Off to See the Wizard - Broome Day 3

This was our last day at Broome.  After this we would be starting to head south.

Things started out with Mick having to do some running repairs to the van, as the ensuite door was sticking.  It turns out the door runner had never been correctly fitted, so needed to have quite a bit of fiddling to access it.  Just as well he is “handy”.

Our plan for our last day was to go and check out the lighthouse.  You have to do that, and this was the first we have come across.  It turned out that we had a bit of dirt road to traverse to get to it and it had a really steep camber. It is a bit out of town at Gantheaume Point.

It isn’t the most romantic looking lighthouse, but it is still a lighthouse.  There has been a lighthouse on this site since 1905, but the current tower was only built in 1984.

Halfway up we noticed there is very large nest.

It is the nest of an osprey.

What we loved were the craggy rocks on the point.  I suppose it is to reason that there are rocks where a lighthouse is located.

This cheeky little Willy wagtail kept hopping around.  We have seen lots of them on our travels, along with pee wees and top knot pigeons, but no magpies for ages.

There was a group of kayaks rounding the point, which was nice and colourful.

The Point is also famous due to being the home of some dinosaur foot prints.  We had a look at them and wondered if they had concrete back in their time?  It turns out that they are only visible at very low tide and they don’t really want people climbing down there, so they put these castings where they are more accessible.

As we were driving back we saw a couple of rainbow bee-eater birds.  They are so very colourful and have that one very long tail feather.  I was rather excited to see them, as they aren’t something we have ever seen before.

We then went for a drive to find the Port.  This is the main deep port for the north of the state.  They were in the process of loading a ship with cattle.

I then had a look through the museum.  One of the exhibits was a Sail Maker’s shed.  This was the shed of Charlie Bagge, who set up his business in 1907.   He continued in this role until 1917 when bad eye sight forced him to give it up.  

They had a nice little display of the tools of the trade.

It was interesting how they explained that a sail maker not only made sails, but the bags for the pearl shell to be exported in, swags, tarps for covering all sorts of goods, hammocks for the luggers and canvas shades for verandahs on buildings.

Then it was just on to do the groceries before heading back to the van for a late lunch.

In the late afternoon, we wandered down to Cable Beach for one last sunset.  There weren’t as many people on the camels, so the season must really be slowing down now.

Farewell Broome.  

So, what was our opinion of Broome? As with most places, we had received varying opinions, but had to make our own.  We loved it.  Broome was like a holiday from our travels.  Mick liked the fact that it wasn’t glitzy.  There is no high rise or theme parks.  Yes, there are lots of resorts and the caravan park is really large, but nothing felt too busy. Everything is very laid back. I think things may have been quite a bit busier just a couple of weeks earlier.  There’s a lot to be said for travelling at the end of the season, as we have just missed the busiest times and have been able to get accommodation and tours at short notice.  We could quite easily have spent more time there, but we have to get on our way, as there is still a long way to go until we get home.

The highlight of the day was the rock formations that were unexpected.