Rick and Rae's Travels: Fri, 24th to Mon, 27th June

On Friday morning we packed up and drove about 130kms to the Roebuck Roadhouse and Caravan Park 33kms out of Broome. Linda and Steve were staying there as it is the only park near Broome that will accept dogs, so we stopped and had a catch up. We also met another couple, Fran and Kev from Albury. We decided we would try to get into a park in Broome rather than stay at Roebuck and drive the 66kms return journey each time we wanted to do something. We were able to get into the very busy Roebuck Caravan Park (almost an identical name) in the centre of Broome. We ended up being parked in an area normally reserved for tour buses, and very close to the tent and campervan section. We drove around and had a look at Broome before booking into the Black Pearl restaurant for dinner that night. The meal was just OK, but the restaurant was within walking distance of the park which was very handy.

On Saturday, another site became available but when we looked at it we decided it would have been too small for us. We drove in to the markets which are held every Saturday and caught up with Linda and Steve again for coffee. We spent a bit of time walking around the shops in Chinatown and visited the Sun Picture Theate which is an open air theatre still operating in the middle of town. We also looked at the two restored pearl luggers in dry dock and inspected one of the many pearl shops. There was one huge pearl on display there valued at $100,000 - a bit more than the credit card would handle. Rick went to the speedway in the evening but was home very early as it was a disappointing meeting, with very few competitors. The weather has been beautiful since we have been here ... this is the weather we have been looking forward to! Steve and Linda recommended a restaurant for Sunday evening seafood smorgasbord, so we made a booking for the next night.

After a very noisy night in the park we walked to the City Beach Cafe for Sunday brunch. The cafe overlooked one of the mudflat areas where people launch their boats. The water was so far out and so shallow that the vehicles were driven across the wet mud and right into the water to enable the boats to be launched. Not really an ideal way to treat vehicles. We enjoyed a really nice brunch and then headed to Gantheaume Point where there are dinosaur footprints. The footprints can only be seen at very low tides and by very athletic climbers as they are at the base of high cliffs. There is a cast of the footprints located above the cliffs for when the real ones aren't accessible. The rock formations here are beautiful. From there we drove to the famous Cable Beach for a coffee and a beer overlooking the water. Cable Beach was a bit of a disappointment ... not the white sand and waves that I had imagined.

We headed back to the van to freshen up and then went to the Mangrove Resort for our seafood smorgasbord. The service was non-existent, the food a bit tired looking and not much left (7pm) and was not worth $45 per head! On arrival we were told we would have to leave our credit card at the desk to cover any drinks we might have had, in case we decided to do a runner without paying. After our meal (but before I had a chance to have dessert) Rick asked to see the manager. We wanted to let her know that we weren't happy with the food and that she would need to train her staff a bit better (all nicely of course). She explained that most of the hospitality staff in Broome were foreigners and only stayed in the area for a short time, but agreed that obviously her training was not good enough and that she would refund our money. We said that wasn't why we spoke to her ... only that she needed to know what was happening, but she insisted. We were pleasantly surprised to find that she refunded the cost of our bottle of wine and beer as well.

On Monday I finally had my hair done while Rick filled gas bottles and washed the car. We went for a drive to Cable Beach again and decided to book in for dinner at the Sunset Bar and Grill which is a nice restaurant overlooking the beach. On the way back to the van we called in to see Caitlyn and the kids. Darryn was still working on the island, so we would try to catch up with him on Tuesday. The meal this time cost $54 a head for a buffet of prawns and various salads while you had your choice of steak, chicken or fish cooked for you, followed by an enormous selection of desserts. What a difference compared to the meal we had the night before! The service was great and the food fantastic and the sunset was a perfect backdrop for the camels returning from the beach tour. The dessert included a chocolate fountain alongside a huge bowl of marshmallows on toothpicks ... made up for what I missed out on the night before. We had decided to lash out on restaurants while in Broome as it would be the last chance until we hit Darwin.