We're half way through our camping trip from Darwin to Perth. We arrived in Broome on Thursday afternoon. We knew the camping trip was going to be 'interesting' when the guide advised us to wear the same clothes (apart from undies) for the whole trip, or at least until we got to a shower on the fourth day. Apparently whatever we put on was going to be dirty and smelly within 10 minutes, so why get all your clothes dirty? We were also advised not to sleep in the tents, as they would be far too warm and sweaty, so we spent each night sleeping under the stars in a swag, conversing with the locals while they slithered and crawled around and over us. All facilities were shared (a shovel!!). We actually slept quite well, but the 5am starts took some getting used to, and some people were asking for the lights to be switched off during the full moon. After 8 days and 2,800 Km sharing a 4WD truck with 19 other similarly hygienic people (removing boots on the bus was banned),in temperatures up to 39C, it was a relief to get to get showered and changed in Broome. Unfortunately within the first 30 minutes under the shower, most of our suntans had washed off. We also washed our clothes twice, but it looks as if some of them are dyed dust-red/brown permanently, so we may well be doing some clothes shopping in Perth.
During the trip, we visited many diverse landscapes and ranges. The highlights were probably the helicopter trip over the Bungle Bungles (they took the doors off before we got there, so either they'd had bush campers before, or they smelt us coming), and the swimming and jumping at the various scenic waterfalls and billabongs. The food was amazing considering the remoteness, both the guide and 'hostie' were great, especially the friendly rivalry competitor groups (water bombs, group moonies, that sort of thing).
We've seen plenty of reptiles (including loads of crocs), bats, wallabies etc., so apart from hygiene concerns, a good trip.
After arriving in Broome, and getting as cleaned up as possible without the use of industrial strength shower gel, we went for a night on the town with the rest of the group, but after a nice meal, the 5am starts caught up with us, and we headed back to the hostel. We spent Friday checking out Broome. It's a nice town (the place for pearls), but very small. We tried organizing some trips, including a seaplane/speedboat trip to the Horizontal Falls (As the tide goes down, a narrow channel between 2 rocks creates a kind of horizontal waterfall, and the speedboat goes through it), but everything was booked up, or the tide was wrong, but we booked a an afternoon sailing on an old pearl lugger for Saturday afternoon.
In the evening we went to see Bad Boys II in the open air cinema. It's a good film any way, made the more exciting by jets coming into land, and flying just overhead during the action sequences.
Saturday afternoon, and we're on 'Willie Creek' our sailing boat. We lay in the boom net being dragged behind the boat, Andy climbed to the top of the mast (about 13m)and we just chilled while eating and drinking beer and wine. Peace man! Then when we got back, we watched England beat S. Africa in the Rugby World Cup, much to the dismay of the Aussies. Yeehah!
Andy's sister Helen, sent a text to tell us that his Grandmother died on Friday morning, after a bout of pneumonia. We checked out the flights on the Internet, but decided I'd probably be sleeping through the funeral, after at least 30 hours flying, so we decided it would be better to find a quiet corner at the time of the funeral once it's arranged.
Tomorrow we head off for Perth another 8 days of bush camping, but this time with toilets and showers most of the time, and we're allowed to get changed.
We'll keep you posted, and hope to get some more photos loaded in Perth.
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