Half-lap Day 70: Broome

I was up a little before sunrise and the pool looked so inviting that I went in for a quiet swim. I didn’t feel like doing laps, I just floated around and enjoyed the water. After I got out I was still the only one up and really felt like seeing the beach, so went for a drive by myself. There was a half-marathon and 10km run happening on Cable Beach when I got there (the half-marathon was under way, and the 10k run started while I was there) so I watched people get organised for that, then went down to the rocks with my camera and took some photos and wandered around. I saw a fairly large crab which scuttled under a rock as I got close and I could only see one pincer, lots of little crabs, and some great clouds out to sea, it looked like it was pouring rain out there and the water was grey, the first time I’ve seen it not being blue.

I went for a swim – early morning ocean swimming is possibly my favourite thing to do. There were a few other people in the water so I stayed close-ish to them because the beach wasn’t patrolled yet. The water felt soft and silky and not cold at all. The sky had been cloudy and the sun burst through while I was in the water, it was amazing, so beautiful.

I headed back to the tent where everyone was up now and having their breakfast. We chatted and played some games, the kids rode their bikes, then we headed to the pool. Again Tony took the kids over first and I joined them after a while. Our friends from home were arriving today and the kids kept asking when they’d be here, I didn’t know how far they’d be driving today so my best estimate was somewhere between 11am and 3pm, probably.

We were swimming at around 11.15, while checking out every new van that came into the caravan park, when we saw our friends drive in!!! Everyone got out of the pool and went to welcome them. Their site was very close to ours, only 2 cabins and a road in between us, and on an angle so that we can see each other’s van/tent. I made them a cup of tea and we helped them set up, while everyone tried to catch up on everyone’s news. The kids (ours and theirs) were so excited to see each other and all the adults felt relieved at having people to talk to that we really know.

The big kids went for a swim, and the 2 youngest girls played with their soft toys in our tent. The adults chatted for a while longer, then we left them to get things organised, washing, getting stuff out of cupboards etc (they’d had an ant infestation the night before). After a while the younger girls wanted to swim too, so I helped them get ready and took them to the pool, my friend joined me there. We sat and watched the kids swim, chatting to each other and to the kids when they cam over. I had a swim while she went and hung her washing, and played with some of the kids. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the sunlounges in the pool area, watching the kids, talking lots, drinking tea (made by her husband). Once all the kids were out of the pool (they’d been coming and going all afternoon) we went back to her caravan and had another cuppa and some biccies and dip and she showed me her diary book of their trip. The guys were at our tent having a beer, and the kids were between sites and exploring on their bikes.

Tony cooked dinner while he was chatting, and when it was ready we sent all the kids back to their own sites so that everyone could eat. After dinner our friends bought their chairs over and we had another cuppa and talked more about our trips, and about the books we’ve been listening to and reading and would like to read. The kids played minecraft together on their ipads, all very excited to have a large group to play with. We were starting to wrap things up when stuff dropped out of the tree above us – we’ve had little seeds dropping on the tent for days (Caitlin said the birds were picking them and dropping them on her head earlier in the day), this time there were seeds and also liquid. We shone the torch into the tree and found a bat hanging there, very cute and a bit perplexed at having bright light shone at him. We moved the chairs out of his way and then everyone went back to their van. We saw them again as we all went back and forth to the toilet, then we settled into our tent for another chapter of Inheritance.

Half-lap Day 68: Broome

I was up early again and went down to the camp kitchen to have a cuppa and work on the blog. The computer worked well for a while then the keys stopped working again, so I did a few other things that require less typing, then headed back to the tent to start packing up. We figured we’d just head out of Broome a little way, or maybe to the overflow caravan parks, for a couple of days, then still be around when our friends arrived. They were able to book in at Broome Caravan Park where we currently were, so I went to see if we’d be able to come back here on Sunday as well. They had a look and were able to move us on to a powered site straight away, so we could stay here for the next couple of days then 3 days with our friends. This meant we packed quite differently, just dumped a lot of stuff in the car or on top of the trailer, and then drove up to our new site.

It took a good part of the morning to get organised, and it was quite warm working in the sun. Once we had the trailer in position and a few things off the top of it, we took a break and went for a swim to cool off. It was really lovely in the pool and after a while we felt refreshed enough to come back and finish setting up.

We relaxed around the tent and had some lunch, then I was trying to get something out of the trailer and LiAM’s scooter got knocked out. It landed sideways across my toes and was incredibly painful, the worst injury I’ve had so far on this trip. Caitlin and Tony did some first aid for me and helped me sit with my foot up, I had some more food and a drink and rested for a while and eventually felt slightly better.

I had planned to go back to the beach this afternoon and maybe do a bit of shopping. No one else wanted to come and I was going to go by myself. The others were getting ready to go to the pool, then LiAM and Caitlin decided they would prefer to swim at the beach again, so they came with me while Tony and Millie stayed and went to the pool.

We got to the beach an hour or 2 after high tide, so the waves were still decent, and there was a stretch of wet sand to cross before we got into the water. We swam for a while, playing the same game as yesterday, taking it in turns to say what we’d do as each wave came in. LiAM was even more confident today. The water temperature was beautiful as always. We got out and played in the sand for a while, and then explored the rock pools again, before going in for another swim. We probably only stayed an hour then got changed and went to the shops.

We bought a Christmas present for someone from a pop up stall at the shopping centre, then some cheap Skylanders from EB Games and from Target, as well as a few snacks from Target. We got some groceries from Woolworths then headed back to the caravan park where Tony was waiting for the fridge to get back so that he could cook dinner. Millie was very pleased to see us too, we’d been away longer than she’d expected.

Tony cooked spaghetti Bolognese and we sat around the tent playing games before and after eating. LiAM and Millie played with all their Skylanders and Caitlin played on her iPad mini. My toes were aching a lot after walking around all afternoon, so I went to bed before everyone else. I read my own book for a while and fell asleep before the others came in, so Tony read them a story from the internet before they went to bed as well.

Half-lap Day 67: Broome

We had a restless night and I ended up having a bit of a sleep-in, til after 7. The girls got up first and got their own breakfast. LiAM slept until after 8. I did some work on the computer but was having trouble with my keyboard so gave up after a while. Tony and the girls went for a swim. The kids did more painting, they’ve been decorating their skin in dot patterns and they look fantastic, and playing with bamboo skewers – painting them and arranging them in patterns – LiAM even made a table out of them which he can sit his plate on when he’s eating. Caitlin spent a bit of time talking to her friend from yesterday, who is staying right near us.

I did a bit of washing then we got ready to go to the beach. High tide today was at 12.14, and we got there about half an hour before that. Cable Beach was a completely different place – there was a strip of sand about 10m wide, covered in umbrellas and towels, and the waves were rolling in, still fairly gentle but not flat like yesterday. LiAM and Millie weren’t sure if they wanted to go in the water, but once we got to the beach they got into their swimmers straight away. Tony went straight into the surf for a quick swim then came out and got Millie and carried her into the water. Caitlin and LiAM and I followed. LiAM was still a bit apprehensive and stayed close to me, but soon got more comfortable. We jumped over waves and through them, did spins and handstands, flew off the back of breaking waves and tried some body surfing – the waves were large enough to boogie board on, and we had some fun attempting to body surf. The water was still cloudy with sand but with the swell it didn’t seem as murky or spooky. I held Millie for a while and she was happy going through the waves if I held her, then she went back to Tony and went a little deeper, then decided to get out. She played on the sand and Tony played with her for a bit then came back in to jump waves with us. He still had his sunglasses on and they got knocked off his head at one point and they disappeared.

Once Tony had had enough of the surf and sun he went into town to go to the Telstra Shop – we needed to update our details to make the changes we want to make to our home phone (we’re going to be home again before we get it sorted!). We played on the sand with Millie, making a sandcastle, digging in the wet sand, making balls with oobleck like sand and seeing who could make the firmest ball. We also watched little crabs running around on the sand and went up to the rock pools to see some more. We all went back into the surf and Millie was happy to walk in as long as she was holding my hand. She did well, the first time she’s swum in real surf without being held. She got a bit scared as the waves got bigger and I held her for a while more, then she wanted to get out. She wandered along the shore and looked at the rock pools, Caitlin and LiAM played with a girl they met in the surf, then I had one last quick swim with them and we got out. The tide by this stage had gone out about 30m, there was a large stretch of flat, firm, wet sand, and the 4WDs were starting to head on to the beach to our north. As we left we saw some of the camels walking down to the beach for the pre-sunset camel rides.

The kids had enjoyed their time at the beach so much that they asked if we could stay another day in Broome. LiAM in particular really loved the ocean and had a surprisingly wonderful afternoon (Caitlin had a great time too but already knew she loved the ocean)

Tony met us at the car (he’d just got back from town) and we went back to the caravan park. I went to see if we could stay for another night but they said it was unlikely, all sites were booked, so I was put on a waiting list in case anything came up. I took the girls for a swim in the pool, figuring if we were leaving in the morning then we should make maximum use of this fantastic pool. Afterwards we all had showers – the sand in the sea is full of tiny little pieces of shells and they get stuck in our swimmers and hurt more than usual beach sand.

Tony cooked chops and pasta for dinner – fantastic to have a proper meal of red meat, and it was delicious. I had been having trouble with keys sticking on my computer keyboard so spent a good part of the evening trying to fix that, with limited success. I had a great phone call with another friend who is travelling – we left home at the same time and were trying to figure out where we could meet up (we are travelling in opposite directions). We decided that the best option was for us to wait in Broome until they get here on Sunday – so everyone is very excited about being able to have more time in Broome, and about seeing our friends in just a few days. By the time I finished chatting, Millie was asleep. LiAM and Caitlin played spotlight for a while, then headed off to bed themselves.

Half-lap Day 65: Broome

We had a quiet morning around the tent, playing some games on the iPad and organising our things a bit. Caitlin and I went to the office and got a heap of brochures about Broome activities so that we could start to figure out what we wanted to do while we are here. We booked a pre-sunset camel ride for the kids and I in the afternoon. I had a shower (the best shower I’ve had on the trip so far). Tony took the kids for a swim while I read my book for a while then got ready for our day out.

We had lunch and then went for a drive through the town, having a look at all the shops as we drove through. We went to Town Beach and looked out across Roebuck Bay, very cool to see a large expanse of turquoise water. We continued on down to the port, saw the jetty and lots of big tanks (for oil maybe?) and lots and lots of road trains which were dropping off or picking up their load. We drove around to Entrance Point and I was amazed at the red red craggy rocks, next to the blue sea – my brother had told me how incredible this looks and it was even better than I’d expected. I got out and took a few photos, then we drove along the dirt road to Gantheaume Point, past the race course (no horses there today) and then back up to Cable Beach.

Entrance Point

We arrived around 2.30 and I realised I’d forgotten to get cash for the camel ride. Tony dropped us off and went to get the money while we wandered down to the beach. As we walked down a little boy put out his arm and said ‘$20!’. We stepped around him and laughed and I chatted to his mum about how my kids make up impossible-to-guess passwords to stop people coming past. While we were talking a camel train walked past – these were the ones we’d be riding, very exciting to see them wander down on to the beach.

We followed soon after. The sand was white and soft and the blue ocean was flat (it was low tide) and seemed to stretch out forever. Again, I’d heard a lot about Cable Beach and it was as beautiful as people had said. We could see the camel’s footprints in the sand – we’d watched how their feet spread out as they walk on the soft ground, and they make massive footprints. We walked around the rocks on the beach to the 4WD beach and my first thought was that it was a carpark – there were SO many 4WDs there. People were setting up to watch the sunset in a couple of hours, lots of them had their awnings out with tables and chairs underneath – a great place to sit and spend the afternoon.

We found our camels, and Tony arrived with the cash in time for us to pay. He wandered down to the water while we had our safety briefing and so on, then was back to take photos of us once we got on the camels. Caitlin and LiAM were on the 3^rd camel from the front (Karbul) and Millie and on the camel behind them (Jack). Millie and I got on first, and I held on tight to her as the camel stood up – with the back legs going up first, it’s quite scary and we needed to lean a long way back to stop from going over his head. He got the rest of the way up and Millie was unsure whether she wanted to stay on for the ride. I suggested she wait and see what it was like once we started moving and then she could ask to get down if she wanted to.

Caitlin was excited to get on a seated camel and have it stand up (the ones at Uluru were already standing and the kids got on from a platform). We headed off and the ride was slow but bumpy. I held on to Millie for a while and gradually we both relaxed. One of the guides ran up and down the line taking photos on everyone’s camera, so we got shots on LiAM’s, Caitlin’s and my cameras, Caitlin’s iPhone and Millie’s iPod. The walk was beautiful, with the ocean on one side and the sand all around. Watching the camels walk was interesting too, and there were 2 other groups walking as well so there was lots to see. Clothing is optional as you progress further up the beach, and we saw one naked man taking photos of the camels before he lay down on his back to sunbake.

The camels turned around after about 15 minutes and we headed back to where we’d started. The sun was getting lower and the shadows of the camels were very cool. Another one of the guides made his way along the line, talking to each rider about the personality and history of their camel – ours was a real joker and the other kids were on a very reliable camel.

We arrived back at the start and Millie and I were a little nervous about the camel sitting down, it was fine though (less scary than standing up). We climbed off, and received our free drink vouchers and a free pair of pearl earrings for me. We wandered down through the rocks and looked at the rock pools while we waited for Tony to come back from where he’d been walking on Cable Beach.

Looking at the tide charts earlier I’d realised that this evening was the lowest tide that we’d be here for, and it was low enough to see ALL of the dinosaur footprints at Gantheaume Point. Most low tides are only low enough for one lot to be exposed, but tides under 1.4m allow all 3 sites to be seen. So we headed straight there –there were a lot of people there already. We wandered down the rocks of the cliff – discovering halfway down that we’d gone the more difficult way – and then across the flat rocks at the base, looking in the rock pools as we went. We found lots of crabs and lots of creatures in shells, but were unsure where to go to find the dinosaur prints. It was a bit weird, lots of people wandering around randomly on these rocks, looking for something that wasn’t very big and no one was very sure what it actually looked like. There were lots of false alarms ‘oh, this might be something…’ then every now and then someone was say definitively ‘There’s one here’, and people in the vicinity would scurry over (although I was surprised, there wasn’t a lot of collaborative looking, people would find one and then not pass on the information to people coming the other way).

Anyway, someone pointed us in the direction of a footprint and when we saw it, it was really obviously a footprint – like a large bird print, bigger than my hand. 3 large toes and a hell, preserved in the rock. I was blown away, so incredible to think of an actual dinosaur walking here 120 million years ago, and we can still see signs of it. The kids were more interested in the live animals and glanced quickly at it then went on looking for crabs. We wandered around aimlessly for a while longer. Someone told us that the large round sinkhole type rockholes were dinosaur prints as well, but I wasn’t sure if that was right or not. They were different sizes even when they were together and some looked just like natural rockholes. After a while someone pointed out another site, there were 2 prints here, made by feet that were still birdlike, but more webbed. These ones were eroding a little. We pointed them out to passing groups, then I wandered off to look for the 3^rd site – but I wasn’t sure whether these ones were the high water ones or the low, so I wasn’t sure in which direction to look. Someone said he knew where they were, so I followed him, but he couldn’t find them again. His friends found an octopus in a rock pool though, so I went and got the kids to come and have a look at it. The guy was poking it with a stick and it would squirt water out and change from striped to white. It was cool to watch, even though I didn’t think it was a good idea for him to be poking it like that. LiAM and Caitlin said they’d seen a couple of octopuses that they thought were blue-ringed octopuses. I didn’t think they were found in this part of Australia, but when I looked it up later I discovered that they are. That’s an animal that really scares me, but luckily the kids are smart enough not to touch animals they aren’t sure about, so they just looked and didn’t antagonise them.

The sun was setting while were wandering around on the rocks – making fantastic colours on the red cliff wall. We decided to head back as it was nearly dark, then an American couple came past, asking if we knew where the prints were and hoping they hadn’t come too late to see them. Caitlin and I showed them the first one we’d found, and they had a map so we discovered that the 3^rd one was only 17m from that one (and the webbed prints were the high-water ones). So we looked in the vicinity of that print, climbing in between rocks near the water’s edge, and I noticed Caitlin step on a depression – we shone our lights on it and we’d found the print!!!! I was so happy, as I’d really wanted to see all 3 while we had the chance, and this tide was the only one that would allow us. It was hard to photograph in the dim light, but it was very exciting to see it. It was similar to the first, perhaps more spread out and bigger. We made our way back across the rocks and showed them the webbed prints, then started to clamber back up the cliff. It was a bit tricky in the low light, and at one point I dropped my lens cap and had to fossick around in the dark to find it, but we made it up with no real problems. The view from the top was quite spectacular, the horizon was red and the rocks of the cliff were silhouetted against it.

The others were waiting for us at the car, everyone very tired. We stopped at the shops to get milk and salami, then came straight home for tea. Millie cooked macaroni and cheese for herself and Caitlin, LiAM had an egg sandwich, and Tony and I had rice noodles with pesto and salami. Afterwards we cleared the table and headed to bed as quickly as we could.

Point Leo Trip

Tony's cousin asked us last week if we would like to join them camping for the Melbourne Cup long weekend, as they had a spare campsite available. The kids had Halloween plans for the Saturday night - Caitlin had been invited to a party and the other 2 had been looking forward for months to trick-or-treating in Yarra Glen - so we decided to head down on Sunday morning and stay for 2 nights. It was a very exciting invitation as Millie has been asking to go on holidays and we'd thought about camping for Cup weekend but figured we'd left it to late to find anywhere with vacancies.

Last week Tony had had a lot of trouble with his eyes, and on Friday afternoon he'd gone to Emergency to see if he could do something about them (the treatment his GP had suggested hadn't worked). We ended up taking him in to the Eye and Ear hospital in the city, and not getting home until 1am. So on Saturday we were all pretty tired and in a bit of a daze, and not much holiday preparation got done. Saturday evening was Halloween and the kids all had a great time. We came home and watched The Empire Strikes Back until I fell asleep, which still left most of the preparation for Sunday morning.

Having the camper trailer permanently half ready meant that there wasn't quite so much to do, most of our camping supplies were already packed. We got away before midday and arrived at the campsite around 1.30. The kids went down to the beach with the others while Tony and I set up the tent. We spent the afternoon between the beach and the campsite - with 4 adults there was always someone available to take kids to the beach or wherever they wanted to go, and someone to stay with those who wanted to hang out at the campsite, so it was a very relaxing way to spend the weekend. Not any stress or pressure for anyone to do things or be places they didn't want to be.

Our campsite was at the top of the sand dunes, right near the beach, although the dunes were covered in thick trees and bushes so we couldn't see the water - we could hear it though, especially at night. The waves seemed to be crashing so loudly, I was always surprised at how small they were when I went down to the beach. It was only a couple of hundred metres walk to the beach access, down a long flight of stairs, and once there we could swim, play in the sand dunes, or at low tide, explore the rocks.

The kids found some pathways through the sand dunes further down the beach and spent a lot of time playing in their 'hideout' on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. It seemed pretty cool - a really awesome holiday memory I would say. The others had a kite and LiAM spent some time flying it one afternoon when it was cold and windy. The girls had built a big hole to shelter from the wind and all 5 kids were in and out of that. The girls also went swimming - I'd been in on Sunday afternoon but gave it a miss on Monday as it was pretty chilly. The others had little surfboards and Caitlin regularly borrowed one and did a lot of body boarding which she really enjoyed. Millie ran in and out of the edge of the waves and really loved it.

The boys in the big hole dug by the big girls, Caitlin body boarding, Millie running up and down the sand

On Monday morning I took the girls down to the beach before breakfast. It was cold and wet and we didn't have much time before food was ready, so we played around the edge of the rocks for a little while, then headed back for pancakes, bacon and eggs. After that delicious start to the day I went back to the beach with LiAM and Caitlin and we explored the rocks and rock pools. The rain was icy and my hands were frozen, and the water in the rock pools felt so warm in comparison. After a while the rocks stopped feeling uncomfortable on our bare feet because they were numb! It was a lot of fun though, looking into the rock pools and having the ocean rumbling all around us. When we got back we were so wet that everyone thought we'd gone swimming in our clothes.

Caitlin exploring the rock pools on a cold and wet morning

Tony had an appointment at the Eye hospital on Monday afternoon to check that his eyes were healing ok (they are) and then went up to Croydon for his Monday evening Masters baseball game, and came back to the camp late that night. The rest of us spent the afternoon at the beach, playground or campsite. We played lots of card and board games, and a little bit on the iPads, and had some time riding scooters. The kids all got on well and played together in lots of different combinations. There was always lots of do, and someone to do it with, or the chance to be alone if anyone needed a bit of down time.

On Sunday evening we cooked up lots of pasta, vegetables and salami, and put it out on table, each item in it's own separate bowl, so everyone could pick the bits that they wanted. An easy and effective way to feed 9 people with a range of tastes, and everyone was happy. Monday night we had fish and chips, then ice cream in a cone with ice magic. Monday lunch we had sausages and chops cooked on their Weber-Q, bacon and eggs both mornings, and left overs on toasted sandwiches (and hot dogs for the kids) for Tuesday lunch. Great food all weekend for minimal effort and cost!

The others had bought glow sticks with them and both evenings the kids had a great time as it began to get dark. They were pretty fancy glow sticks, with head bands and connectors to make ears and glasses, bangles, earrings and so on. We put them in the freezer the first night so that they would last, and used them again the 2nd night, then hung them in the tent. It was very cool to go to sleep by glow stick light!

Glow stick fun

On Tuesday morning I woke up before everyone else and went for a walk on the beach. It was sunny again and not as cold as Monday. I walked quite a way down the beach - saw some red plovers running in and out of the waves just like Millie was doing the day before - very cute! I took lots of photos and was thrilled to be by the ocean early in the morning. I decided to go for a swim - I knew I'd be disappointed later if I didn't, even though it was cold - and it was wonderful. One of my favourite things in the world to do is swim in the ocean in the early morning - it was refreshing and exciting and relaxing and so beautiful. I was very happy and content and so glad I made the effort.

Early morning on the beach

Later in the morning I took some of the kids back down to the beach - it was the first time LiAM went in the water and he loved it. The waves were small enough to not be threatening and we could easily get past where they were breaking. It was mainly like a being in a large lake with a bit of a swell, then occasionally there'd be a bigger wave which was quite exciting. Perfect conditions for kids not used to swimming in the ocean. After a while I started to get cold, and by then the dads and the rest of the kids had come down to the beach so the boys and I headed home.

While the girls and dads swam at the beach, the mums packed up as much as we could before having lunch, and the boys played around the campsite. When the others returned we ate lunch, then finished packing everything up. With no new campers coming in we were able to take our time and pack with no stress. Everything was all done by about 3pm and then we all headed for home.