someone comes along and you need to drive up along the incline it is downright dangerous in a tall vehicle with a high centre of gravity, especially in soft sand. For this reason alone I would recommend avoiding it unless driving a 4WD vehicle with a low centre of gravity. Once on the road there was no place to turn around so we ploughed on through the sand and got there intact.

Immediately after checking in to the caravan park we hired a boat and loaded up with bait and gear recommended at the shop to catch those prizewinning fish. They told me that it was impossible to miss out on a feed so we headed forth with great anticipation, fishing the areas mapped out for us. The conditions were cold and windy but we were not deterred, determined to catch our dinner. To our credit we all caught fish, but the largest was still smaller than some of the bait we use on the east coast. We tried everything, from using the different baits to using lures to changing hook sizes and rig configurations, all to no avail. We fished the mouth of the river at the bar, areas just off the beach, the islands, and the estuaries. From rocky outcrops to mangroves to fallen logs to sandy bottoms we fished them all, but the big fish just refused to make that journey from the cold, murky, croc infested depths to a nice warm dinner plate. :)

Fortunately we still had a tin of baked beans and loaf of bread in the cupboard so didn’t go hungry but it wasn’t quite the baked fish dinner we had hoped for.
For those who do have the 4WD and tinnie, the Port Smith area has a dirt track that extends to the river where one launches their boat. (Ref photos) As you may have gleaned from the above, there is a broad diversity of marine habitats here and I would expect that either local knowledge or a net across the mouth of the river may assist in getting fish in the boat, (though the latter may come with one of the resident crocs and / or a visit to the local slammer). To my way of thinking, there are a lot more areas that are far easier to access where people actually catch fish, so if I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t.

From Port Smith we ventured down the coast to 80 Mile Beach, which is only a short 10 or 12 km drive in on a dirt road that was in pretty good shape. Upon arrival we registered and went to our site, only to realise that Marilyn & Daryl were just two sites away from us and had already been there a day. This was terrific as they could tell us the best times to go fishing and the best bait to use. I grabbed my fishing rod, bait, a couple of lures and headed for the beach.
The first impression of 80 mile beach is the expansiveness of it. It literally goes much farther than the eye can see.

The beach is also a "shell beach", with literally millions of shells and sandollars. The children immediately began combing through them looking for those that would make good souvenirs.

Now to say that this is a popular place for beach fishing is an understatement. There would have been about 100 of us lined up along the beach but they tell me that during peak periods it can be two or three times that. In spite of this, there was still a spot to be had for me to wet a line. I then noticed that the 4WD’s were coming onto the beach from the caravan park and driving one way or the other to get away from the crowds. The target fish for the beach fishing here is threadfin salmon, which are supposed to be good if eaten fresh. I was determined to catch a feed and my enthusiasm was buoyed even more when after just a brief 1 ½ hours I saw a fellow two down from me pull a fish out of the surf.
Following my miserable performance as “hunter and gatherer” at Port Smith I pulled out all the stops and sent the children on a mission to see what bait he was using and how his rig was configured. They did a magnificent job, advising me that his bait was similar to that I was using but cut a bit smaller and he had a little more weight on his line. I then looked at how far out he cast, his retrieve speed and the amount of tension he kept on his line. Armed with this knowledge I adjusted my rig to match his and waded out deeper than he had, cast a bit farther and retrieved at the same speed. When he put fresh bait on I discreetly changed my bait, but still did not get so much as a nibble. Another hour went by without anyone else within sight catching a fish and then the successful fisho’s wife landed a fish and once again my trusty spies took a casual stroll up the beach to check her bait, rig, etc. She was using the same set up as him so I then watched her cast distance, line tension and retrieve speed, but it seemed that she was copying her husband. They packed up shortly after as did the other 98 fishos, but I stayed the course thinking that with every departed fisho my chances improved. As the sun set into the ocean the cruel reality set in that I wouldn’t need to get out the filleting knife and we may once again be digging the baked beans out of the cupboard. In the end I was rewarded, not by fish but by a magnificent sunset!
Fortunately Maree was prepared for the worst and prepared a terrific dinner, for which I was most grateful.
Next week we move farther south to Port Hedland, Point Samson, Karratha, and Dampier, a few of the key areas fuelling the West Australian economy. We also celebrate Mariah’s 10th birthday at the “Staircase to the Moon”, so don’t miss it.

Week 13 of the DownUnder Tour

Broome is an interesting place with good infrastructure for its size, both east and west facings to sea, perhaps the best fishing club in the world, (in both location and per capita participation), and some beautiful and unique scenery. The picture to the right is of the "Hole in the Wall" and on the left is Cable Beach. As you can see from the photos, the water is clear blue, calm, and inviting. (Just watch out for the box jellyfish, crocs, and sharks.)

Unfortunately Broome is experiencing some growing pains, crippling it in many respects with social problems and lack of good staff in most businesses. One can wait 25 minutes in a relatively short line at the Visitor's Info Centre as the 7 employees would rather hide in a corner shuffling papers or shirk off and speak to someone on the phone than address the line of waiting people. It reminds me of the business owner who said he'd really like his business if it weren't for those *##*%# pesky customers always wanting something or other.

Business owners complain that they cannot get good staff and there is ample evidence that supports this. It takes the Australia Post office there 2-3 days to sort the "Express Post" bags and they only arrive sporadically every few days when there is room on the inbound plane. They are quick to complain that they are understaffed and reply to inquiries that "you’ll just have to come back another day". If they were not a monopoly they would never survive.

There are good areas to ride one's bike except for both the broken glass on the roads / footpaths and the "double gee" burrs in the grass. We patched the bike tyres repeatedly as can be seen from the photos. Even after upgrading the tyres to kevlar and the tubes to "puncture resistant" we still had flats!

Businesses charge exorbitant prices but there is little alternative as Broome is so remote that competition is quite light. I spoke with a real estate agent there that said that there are no businesses for sale aside from a takeaway restaurant. After paying (dearly) for another tube at the bike shop I asked the owner if they would sell only to be told that it is a really good business and there is no way they would part from it. Small wonder with the high tyre / tube mortality rate and the prices they charge!

We initially stayed in the Cable Beach Caravan Park where we found some of the staff to be exceedingly rude, perhaps because they have literally over 1000 people there on 500 of the tiniest sites we have seen anywhere. Some of the visitors were playing loud music and partying into the wee hours while others proved less flexible with their sleep patterns and actually had enough nerve to complain. :) There was a lot of tension in the air as people had to stand in lines for the limited toilets, showers, etc.

The unheated pool looked nice but Maree rode her bike alongside it (still on her bike and still on the road) and was approached by yet another rude staff member to tell her that no bicycles were allowed near the pool. She just wanted to see if our children's friends were there, not to take her bike for a swim.

We finally relocated to a caravan park that was not in our caravan park directory, the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park, which we would recommend very highly. It is a small park in comparison only having perhaps 150 sites and it is situated right on Roebuck Bay! (whereas Cable Beach caravan is a "convenient" 15 minute walk from Cable Beach.) They do not advertise, do not take advance bookings and one needs to arrive there early in the morning to get a spot. The sites at Roebuck Bay are spacious with friendly residents and helpful staff. We really enjoyed it there, perhaps even more so after suffering through the stay at Cable Beach.

There is a deep water port at Broome and while we were there they were loading a few thousand cattle aboard a ship headed to the far east. This ship (right) holds over 30,000 cattle so I can't help but feel sorry for the poor bloke on the other end who has to swab the decks!
Another one of the vessels in port while we were there was the Coral Princess (pictured left). It does trips across the top end including stops at Broome and Horizontal Falls. It was shortly after this photo was taken that they headed to Horizontal Falls where a woman fell out of one of the tender boats and drowned. Fortunately they got the body back before the crocs and sharks took her but what a tragic event to have happen on a holiday.

Speaking of crocs, have a look at this picture of Christian on one of the beaches and you will note that some beaches are mud and even little fellows like Christian (with big feet I might add) sink in up to their shins. This really slows one down when trying to get away from the crocs but hopefully slows the crocs a bit as well.

For those who live in Broome one of the highlights has to be the Broome Fishing Club. First, the club has 220+ members in a town of 14,000, so it is very popular. Second, they have a clubhouse on a hill on a peninsula overlooking the ocean and two boat ramps with ample parking. The land that the club house is on would be worth over $10M alone. What a place to have a coldie and enjoy the 270 degree views!
Third they have two boat ramps 100 metres apart on the peninsula facing different directions to accommodate for different combinations of wind and tide. Fourth, they can get out almost anytime because they get virtually no sea or swell, just a bit of wind. (Have a look at the flat sea!!! Not even a hint of sea or swell.) Fifth, you can catch billfish from small tinnies. Look at the pic of this sailfish caught from a 12 foot tinnie. The records in the club house make one drool. They catch (tag & release) hundreds of billfish a year. Want fish you can chew on? They got them as well, and many are massive. Have a look at this one mounted on the wall of the fishing club. This is a fisherman's paradise and perhaps the only place in Broome where you don't require a lot of patience as reportedly the fish bite well. Oh, and they don't forget the ladies either. The all ladies team "Reel Women" took out last year's billfish tournament! Unfortunately the charter boats were either booked out or the businesses did not even bother to return my messages asking to make a booking. This was disappointing but I may still try to get back at some point for one of their fishing tournaments...

The tides at Broome are almost as large as those in Derby as you can see from the photos with the pier to the right.




This is good as it means that they require a long jetty and the jetty has a walkway alongside it from where one can fish.
This photo (left) is from the far end of the jetty looking back toward the silos where grain is stored for export and the massive fuel storage tanks used to keep the ships moving. We saw this lined with people one day when the fish reportedly came in, and even saw one fellow who caught a spotted mackerel from here. This does fill up so one must get there early to get a good spot.




I am often asked what the children do while we are travelling and so thought I’d include a couple of pics. This is Mariah is doing some schoolwork and Christian reading the latest Harry Potter novel, one of the books he is reading for school. Both children are doing exceedingly well with Distance Education but much of the credit must go to Maree, their very committed teacher. All of us enjoy a good book and the Harry Potter series has been entertaining.

Many say that watching the sun set over Cable Beach is one of the prettiest sunsets you’ll ever see. I’ll let you be the judge of that but it certainly was a nice way to spend the evening as we had drinks and dinner watching it happen.

Broome also boasts dinosaur footprints. Due to rising sea levels one needs to do some planning to see these fossils as they are only exposed at extremely low tides (unless you bring a snorkel and don’t mind the crocs and sharks nibbling at your toes). Christian is showing just how big these footprints are but it may not be long before he catches up at the rate he is growing.

Next week's report will cover more of Broome, Port Smith, and 80 Mile Beach as we move down the Australian West Coast on the DownUnder Tour.