Trevor & Jonathans Cruise & Trip to the Far East and Australia 2016

Day 75 - Saturday July 23rd 2016 - Port Hedland to Broome, Western Australia

We had not set an alarm for the morning. Today would be a six hour drive up to Broome and we actually didn’t hit the road until around 09:30 giving us plenty of daylight hour time to make the trip in. The map had shown us that there was literally nothing along the way whatsoever other than three roadhouse stops and a few tiny coastal towns off the main highway that we could not access as they were down quite long unsealed roads.

The road or Highway 1 or the Northern Highway was pretty uneventful to be honest. More bush, a bit of desert, rock formations and a few cows and dead skippies, that was what we had for our six hour journey.

Once again we took the drive in turns starting in two hour shifts that always seemed to somehow end in a roadhouse. We stopped like you do at everyone along the way, from the Pardoo roadhouse run by an Indian family in the middle of nowhere but they made great coffee to the Sandfire Roadhouse that had peacocks running around in between the petrol pumps.

The journey from the Sandfire roadhouse to the Roebuck Plains roadhouse was by far the longest distance we had travelled without being able to fill up the van so when the petrol gauge started dropping below a quarter of a tank left we were hoping that we were going to make it. Of course we did and it was no problem at all but when you are out in the middle of nowhere with no traffic, no passing cars it certainly makes you more aware.

We stopped for lunch in another random layby, not the best place to stop as we were right next to the dump bins but it really was a case of eat and go, wanting to get the distance covered so we could have some down time from all the driving in Broome and enjoy the even hotter weather.

By now the temperatures had reached the early thirties, such a difference from the temperatures in Perth. Jonathan was actually having to drive shirtless as the van was like being inside a tin oven and when you got back on the seats they felt wet and sweaty, it really was not the best of feelings at all.

We made it to Broome and found the Vacation Village campsite where we would be staying for the next three nights. Unfortunately, we are parked up right against the outer fence adjacent to quite a major road so when a lorry or noisy motorbike goes past you hear it all, hopefully it won’t affect our sleep but its proving really quite difficult to find powered sites on our trip so this will have to do.

Once we were checked in and had our site number we didn’t even drive into the camp, instead we head off to the local shop to stock up on cold drinks as we were out. We found a local Woolworths and stocked up with enough liquid refreshment to see us through the rest of the trip (and probably beyond that to be honest). We needed to do a food run but that would involve going through the cupboards and we were not in the mood for that but we did decide to buy some camping folding chairs so we could sit outside the van. Now that the temperatures were favourable we needed them, there is also the added bonus that there is a lot more room outside the van than in it! After scouring Target and Woolworths and a chinese pound land shop we were not finding the cheap and cheerful version we were in search of. We asked a lady in Woolworths if she knew of any place we could get some cheap camping chairs, not liking the price on the $80 versions they had, I mean we are only going to give them away when we reach Darwin. She told us to try Bunnings the DIY store so we headed off there and purchased two, all for the grand total of £3.40 each……. bargain and they are perfect!

When we booked the campsite online it had looked like this was one of the closest ones to the town centre but it turns out that might be the case but the town is still a good 5km walk away. Of course after being sat in the van for the best part of seven hours meant that we were totally up for the walk and with a glance at the map we headed off in search of the town and somewhere to eat tonight.

We headed off into the dusk of the early evening, hoping that the light would hold just long enough so that we could see where we were going. There is a lot of what they call light industrial areas in Broome (they are signposted) and our walk took us through a long road of these units before we hit a smaller residential area just off the coast. It was pitch black now and after the long day we just wanted an ice cold beer and something good to eat, our enthusiasm to make it all the way into town had waned somewhat.

We literally stumbled across the Matso’s brewery restaurant and bar. It’s actually quite odd that we found ourselves here as it was a place that Joe had told us about the last night we had been out for fish and chips in Perth. He was drinking an alcoholic ginger beer that was brewed by Matso’s and he knew that it was all made in Broome and here we were.

The first two ginger beers slid down far too easily but we had to wait for quite a while to get a table or indeed get served at the bar. That’s one observation from the bars and coffee shops and restaurants of Australia, nothing seems to happen that quickly.

Eventually after about forty munities we were shown to our table and quickly ordered for fear this might also take an age.

It took another fifteen minutes for our drinks to arrive, a ridiculous wait and not on word of sorry or anything from the waitress. It was just as well that the food was really yummy and the place itself is great, a fantastic vibe and great for people watching. Trev order a chilli beer for his second drink, Jonathan only had a sip but doesn’t think he could have taken the whole glass of it. It was strangely warming yet cold and almost a little sour, a real acquired taste.

For dinner Trev tucked into a fabulous looking surf and turf literally drowning in a cream sauce whilst Jonathan had a pork belly on a bed of melon in a ginger beer marinade, strange but it did work.

It was just nice to get away from the van for the night and eat something that we could never have made on our two ring burner.

We didn’t make it into the town that night nor did we brave the walk back to the campsite. We got the restaurant to order us a taxi and we were back to our home on wheels by about eight thirty. Neither of us were ready for bed just yet so out came the wine and we sat and did a bit more research into Broome, deciding what we would try and get to see over the next few days here, loving the fact that we would not really be driving tomorrow, what a nice though that was.

The road noise wasn’t that bad after all, by the time it came to turning out the lights in the van there was nothing really going up or down the road and we were done in anyway.

Tomorrow would be a day and a very different pace.