Today is our last full day in Western Australia. As we’ve done several boat cruises already on this trip, we’ve all visited Broome before and seen all the sites of historical interest, and we’ve completed all of our shopping, we didn’t have any big plans for our final day. If the hovercraft was still operating, we would have booked a trip out to see the dinosaur footprints at low tide, followed by champagne and nibbles on the exposed sea floor of Roebuck Bay. Marg and I did that last time we were here and it was lots of fun. Unfortunately Covid killed it due to people being in an enclosed space within the craft. It’s been replaced by a boat cruise, but it’s not really the same experience so we decided to give it a miss.
Instead we drove over to Cable Beach. Rod and Cornie went off on a nature trail, while Marg and I preferred a beach walk. It was great to get my sandals off and walk through the shallows, making sure I gave the stingers being washed ashore a wide berth. The sun was out and we had cloudless blue skies. A magnificent day for the beach.
After an hour we jumped back in the car and drove around to Gantheaume Point at the southern end of the beach. There’s an old lighthouse here. Ospreys (sea eagles) are nesting on several levels. They didn’t seem at all fazed by the tourists wandering by.
There are some beautiful rock formations here, eroded into strange shapes by thousands of years of wind and water. Until recently, there was a natural pool, known as Anastasia’s Pool. Anastasia was a lighthouse keeper’s wife. He modified the pool so she had easy access. She used to bathe in the pool to ease her arthritis. Unfortunately a cyclone in 2014 destroyed a part of the pool, including some of the work done by the lighthouse keeper. At Gantheaume Point, if you’re lucky, you can also spot dinosaur footprints. They are only exposed at very low tide. We didn’t see them today.
Late this afternoon we walked over to Matso’s Brewery for one last drink at one of our favourite places in Broome. I really like their pale ale. Marg, Cornie and Rod prefer their ginger beer. I hope I get back here again some day.
From Matso’s we walked down to Town Beach, where the Thursday night market was buzzing. The market was bigger than I remember from before the Town Beach redevelopment. They’d set aside a large area for people to sit and eat and they had a duo playing music to entertain them. There was a good selection of food vans (although Marg lamented the lack of an ice cream van), and I opted for the bao buns, which were delicious.
We spent some time looking at all of the market stalls and chatting to some of the stallholders. I think Marg bought a few things. Darkness fell quickly. We walked back to our accommodation. Tomorrow we fly home.
On The Road With Garry 