Day 58
Thursday
30 August
Broome
Rain! I couldn’t believe I could hear a decent shower coming down I the early morning and sure enough, when I got up it was grey, blustery and wet. We were planning on heading out to Gantheaume Point for 7am’s low tide and spending some time dinosaur footprint hunting, but the weather put a stop to that. Next best option was to stay in bed.
We eventually found a reason to get out, we were hungry and wanted breakfast. After eating and cleaning up, packing away the outside things and filling the car with all the ‘shed’ bits, we made a plan for the morning, grabbed our things and jumped in the car. First stop was Entrance point. This was a boat ramp and beach area around from the port.
We parked with the other cars and then ventured outside to be wind-blown, watching the waves crash in over the rocks. It was a completely different landscape to the one we have come to know these past two weeks.
After taking in the view, we returned to the car and drove around to Cable Beach. I wanted one last look at the stretch of sand and I had wanted one last swim, but it wasn’t happening today. The tide was at its high and the water was right up, no walking for 500m to meet it. The rolling waves were churning masses today and only a few brave souls were keen enough to be in amongst it.
We walked along the path in both directions, drinking it in, before checking out the menu at Zanders Café. I wasn’t overly impressed, so we made the decision to head to Matso’s instead. This turned out to be a mistake, as there were no tables and the service was poor, so we came home for lunch instead.
I read my book for a while, chilling out, before Paul exclaimed he was bored. We put on the walking shoes and made once last trip into Chinatown. Dampier Street was cordoned off in preparation for the Pearl Meat cook off dinner.
We stopped in at the Dragonfly café for one last mango smoothie, though Paul had a green concoction. We sat watching the bustle of town and hunkered down, as small planes flew in overhead. Following our drink, we continued on our way, completing the lap and heading back out Carnarvon Street.
Before getting back to the van, we stopped at the Mercure Hotel, once the Continental, and had a drink in the Irish bar. Once we were back, I was off to use the wifi for the final time. I returned to Paul, who had begun watching The Big Short and I joined him, while also sorting dinner.
We ate, as the film finished up and then organised ourselves for the Echoes concert. We had trouble finding parking, due to the cook off and to park near Streeters Jetty. We walked back to the Sun Picture Gardens, found a spot to sit on the padded benches at the back and waited for the milling to finish and the concert to begin.
It began with two of the seven members of the Narlis playing didgeridoo and before long the other members joined them on stage, one being Stevie Pigram, a well-known musical identity of Broome.
We sat through the first set, annoyed that a group behind us was continually chatting, ruining not only our enjoyment, but those sitting around us. They had been given the death stare numerous times by all and had been told to shush, but it made little impact. Paul spoke to them at the intermission and was thanked by those around us. It didn’t help unfortunately.
The second act began and we sat back and enjoyed the music. When the performance drifted into blues-infused, funk instrumentals, you could see the crowd become restless, but whenever Stevie or his daughter Naomi sang, it was far more upbeat and the crowd was happy to tap along and sway to the beat. I enjoyed the eclectic nature of instruments; flute, cello, violin, guitar, harmonica, guitars, didgeridoo and they could blend harmoniously into song. It was well-worth checking out.
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