Betten On Bike: DAY 37 - 16TH MAY 2013 - WILLARE ROADHOUSE TO BROOME

Day 37- 16th May 2013 - Willare Roadhouse to Broome

Cycling stats 165 km

Cycling Average: 33 km per hour

Last night we had a chance to catch the weather report on TV in the Willare Roadhouse whilst we had dinner and as the forecast was for 2-3 days of more rain we knew that it would not be possible to attempt the last section of the road to Winjana Gorge as the road was already under water and so there was no way this road would be accessible so we decided to continue on to Broome. We would arrive there a few days early and in some ways this was not a bad thing as Walter’s shoulder was still troubling him and so a few extra rest days would not go astray.

As the morning was overcast and cool the urgency was not there for Walter to leave right on dawn. – last night it had been cold and very wet and the temperature had been no more than 15 degrees. So Walter left around 7am. The first part of the journey was interesting with lots of river crossings over the Fitzroy and a large lake called Sky Lake. After this we passed through an unusual landscape where long strips of land had been burnt and other strips were still covering in creamy coloured grasses.

Luckily the rain held off and the closer we got to Broome the overcast conditions seemed to abate and the sky became big and blue which was very welcome as we had put on warm clothes this morning and the cold change was out of character for the Kimberleys.

For Walter the road was mainly flat and there was a lot more traffic closer to Broome – much more than we had seen in the last couple of weeks. On arriving at Broome we went to the Information Centre to enquire about accommodation and activities / tours whilst we are here. We decided on a morning tour of Broome & surrounds as we had heard that the township is quite spread out and so a tour seemed a good idea. We decided also on a hoover-craft trip to see the dinosaur prints that can only be accessed and viewed via this tour.

The caravan park closest to the township is Roebuck Caravan Park and it is beautifully located on the water adjacent to Town Beach so here I am sitting under a palm tree looking out over the pristine aqua blue waters of Roebuck Bay – lovely to see the ocean on the Western side of Australia as the last time we saw the ocean was on April 8^th on the eastern side of Australia at the town of 1770 in Queensland. Hard to comprehend that since then we have travelled approximately 5,000 kms.

We are very grateful to the management of the Roebuck Caravan Park as when we told them about our fundraising trip for Alzheimer’s Australia Dementia Research Foundation they offered us free camping which is very generous.