Feb 2008

As promised here is a picture of Angela's Broom(e) Cupboard er.. office...

This week she attended the opening of the new hospital in Fitzroy Crossing. This meant leaving Broome at 5.45am with a few colleagues and driving 4 hours there and 4 hours return. Big day out!

Although we are somewhat cramped and missing our gourmet kitchen at home, we nevertheless try to maintain our gourmet standards. On the menu this night was prawn and asparagus noodle stir-fry -delicious!

Finally got to throw a line in down at the wharf. Lady nearby caught a nice size golden trevally and I caugh t - a bloody great rock, and had to cut my line. Angela didn't get a bite either.

I still can't get over the having aircraft skimming the rooftops of the town centre as they come in to land. You almost expect them to land in the deli section at Coles or drop in at the Sun Cinemas outdoor pictures.

The picture below might give some sense of how close the runway is... (just looked at the picture again and maybe it's not as clear as I thought...will continue to try for a better view - Ed)

Because BJ spends a fair amount of time in the van during the day we try to get him out for a run as often as we can. He just loves to let loose around the PCYC oval and over on Cable Beach. Sadly he's a bit sun shy (must have something to do with the breeds skin type) and after chasing the ball around the beach two or three times he takes the ball under the F250 ensuring that we can't throw it again.

Well, Valentines day has been and gone for another year. Hope you all had a lovely time. We went to a local restaurant/Tapas Bar called Zeebar and enjoyed a wonderful "Degustation" Menu (Google it if necessary). About 6 courses each with a different beverage.

Well it's Goodnight from him - will update again soon...Cheers!

Back on the blog again after a short break necessitated by BigPond's miserable usage allowance. On my account I get to use 1 GB of upload/download per month and I stupidly thought it was a calendar month so on the 31st I used up my remaining allowance, only to find that MY month ends on the 11th. Hence every MB over my limit costs 15c! Bugger!

Anyway I've now upgraded to a 3GB account and I'll cross my fingers (and everything else) that this is enough.

Whilst we were parked at the Oasis B&B, BJ took to behaving like a chook - when he wasn't chasing them...

...and fancied himself as a doggy John Williamson when he was "home among the gum trees...

Rubbish day comes around all too fast and seeing as the roadside is about 1/2 km away the bin gets a ride in the F250 once a week. Lovely Angela always helps get the bin on and off but last time the bin lashed out and hit her in the earhole - OUCH!

Angela has now been working for three weeks and is enjoying her job as the HealthWay Regional Coordinator for the Kimberley. So far we haven't travelled to other parts of the region but Derby is planned for later this week as long as the tropical low currently hanging around doesn't turn nasty and become a cyclone.

Angela's office building is a good example of Broome architecture and her actual office is a good example of a broom cupboard...a picture of her cupboard will follow later!

As you have probably guessed we are quite taken with the cloud formations which abound here. Almost every afternoon see some really majestic and sometimes fearsome formations surrounding us...

About 30kms out of Broome is the delightful Willie Creek Pearl Farm. We were lucky enough to be provided with a free trip courtesy of the equally delightful owner Ms Valda Banfield, a new friend of Angela's.

As you can see from the pictures below the trip to the farm involves about 12kms of well maintained pindan road and, on the day we visited, recent rains caused us to detour a few kilometres down a dirt track to avoid a boggy salt pan.

Willie Creek produces the famous South Sea pearls, produced by the silver or gold lip pearl oyster. The tour is very informative and fun, and includes morning or afternoon tea with beer damper as the main (and very tasty) attraction. There is also a boat tour of the creek and a first hand look at the work that goes into looking after the oysters.

Visit the website for a better look - http://www.williecreekpearls.com.au

There is even a great looking fishing spot which can be reached along Cable Beach...

Back at the Farm shop there were pearls and souvenirs galore - the cost of some of the pearls and necklaces will melt the Visa card at 50 paces!For those of you in Perth there is even a store at Hilarys Marina - so no excuses...

Falling coconuts are not the only danger at Willie Creek

CRIKEY!!!! Take a look at this...

Anyway, this week Angela left BJ and I to fend for ourselves while she flew down to Perth.

That's her in the seventh window along :-)

There she goes...

For the first time visitor to Broome it is amazing to find that the airport is smack bang in the centre of town. At one of the two major shopping centres you can stand in the carpark and be less than 100metres at the side of the runway and at the other you are less than 300 metres from the business end of the runway. In fact the flightpath is directly over the main street and as the aircraft come in to land you can almost see the colour of the pilots eyes. Has to be seen to be believed...

Here is a link to the Google Map so you'll get the idea:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=broome,+Australia&ie=UTF8&ll=-17.950239,122.237406&spn=0.031273,0.079823&t=h&z=14&om=0

We are now parked on the oval behind the Broome Police and Citizens Youth Club I'll update the blog in the next few days with some more pics - maybe of a cyclone too !!!

Anyway for now I'm off to the airport to pick up Angela after her Perth trip. It's probably not before time because BJ and I have started having meaningful conversations...CYA