July 12: It’s Been A Blast, Broome!
Blue and white pops of color seem to stand out everywhere in the remarkable city of Broome. Known for its light sandy beaches and turquoise waters, this oceanside town provides one tantalizing photo opportunity after another. After a delightful two days and nights in this tropical paradise, I’m heading east full of good memories.
Arriving in town Thursday, I unpacked and headed straight to Cable Beach, the 22-kilometer stretch of pristine coastline that draws visitors from all over the world. Gentle waves lapped at the water’s edge, and I dug my toes in the sand, letting the warm ocean water flow over my feet and admiring the vast expanse of pink and blue sky hovering over the light blue waters.
I love being able to explore coastal towns on foot and picked lodging within walking distance of both the beach and several good restaurants, saving money by booking a “budget” room without a desk, sink, toilet, soap, shampoo, or shower for almost $200 a night.
At the Wharf Restaurant near my accommodation, I tried the famous “Barramundi Wings,” a cut of wild caught Barramundi including the meat from the cheek to the fin, deep fried and served with a salsa. The meat was moist and flavorful, and the breading added a perfect buttery crunch.
As I strolled through town and explored by trike yesterday, I kept stopping to capture one magical moment after another – a white and grey boab tree stretching its gnarly branches out into the bright blue sky, sailboats bobbing on the shimmering water with white sand behind them, and dark red, orange, and yellow rocky cliffs jutting out above the ocean.
Just when I thought I had seen it all, I took off by camel on the beach at sunset last night, an event so visually stunning I’d like to dedicate my next blog to it to do it justice.
Heading east today, the landscape became decidedly more muted with browner dirt, light green and yellow grass, and mostly leafy deciduous trees. Delightful boab trees were sprinkled along the edges of the roadside, providing regal accents to the somewhat simple backdrop.
Passing Roebuck and heading towards Willare, I noticed numerous odd, round-shaped brown and grey mounds on both sides of the road, remarkably similar looking to what might delicately be described as what you would find at the bottom of an outhouse pit. Often standing taller than me in height, these structures are apparently termite mounds, made from soil, termite saliva, and dung and used by the creatures to regulate their temperature. Now that’s something you don’t see just anywhere!
