From the Boat to Broome
1 July 2026
As I I am showering, I hear the anchor go down and the thought crosses my mind 'Why are we anchoring here right?' Upon going out I find that we actually have arrived Broome earlier than anticipated.
I packed my suitcase before breakfast, as requested, and message my hostess Felicity about my estimated arrival time to my Broome Airbnb. Felicity anticipates having it ready for me by 10:00 which is just perfect.
We congregate in the dining room on Reef Prince for final conversations and the cruise final farewell to the passengers and our final thanks to the crew.
Our luggage has already been transferred to the coach which is waiting on the beach. Now there's a new one for me. I have never before boarded a coach on a beach!
 |
| The number 32 left Cable Beach (literally) at 9:50! |
It's a wet feet exit from the tender so I chose to wear shorts for ease, which was probably good as there were some small waves, however the staff were managing the tender and the movement of passengers to ensure safety, if not dry clothes for all. The shorts were also a better choice for a camel ride than a dress would have been.
 |
| Our last wet feet exit from the tender |
There's a large number of cars on the beach - beaches are considered fair game for 4WDs.
I am the first to be dropped off and I am grateful for Felicity having sent a photo of the bougainvillea by the front fence, because the bus driver missed it
I settled in then Felicity visited and I checked with her about my plans and was advised to take an alternate walking route to Woolworths due to her emphatic advice to avoid walking through what she terms 'The Bronx'
She provided advice for the rest of my day's plans, including getting a taxi back from my camel ride this afternoon rather than catching the bus and walking from the bus stop after dark - a thoroughly unrecommended activity in Broome!
My accommodation is compact but very satisfactory and I have everything I might need including my lovely outdoor bathroom with it's shapley bathtub, and access to her swimming pool.
I set out to walk to Woolworths, my longest walk since Darwin.
I note the large number of raptors circling overhead. I think they are a type of kite; I also noticed them shortly after we left the beach.
My shopping at Woolworths is heavier than anticipated since I don't wish to need to return.
I enjoyed the kindness of a couple of people in the store. One lady offered me a spare shopping bag which was very kind but I didn't really need it. And the gentleman in front of me, who was obviously buying for a commercial catering business, didn't have frequent shopper, so the cashier and he asked me if I did and would I like the points? Not to refuse points from a $500 shop I gratefully accepted.
I also purchased wine at BWS, needing to pass the security detail and provide ID to do so.
Since there was a food outlet with sushi, I also purchased lunch. The sushi is surprisingly expensive, so I opted for a lobster and mango sushi, since the price was no different to that of the tinned tuna and avocado sushi! It was very nice.
I took Felicity's advice and got a taxi back. Since he was quite a lovely taxi driver, I asked him to wait while I put perishable food into the fridge and then hopped back in the taxi and let him take me up to Chinatown. At which point I asked him for his card.
It took me a little while to work out the buses but finally I did and had about a 40-minute walk around town before setting down to wait for the bus to Cable Beach. While walking around the town, I ran into a group of four from the ReefPrince who were basically filling in time before they could check into their hotel. I must admit to having boasted a little in advising them I was checked in, unpacked and nicely settled.
They did enquire as to how I had got to town and I told them about the walk and taxi.
It seems that lots of people in town seem to think that walking a couple of kilometres is way too far. Maybe it is in their stinking heat of a very sunny day, but today's not so bad.
 |
| A little beauty in a garden bed in the town |
Town is very close to the airport and a plane approaching for landing flies very low over the shops.
Felicity had told me, yet again, about the importance of having a hire car for getting around, but I really don't see the need. If I just want to get around town, taxis will work fine and in the long run will be cheaper than having a hire car sitting around doing nothing for substantial portions of the day.
Cable beach is a fairly long stretch of sand with warnings about rips and stingers and a narrow section between the life-saving flags in which to swim.
The weather today is overcast and pleasant. So with the warning, and since I am not dissolving in the heat, I decide not to swim. I sit for a while and look at the beach and then I walk slowly along it admiring the patterns made by the crabs.
 |
| Crab artwork |
Cable beach is certainly not a beachcomber's paradise, although there are a few things of potential interest around the rocks to the north of the beach. However, nothing like some of the beaches in the Kimberley.
I locate the camel tours, double check with them, then admire the rocks and enjoy sitting with my feet in a rock pool for the next hour.
 |
| Pretty rocks! |
I watched the camels for a while and they seem a lot more docile and cooperative than last time I rode a camel, which was quite a reasonable altitude in Ladakh when the first camel just refused to kneel so I could get on, so an alternate was chosen for me.
These are tied up head to tail and people mount them from the tray of a ute.
My turn eventually comes; there are 20 in the group and 12 camels. The younger camels and those new to this activity only carry a single person so I have a camel to myself. He is a teenager named Enoch and relatively new to the activity so I am asked to not touch his head.
As I mount him, I fortunately have assistance, because I had forgotten how unflexible my hips are becoming.
A camel, when it starts to walk, jolts enormously. I was hanging on for dear life but as time went by I was able to relax a little and my position didn't feel quite as uncomfortable or as insecure. I was even able to take my hands from the handhold and find my phone and take some photos.
 |
| At the turning point after half an hour |
And hand my phone down to this staff to take photos of me on Enoch.
 |
| Me on Enoch |
The sky had been overcast and I had suspected we wouldn't get a sunset but towards that time of day a space between the horizon and the clouds opened up and we had a rather lovely sunset.
 |
| And the sun played nicely for sunset |
Riding the camels along the huge expanse of beach really was rather a timeless and incredibly peaceful and beautiful activity.
 |
| Camel train shadows on the sand |
As the sun dipped lower in the sky, our shadows lengthened, and I am rather enamoured of them, but cannot get a well focused picture because of Enoch's movement. The staff assist, which is lovely!
When we finished, we were permitted to give our camels a treat, so I gave Enoch a couple of carrots, one of which was shorter, and in taking it, his lips touched my hand.
One of the other participants was a lady who is embarking on the Reef Prince for the Broome to Darwin Cruise on Friday, which was quite a coincidence.
As I walked back from the ride, there were still many people on the beach, some had come to watch the sunset but others were just still there on the beach, playing games, or just enjoying the rather delightful temperature.
A further couple of coincidences followed; as I was headed to the relevant location to look for a taxi, another lady advised that she was in fact waiting for a taxi and she was happy to share which was kind. As her mobility seemed a little compromised, I offered to walk to the road and see if the taxi was waiting there.
It wasn't and as I walked back a taxi entered so I returned to her as the taxi pulled up to her and looked through the window at the driver who smiled at me and greeted me like a friend. I said "It is Mohammed isn't it?' M driver from earlier today.
Both the lady, who had introduced herself as Anthea, and I hopped into the taxi and I introduced the Mohammed to Anthea and she chatted away to him until he dropped her at her hotel. She tried to pay for my fare to my destination as well as her own but Mohammed couldn't tell her exactly how much that would be, and I insisted that she didn't even try but she was grateful for the help I'd given her.
As Anthea exited the taxi she advised that she lives in Tasmania, Elizabeth Town, so I should drop in if ever in Tasmania. She told me her full name and her husband's. As she did, so there was just something about the angle of her face that rang a bell. I have a sneaking feeling we may have been at high school together but I need to check that with someone who has a better memory for faces than I do.
Back at my little cottage, I enjoy a glass of wine and some cheese and biscuits while my rice is cooking, eat a dinner of rice and vegetables, then luxuriate in the bathtub before falling asleep very quickly.
The cottage is not in the quietest of locations but later in the night all is still.
Comments
Post a Comment