Broometime

My few days of R and R in Broome are coming to an end. The weather has not been kind to me. We’ve not had any of the rain that has been sweeping across the Kimberley, but it has been extremely windy with grey skies and temperatures in the low 20’s. Not Broome weather at all. But others are worse off than me. I talked to a woman yesterday from Melbourne, whose trip with Adventure Wild had been cancelled because of the closure of the Gibb River Road. AW have had to cancel two trips this week and are refunding the money 100%, but the participants are in Broome wondering where to stay and what to do with themselves.

I’ve been occupying myself visiting shops and galleries. Yesterday I started off at Paspaley Pearls and watched a National Geographic film about the history of their enterprise:

Inside the showroom:

I wouldn’t mind these earrings, but when would I wear them ?


These are signs of the zodiac carved into pearl shell:



The design process and its inspiration:


Outside, it was interesting to walk around town and revisited places I remember:

Next on the agenda was a visit to Short Street Gallery, housed in one of the oldest buildings in town. It looks as if it could fall down at any moment! On the roof is an early form of aircon: a wind tunnel that draws in air in order to expel all the warm air inside by creating a through draft:

This is the tunnel from inside the gallery (no longer operational):

Derby continued

One night at the Mud Crab Motel is enough! It’s only advantage is that it’s cheap! The rooms are basically dongas with ensuites. Last year I stayed at the Derby Lodge, but they are only taking bookings for two nights at a time, which is more than I needed in Derby. I spent a night disturbed by the loud ticking of the clock high up on my wall, till I finally got up and dug out my ear plugs!

The whole place is in need of a bit of maintenance. Apparently it’s leased out to a disabled man who obviously can’t keep on top of things. He gave me two wi-fi passwords, neither of which worked. This morning at 7.30 am I couldn’t unlock the gate to get out. A man appeared with a big bunch of keys and said he was the owner and lived in South Perth! He was dressed in a paint spattered shirt and tatty jeans and said all the keys were from other properties he owned in Derby.

After breakfast I got away and drove down to the wharf again, just to see how much the tide had come in:

… compared with yesterday afternoon:

At 9.00 am there was a lot of activity down there. An episode of a local comedy soap was being filmed. There was a crew of at least 20 and they were filming a fight between two indigenous guys, who had to do it again and again:

They didn’t want me to get any nearer with my iPhone.

I went for a walk along the jetty and chatted to some people from an Outback Spirit tour group. I had seen them yesterday at Mowanjum. They were having to fly to their next destination, Mount Hart, because the Gibb River Road is closed after all the rain. I’m not sure how their vehicle will catch up with them.

My next port of call was the Norval Gallery. There was a big display of paintings for sale, plus a number of Mark Norval’s own personal collection:

Samantha Wungundin-Allies

Milky Way Wandjina. $1300

Mark encourages local artists to come and work in his studio or in the garden outside. Today there were only a couple, because of the poor weather:

This man is working on a dot painting with very small dots.

The gallery also has a large collection of Boab nut carvings.

Info about these at the Visitors Centre.

Two of Mark’s own paintings.

Owl in the Boab 

Charcoal pencil and aquarelle on silk paper

Fitzroy Crossing to Derby

In view of all the dire weather warnings and possibility of flooded roads, the wisest course seemed to be to turn round at Fitzroy and head back to Broome. It would not be too hard to make one quick detour to Derby where I could visit the Mowanjum Art Centre. That was my plan for the day.

Late yesterday afternoon, I was alerted to the fact that two large bulls were eating their way across the grass in the camp ground, having wandered in from a nearby station:

I had a tasty dinner in the bar: crispy skin barramundi on a bed of roast vegetables (not at all bad for such a remote spot):

This morning, I had a chat with my neighbour on the other side. (They have made this a little female conclave: we are all quiet and well-behaved in a potentially problematic area I suppose). She was visiting her sister who used to run an animal rescue shelter which was completely destroyed in the January flood. Apparently, she spent a couple of days before the waters hit, transporting her animals by canoe to a small property in town owned by her partner. They are still there because she lost everything. What a sad story!

The Greyhound Bus waiting to pick up passengers at 9.30 am. on a very wet morning.

I needed to fill up with petrol, but discovered that the town was not allowed to sell high octane because the local kids use it for sniffing. It was the same story in Derby. I had to put in 91 octane and let it mix with the half tank I already had. How ridiculous! There must be a better way to address this problem.

I got to Mowanjum just outside Derby at lunchtime, after several hours of driving though heavy rain. When I was last here with JL, he bought a painting by Donny Woolagoodja which used to hang on our wall at Burswood. His son claimed it last year in memory of his father, a request I couldn’t refuse. Donny died earlier this year and there are no more of his paintings on sale, but I bought a biography, maybe an autobiography, full of pictures of his life and doings.

Broome to Fitzroy Crossing

I set off from Broome with grey skies and dire weather warnings about heavy rain and flooded roads. I wanted to see what was going on at Fitzroy Crossing after the main bridge was washed away in January. For a few months there was no means of crossing the mighty Fitzroy River: the Great Northern Highway was blocked. Then a temporary bridge at a lower level was constructed, but of course it will be unable to withstand a massive amount of water coming down stream. On the radio this morning, they said it might have to be closed on Wednesday if there is a lot of rain.

Leaving Broome, the skies grew darker but no rain fell. After crossing the Logue River, the first Boab trees came into view. Travelling up here once with the Nats Club, Daphne offered a prize to the person who spotted the first one - but of course she knew where they were. They are so different from other trees, with their big bulbous trunks:

This is my Prius parked at Willare Bridge Roadhouse:

At the next rest stop, there is a very old and huge Boab:

I arrived at my accommodation, Fitzroy River Lodge, checked in and immediately went out to take photos as the light was fading:

The first pic is from my room which is up on stilts and cars get parked underneath. The second pic is from the edge of the river bank - which this year is much nearer to the accommodation.

It’s obvious how much of the bank was washed away in January’s flood. The cranes are working at the site of the original bridge. In front of it is the new low level, temporary crossing.

The lady in the room next door told me to drive up the road to see the other, single lane temporary bridge which will be the last one to close in the event of flooding. When I got there, I found the ABC were filming:

The cameraman was working hard to get the best shot!

This car had come to a sad end at some point:

Looking across the river (I believe) is the location of the Crossings Inn, where I stayed for one night last year. It is closed now.

The other bit of info worth reporting is that my next door neighbour is Deputy Principal of Fitzroy Crossing District High School. She arrived up here a week after the January flood and lives in the Lodge because there is no suitable housing in town. Of course, the town is on the other side of the river! So she had to be flown to and from school by helicopter, and later crossed in a barge. It sounds exciting, but she said they all got very dirty. It must have cost a bomb for the WA Education Department. When I arrived here, she was sitting outside her room being interviewed (by phone) for a new job next term in another remote posting. That’s life in regional Australia!

Sunday in Broome

Two families with noisy kids have moved in: three lads of about 12 are either jumping in and out of the pool or playing football on the grass in front of my villa. There is something to be said for adults only accommodation!  So, I had to get away from the Bali Hai for a while and I went into town to look round the shops:

The Visitors Centre and Paspaley Pearls were both closed. It was getting warm, so I drove to Cable Beach for a coffee at Zander’s where there was a nice breeze from the sea:

Looking down on Cable Beach.

View of my villa behind the trees.

She guards my entrance.

For my last night at Bali Hai, it was time to try the restaurant. It has always been good and this year was no exception:

Asian dumplings in broth.

Vegan chocolate mousse.

Broome R and R

Bali Hai is the perfect place to relax after the long drive. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last couple of days. The design concept is based on Balinese architecture and the Balinese way of life (but, importantly) without all the noisy and polluting motorbikes that clog the roads nowadays in the real Bali.

The owner, Andy, describes his dream in this video:

https://theliveswelead.com.au/story/andys-video/

In the past, C wrote a glowing review of the place, and Andy contacted her to say thank you.

Here are some pics of my doings:

G and T at the Sunset Bar in Cable Beach.

Waiting for the sunset at 5.20 pm.


Saturday morning at the Courthouse Markets.

Mango smoothie for breakfast: you wouldn’t believe how many packs of frozen mango are used at this stall! There were seven girls working hard to serve all the customers. I might have to go again!

There is always a singer performing on the steps of the Courthouse. I lay down in shade to listen, looking up at the trees:

On my way home, I stopped at Matso’s for a coffee:

I admired this crab in the art gallery next door.

Lunch in my private courtyard at the Bali Hai.


Entry to my villa.

Plan of the resort: I’m in number 29.