Just south of Broome......Angie's thoughts

I’ve been discovering some interesting names that people have for their caravans. “Dunwurkin” “Chateau Relaxeau” “The Humpy?” and “Grumpy” are just a few. There’s also a huge variety of caravans and mobile homes but we think that Jayco, with their standard model, the “Sterling,” have probably cornered the market. The Germans are very enthusiastic travellers and seem to favour a version of the old bongo van. There is a company called, Wicked, which rents out VW combis, all brightly graffitied and covered in slogans from well known people, ranging from Aristotle to Oscar Wilde. The other popular vehicle is a small car, also covered in black and white slogans, which has a tent which pops up from its compartment on the roofrack. A ladder then drops down and people climb into the tent, on the roof of their car, to sleep. It seems to work for some but not for the faint-hearted or those who need to get up in the middle of the night, and might forget where they are.

We spent a fabulous two days at Karrijini National Park, after passing through Paraburdoo and Tom Price, both of which are true mining towns. At Paraburdoo everything seemed to be labelled, Rio Tinto. We dodged massive roadtrains on the highway and were very grateful to reach the sanctuary of the national park about 4 in the afternoon, in time for a swim in one of the gorges. The colours and reflections here are just magnificent. Big excitement at our campsite when a willy-willy passed directly over us and nearly blew Joyce out of her chair. It knocked off two large solar panels from the caravan, next to us, so it wasn’t insignificant. However, anyone who can swim with a whale shark at close quarters, considers a willy-willy as trivial!

We are currently enjoying eighty mile beach, just south of Broome. It’s a great beach for fishing rather than swimming. Being Good Friday tomorrow, we thought a stroll on the beach might offer up some fish from the 50 or so fishermen who were there, but unfortunately not willing to share! We spent a great night, last night, with a lovely couple from Noosa, called Judy and Garry. We sorted out the problems of the world, well into the night, and over a few wines Tomorrow we head off to Barn Hill, a caravan site on a cattle property about 130 km from Broome. As our respective children say, at the rate we are going, we'll be around Australia in a couple of months. We'll slow down for a week or so in Broome and then it's on to Yakanarra.