Day 47 - Sunday 19 August - Camels, Sunsets and too many cars

Day 47

Sunday

19 August

Finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel PieSociety by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. This was a beautifully crafted book, that I thoroughly enjoyed reading and will look forward to watching the movie.

Broome           

There must be something to arriving in a new place and being awake early. I was up and wandering along the beach front, taking in the early morning light and fresh air. It was quiet out on the rocky shore and I wandered happily unimpeded, before returning to Paul, who was still happily sleeping. 

I returned to bed and read my book, finishing off the last few pages, before beginning my next novel. By 8am we were ready to get up and underway. After all the morning chores were complete, we ventured out for the morning, leaving the car parked and electing to walk instead. 

We made our way to the Court House markets, a couple of k’s closer to town. We checked out a statue to pearling women and an old building now left derelict, passed Matsos Brewery which was busy with breakfast diners and eventually reached the grounds of the old court house, where a bustling market was taking place. 

We entered and began our wander along the path, checking out the various stalls on offer. I was interested in the pearl jewellery and the photography, but there was plenty else on offer to keep us interested. 

We located a plaque, for the Cooke Transit Pillar and took a photo with the GPS camera, to check the co-ordinates accuracy, it was pretty close. I picked up a new hat and then Paul was off chasing a man in the crowd. The closer he got, the more certain he became that it was his old fishing buddy “Scaley” and sure enough, he was right. They stood talking for a while and catching up, Paul all the while spinning out over the chances of running into him. In the end, we bought his second book “Yarns from the Aussie Outback” and continued our perusing. 

We rounded a table set up with glass products and Paul heard a voice that he remembered from the past, an old teaching acquaintance, Judy. They stood talking and discussing old times and filling in the gaps of the past 30 years. In the end, we came away with one of her glass pieces. 

After the time warp, we returned to the van happy for a chance to cool down. We weren’t in for long though, as it was lunch time and we were keen for a dim sum. The Roey advertised “Pub Cha,” so we went to check it out. It wasn’t what we were expecting, so we left, still hungry. 

We did a lap of Chinatown, poking our heads through the gap in the chain link fence at the Pearl luggers museum. The D Mc D is housed out the back, a boat that Scaley operated and Paul had been a deck hand on. In was in a sad state of affairs now though, which was a shame. 

After our lap, we returned to the van and made up our own lunch, happy to sit and enjoy the view over Roebuck Bay. It’s not a bad one! Paul read his new book and I sat outside with mine, before we eventually decided to head out again, this time we were off to find his old rental home on Miller Way. 

Without a map, Paul was able to navigate his way through the expanded, suburban streets until we were eventually face to face with his old fibro home. It has been renovated and tarted up since he owned it, but the old bones remained. After the chance to reminisce we made our way to the Port Jetty. 

We found a place to park and then wandered around, before finding an entrance to the gangway that ran alongside the jetty. Cattle trucks rumbled along-side us, full of doe-eyed cows looking mournful, it wasn’t particularly pleasant to witness. 

We stood on the jetty watching the fishermen attempting to catch the threadfin salmon below. The fish weren’t interested in the bait or lures being presented. We walked back, checking out the Port Beach, before crossing the road and checking out the other side of the jetty. You couldn’t walk along this side, even though there was still a walkway there.

Happy with our time spent, we opted to head on towards Cable Beach. We did a quick stop at the Bottel-o at Divers, where the pub was going off with Eagles supporters. Unfortunately, they would be sadly disappointed later on. We then drove on to the beach carpark, grabbed our bathers and made for the change rooms. 

The beach was busy, bright umbrellas and deck chairs lined the white sand and there were plenty of people enjoying the water. We made our way to a spot, dumped our things and then it was straight to the water, where the temperature was quite pleasant. 

I splashed about for a bit, before eventually ending up immersed in the salty brine. It was refreshing and had us laughing and frolicking, as we attempted to jump the dumpers. Paul had the camera and was trying his luck taking wave shots and surfers. It was a perfect way to spend the balmy afternoon. 

We returned to our things, putting them back in the car and then we made our way along the top walk area over-looking the beach. A bus load of pensioners were dumped on the lawn, chairs in hand and badges on. They were going to watch the sunset in style. 

We continued on to the beach, making our way over the rocks and being confronted by 4wds for as far as you could see. I was hoping to get some great shots of the camels, but seeing the vehicles was a big disappointment and somewhat of a shock. Paul was absolutely appalled. 

We found a great rock formation to sit on, that had its own rock pool to soak our feet in. The camel trains began their journey, dodging the cars to get down to the beach. I happily snapped away, until they had moved on and then settled in on the rock, while Paul went for another swim. 

Another couple joined me, they had also found the number of cars confronting and we spent the next little bit bemoaning their existence. The sun began to fade in a blaze of colour. It was just our luck that a fire further north had sent out a plume of smoke setting the sun on fire. We had a spectacular sunset viewing. 

The camels returned an hour later and I took some further shots, thankfully our new mates were happy to yell at people to stay out of our shots! Once the camels had passed, we continued to watch the sun dip away and then the procession of cars began to make their return journey from the beach. It really was like a sand highway. 

We bade farewell to our new friends and wandered up the beach, avoiding being run down and made it back to the car unscathed. Phew. Once back, Paul had a quick shower and I cleaned myself up, before we drove back in to Chinatown for a meal at the Som Thai. It was a late one for us, but the meal was well worth the wait and the restaurant was very quaint. It reminded me of eating in Pub Street, Cambodia. 

After dinner, we walked a lap of the deserted and very quiet Chinatown. Paul was disappointed that the “Sunday Sesh” at the Roey was non-existent, recounting the times he spent there in the 80’s. We checked out the Sun Picture theatre, all lit up, before returning to the car and ultimately the van, happy to call it a night.