Gee I've been so busy having such a good time that I've neglected my blog shamefully and now I'm going to have to rack my brains to get it all sorted it out.

I left you last at Mary Pools which was a lovely stop for just the one night.  From there we headed down the road a bit to Ngumban Cliffs.  This was a surprising location given that for miles around everything was flat and we were wondering where on earth these cliffs were then suddenly there they were rising out of the plain.  We had an amazing view perched up on top and were lucky it wasn't too windy that night and we had yet another beautiful sunset. Next morning we headed to Lake Ellendale.  This was a delightful stop - a property where the owners have allowed campers to use an area beside a billabong. There are no amenities so you have to have to be totally self sufficient.  The area is shared with the cattle who are very friendly - particularly one cow who was very keen to share Craig's toast!  And here we had yet another wonderful sunset over the water.

Up and onwards the next day to Willare Bridge Roadhouse.  This was a great stop - fantastic reasonably priced meals, a stay three pay two deal for the caravan park, a refreshing swimming pool and delightful friendly staff many from Argentine.  We took advantage of the 3 for 2 deal and also used their industrial size washing machines to get the sheets and doona cover etc done.  Craig and Nudge tried their hand fishing from the bridge but not with any success and really we just had three lovely relaxing days which was great after quite a series of short one night stops.

Then it was time to head for Broome.  We'd heard so much on the road about how busy it was and in our usual style we were winging it and had nothing booked.  We'd though we'd have the best chance at the Pistol Club which is an overflow caravan park so we got there around I think 11am and there was a sign saying park full.  Carol and I decided we'd walk into the park with the guys staying at the roadside with the vans and ask them what the likelihood of a spot was in the coming days.  The lady was very helpful and while they could have fitted in our van, couldn't fit in Nudge and Carols which is a bit longer than ours at almost 23ft.  But she told us about the emergency overflow in the surf club car park and suggested we try and get in there for the night then be back at the gate again at 7am the following morning and said we should get in then.  

We headed back to the surf club where the council has set aside an area of the carpark where you can stay overnight.  You can leave your van during the day but there must be no evidence of camping - i.e. chairs and tables or awnings out.  Not that there was any room for that as you had to park between the lines -which of course are designed for cars and as it got busier it required a lot of skill and much manoeuvring to get the van reversed in.  However we were there reasonably early and after a bit of jiggling around both vans were parked up.

We then headed for lunch at Divers Tavern and from there checked out the hardware store, Harvey Normans for a soda stream - saving us heaps on soda or mineral water! We got back to the surf club in time to collect a drink and head down to the beach to watch one of the magnificent Cable Beach sunsets.  I don't think I could ever get tired of watching them - we've seen three so far - each one different but all equally stunning. 

We'd a good nights sleep in our car park berth and were up and on the road before 7am the next morning and back down to the Pistol Club.  We got our names on the list - they're not allowed to take bookings - and came back out to the vans to have some brekky and within half an hour got a call to say a site was ready for us. We've got power and water - a nice luxury for a change.  I can use the microwave, electric jug and toaster and even my hairdryer!!  We've got a lovely little private shady site and really enjoying our stay here.

I'm not going to try and remember everything in order but will just as I remember share the things we've been up to.  There was the obligatory stock up of groceries, booze, fuel etc and then I'd made a doctors appointment for Wednesday afternoon.  I've had dermatitis on my hands for almost six weeks and had tried all the usual over the counter fixes but it wasn't clearing up and was gradually spreading and getting worse.   I saw a really nice young doctor who's prescribed me a stronger cream and I can see massive improvement after only two or three days.

A year or so ago I was able to reconnect on good old Facebook with Jackie - a colleague from my days as a registrar at Forest Crescent Primary School back in Perth. She and her husband Trevor are in Broome for a few months in their caravan and we'd been exchanging messages and hoped to plan a catch up.  So we arranged to meet for lunch at Zanders at Cable Beach.  We'd a great time reminiscing about our days at FCPS - mind you it was almost 30 years since I'd last seen her and hadn't even met Trevor.  But it was brilliant.

Then there was my hair!  I usually visit my beloved Rob every 5 or 6 weeks for cut, colour etc.  I'd had nothing done since a couple of days before we left home and that's nearly 4 months now!  Of course Broome is crazy busy and I wasn't sure that I'd be able to get an appointment but thought I'd give it a go.  As an aside Broome has a permanent population of around 15,000 and currently has somewhere between 65 and 75,000!!  Anyway I spotted a little salon which had good reviews and threw myself at their mercy to see if they could squeeze me in anytime over the next few days and the lovely Jess said she could fit me in on Friday afternoon.  We opted for foils rather than a colour as they'd work better at camouflaging the sparkly bits.  While I'm much blonder than normal I'm really happy with the result and she gave me a great cut too so that should keep me from looking like a shaggy dog for a while.

We've explored Chinatown, the Town Beach, driven out to Reddell Beach and Gantheaume point - and every beach is different - some with white flat rocks, some red interestingly shaped rocks.  The contrast in many of them between the red red dust on the way in and then the brilliant white sand is amazing.  And as for the colour of the water - it has to be seen to be truly appreciated.  We took the cars down on the beach one afternoon with drinks and nibbles and watched the sunset and the camels being ridden along the beach.  We went along to the Town Beach Markets one night and had tea from one of the food vans there.

Yesterday we took a drive out to Willie Creek and Quandong Point.  We wanted to check out how accessible they would be for vans as we think we might have a couple of nights there next week on our way to Cape Levecque. There are some fantastic spots so future posts will show us staying there.  We then called into Willie Creek Pearl farm - but of course!  and I got an early birthday present of pearl stud earrings and Carol who has a significant birthday later this year got a beautiful string of pearls.   Then yesterday afternoon I ticked off another bucket list item with a camel ride along Cable Beach.  It was fabulous - I was on Alice who originated from Alice Springs.  The camels aren't bred in captivity, they capture wild camels and train them so they can come from all over WA or NT.  After our camel ride we watched another sunset - no clouds so the sky was quite different - and enjoyed a sundowner.  We'd had a few nibbles so weren't particularly hungry so headed into town and got a couple of pizzas which we shared for tea at Nudge and Carol's van. This afternoon we're all heading to the Surf Club for the session and will meet up with Jackie and Trevor again and then tomorrow we're back on the road again heading for Derby and the Horizontal Falls on Tuesday.  Some exciting stuff to come! (sorry there seems to be a couple of photos the wrong way round - tried multiple times to get them right but have given up)