Broome weekend markets

We’re fully relaxed and enjoying Broome now. Yesterday morning we headed off early to the weekend markets and cruised around there for a while spending spending spending on yummy mango or pawpaw smoothies, liquorice and fresh coriander. There was also a portable rock climbing wall there and the three boys all had a go, with Conor and Nick making it all the way to the top. It is permanently attached to a trailer, and the people who own it are from Dunsborough, and they just drive it up the WA coast at this time of year stopping at weekend markets for a couple of months. We hung out at the tent at lunchtime, minding the two younger Ralh kids while the older two went to see the last Harry Potter with Robyn and Vin, then all went to Cable Beach in the afternoon for a swim. There were only tiny little waves but Conor and Jasmine still did a great job of boogie boarding them as much as possible. Then it was all go, and back into town in time for the night markets and staircase to the moon effect from Town Beach. We got there in time, wrestled with the hundreds of other people for a spot on the headland and watched the big yellow moon rise up from the horizon… straight into a cloud. It popped out briefly and … straight back into another cloud, and even then there was a frenzy of camera flashes like a paparazzi pack. I can see what the effect would have been, and yes it’s pretty cool, but I’m not in that much of a rush to go back tonight to try again. The night markets were pretty cool though, we got a nice green pawpaw salad and pad thai to eat, and there was music etc to sit and listen to.

Today Nick and Vin met up for a morning’s fishing while the kids and I trawled around the toy shops of the town, window shopping, and bought me a new pair of swimmers as my other ones are falling apart. After lunch back at the tent we met the Ralhs down at Cable Beach (our local which we can walk to) as there was a bit of a concert of local aboriginal bands in the afternoon, billed as a family day at the beach, but actually part of a protest movement against the proposed gas processing plant to be built just above Broome. It’s interesting that the aboriginal guide we had up on the Dampier Peninsula talked about it as a fait accompli – possibly because the local Elders have already given their approval apparently (money talks!), so now I think they’re at the appeal stage against the WA premier giving it the green light. It certainly would be a shame to have it so close by, and imagine if Broome turned into a Port Headland! Anyway tomorrow the Ralhs are off to start the Kimberley, while we’ve got 4 more nights here, which at the moment seems like not such a bad thing. I wasn’t sure if we would want to stay here for as long as a week but now I’m glad that we booked this caravan park so far in advance – we could easily have managed with the overflow campground the council has set up (which is where the Ralhs were) but we’re in a great possie, walking distance to Cable Beach, good showers, laundry and camp kitchen and a nice big shady site, so we’ve done pretty well all in all. We’re paying for it of course, but at this time of the year that’s not really surprising.