Sayonara Broome…

From Parasites to Paradise… Had a late start, as per usual, and managed to get as far as Willari Roadhouse just outside Derby before dark. Stopped the night at the Willari Bridge on the Fitzroy River. It was quiet and peaceful, and with the numbers of cattle on the roads, few trucks made the journey in the dark of night. Steve & Midget thoroughly enjoyed themselves walking the Fitzroy banks to where it joins King Sound. They only bumped into one camper who’d been there for 4 nights and hadn’t seen a sole. Maybe it’s the crocodiles or maybe its because the Camps4 Book (the caravaner’s bible) said it was a day stop only.

One thing we did notice on the beginning of the single lane bridge country we’ve entered is the changing colour of the termite mounds. They’ve moved from the pindan red so prevalent in the Pilbara to a sandstone colour, even though the roads are clearly edged in pindan dirt. As soon as you get close to Willari (before Derby) the camel coloured earth starts to rise above the pindan and it fades in and out for the next few hundred miles. Its just a really pretty landscape.

The aboriginal method of burning off, in checkerboard squares appears to be being adopted by Calm up in the Kimberley. We drove through small areas that were being burned on our last trip to Derby a couple of weeks ago, and smaller areas nearby were also alight. The sky with quite overcast with cloud and smoke cover creating an eerie haze in our pictures.

We’d also like to say a huge thanks to Terry, Ange and BJ for having us. We had the most fabulous time over the past month and have seen lots more places in an around Broome that we might never have seen without your kind generosity in sharing your home with us, and teaching the torturous excitement of cryptic crosswords. Thanks so much. Hope we can return the favour one day!