Half-lap Day 66: Broome

I woke up just before sunrise and headed straight down to the pool – they have a lap swimming section, 25m long, so I wanted to use it. I was the only person in the pool at first, and the water was a beautiful temperature. I swam 20 laps (so half a kilometre) and it felt great to be swimming laps again, it’s been a while. Afterwards though I felt a bit lightheaded and unwell, maybe I pushed a bit hard, or maybe I was just too hungry.

I had another shower then some breakfast and started to feel better. The kids and Tony ate, then Tony went to play 9 holes of golf. The kids and I played on the iPad then started to get ready to go to the pool, until I realised that the swimmers were in the car with Tony. Caitlin had a bikini in her tent, Millie was happy to wear a singlet and undies, and I had my swimmers from the morning, but LiAM didn’t have anything he was happy to swim in. He was happy to stay at the tent while we swam though, so the girls and I went to the pool.

The water was cooler than it had been in the morning, but still beautiful to swim in. The girls started playing a rock-paper-scissors swimming/animal game they’d made up the day before, and asked another girl to join in. After a while they asked me to play too, which was fun for a while. Tony came back and he and LiAM soon joined us in the pool. Caitlin and her new friend played and chatted for ages after our game finished. I read my book for a while once I got out of the water, then LiAM and Millie and I went back to the tent. We got changed and went down to the camp kitchen to charge the computer, and chatted to some backpackers there.

Once Caitlin and Tony came back we had lunch and then went into town to browse the shops on foot. We started with the op shop and found a few things, although the clothes were mainly more expensive than I was willing to pay. We looked in the window of a pearl shop, it looked to fancy to take the kids in there. We went in to a sandalwood shop (it smelled great!) and one of the original Chinese owned shops in Broome. We checked out the Sun Cinemas, one of the oldest cinemas in Australia, it’s a garden cinema with the screen and the first few rows out in the open, and the front wall of the building open to the screen. It looked like a great place to watch a movie. From there we walked down one of the little alleyways in Chinatown, checking out a bead shop and then a souvenir shop where we bought postcards and a couple of bits and pieces. Another pearl shop looked a bit more accessible so we had a browse in there, where we particularly liked some gold leaf designs.

Sun Cinemas

We drove over to Cable Beach, excited to finally be going for a swim. The tide was low again, and it was a long walk out to the water. LiAM was a bit apprehensive because the water was cloudy, so he stayed very close to me. Caitlin loved it in the water and swam around as much as she could. Millie jumped the waves at the edge of the water and wasn’t interested in coming in any further. The water was nearly flat, with the occasional swell, and it felt really lovely. The water temperature was beautiful. Tony and Millie got out after a while to go and by a hot chicken for our dinner, and LiAM and Caitlin and I swam for a while longer. The waves started to get a tiny bit choppier, and we got out to go and explore the rock pools. We discovered some very sinky sand and had fun playing with that, and watching little crabs in shells make their way towards the water. We wandered through the water of some of the rock pools and saw bubbles and swirls coming up through the sand.

We went back over to our towels to watch the sunset over the water, which was beautiful as always. Tony and Millie only just made it back in time – the carpark had filled up while they were gone and there was nowhere to park – Tony ended up coming down the 4WD road onto the beach and parking near the rocks. We ate our chicken rolls watching the post-sunset colour changes over the water, then the kids went and ran around in the wet sand near the waters edge, and I got some great silhouette photos.

Once we’d finished eating and it was almost completely dark we went and changed out of our wet and sandy swimmers, then went across the road to

The Sunset Bar and Grill to have our free drinks. The kids had softdrinks, I had a lemon, lime and bitters, and Tony had had a couple of beers on the beach so was happy to not have anything here. he venue was lovely, a great atmosphere, very relaxed and a fun place  to hang out. We sat at a large table under an umbrella and enjoyed our drinks.

We got back to the tent and all headed off to have a shower, great  to get rid of all that sand. LiAM was first back to the tent and went straight to bed and soon to sleep, the rest of us followed soon after.