Saturday 23 May 2026 – Adelaide: Roger

It was about 4am when the bumpy ride came to a halt at Port Augusta. We stopped here for the best part of an hour. I found out later it was to change drivers. Around 5 we were on the move, again bumping along. Apparently the track gets a lot of use here making it a bit more worn than in other places.  Or so we were told later. It was daylight by the time we passed through Port Wakefield.

We headed down to the dining carriage for our last train breakfast, where we chatted to Ralph and Alison, who were in the suite next door to us. They had flown out to Lake Eyre yesterday. The lake had filled with water last year after having last filled to capacity in 1974. The north lake is already fill again this year and has just started flowing over to the south lake.

It was around 1030am when we arrived at Adelaide Station. After disembarking we were driven to Sylvia’s sister, Debbie, and husband Dave’s place. After a cup of tea and a yarn we headed out to the Mount Lofty Golf course to pick up Dave, who had just finished his Saturday morning game. Next stop was Lenswood orchard to pick some apples and enjoy some apple crumble and ice cream.

After that, we visited Mike and Jackie, friends of Debbie and Dave at their modern, old-style house on a hill in the middle of a vineyard. Here we saw our 4th kangaroo 🦘 of the journey.

On the was back into town we stopped at the Uraidla pub for a drink and a snack before heading back to Debbie and Dave’s for the night.

 

Sunday 24 May 2026 – Adelaide: Sylvia

We had a very leisurely day, enjoying catching up with family on a rainy Sunday. My great niece, Ivy, had her 5th birthday party this morning at a local indoor play area so we joined in the celebrations. Lots of excitement from the kids for sure. I was impressed to see DAve (Pops) joining in the fun on the play equipment. Debbie had made a birthday cake in the shape of a 5, which was much enjoyed by kids and adults alike.

We then headed back to the house where we relaxed over a few games of Code Names, a fun way to challenge the brain a little. Then we decided to drive out to the Belair National Park, only about 20-minutes away. It was actually quite pretty in the rain and we saw several kangaroos and lots of birds but the emus and koalas proved elusive.

Back home again, we dressed and then headed out to dinner at a very nice steak restaurant. We ate way too much again and enjoyed each other’s company. It is always so good to have time together.

 

Monday 25 May 2026 – Adelaide to Broome: Roger

It was around 9:30am when Debbie dropped us off at the airport, where we managed to check our bags all the way through to Broome, even though our two flights were on separate tickets. (Adelaide to Perth and Perth to Broome). We took off and headed west, soon crossing the border into Western Australia, the first part of which looked pretty barren, with many salt lakes spread around the vast plains. As we headed further west we flew over a huge cropping area, with farms ranging in size from 3,000 to 4,000 hectares. The paddocks all appeared to be fenced. It was just after noon when we landed in Perth, where the airport seemed to be incredibly busy with flights heading out to lots of places in Western Australia I had never heard of. With Western Australia hosting over 120 major export-oriented mining projects and hundreds of smaller operations, there are thousands of people transmitting through Perth on their way to and from work. On the other side of the runway there was a Qatar airways A380 parked along with some other large aircraft, with flights leaving to the Middle East and Europe from here.

It was just after 3pm when we boarded an A320 for the 2.5-hour flight to Broome. With a substantial tail-wind, this was reduced to under two-hours. We witnessed more large farms with the land running into scrubby hills and deserts further to the east. As we came in to land at Broome we noticed that the runway is smack-bang in the middle of town, meaning in the latter years the town has been built around the airport. Broome has a population of around 20,000, rising to over 40,000 in the tourist season, which we have struck the beginning of. We collected our bags and a very friendly chap suggested we jump on his shuttle bus, which we did. Very soon we were checking into the Moonlight Bay Suites, where we passed a very relaxing evening.

 

Tuesday 26 May 2026 – Broome: Sylvia

We had a lazy morning this morning, heading out just before 10am to wander into town. It was a gorgeous sunny morning but the wind was quite strong, keeping the temperatures mild. We stopped for a quick look at the views from the Roebuck Bay lookout. This area hosts multitudes of migrating seabirds over the summer, but most have now left to return to the Arctic or Siberia. I was particularly struck by the baob trees and the frangipani.

Broome was once a major area for harvesting mother of pearl from the Pinctada Maxima oysters that are found here. They are the largest oyster shells in the world and although they can be found in small quantities in some other parts of the world, are only in abundance here. Prior to the invention of plastic, mother of pearl was an important commodity for the manufacture of buttons and other things. In the early 1900’s some 80% of the world’s mother of pearl came from Broome. It was a dangerous business and many pearl divers lost their lives in cyclones, diving accidents or from tropical diseases. In the late 1940’s  the advent of plastics dramatically reduced the demand for mother of pearl. It was some years later that the cultured pearl industry really took off on the area. Today, Western Australia provides some of the highest quality cultured pearls in the world from a few pearl farms, which continue to develop their techniques to maximise the quantity and quality of pearls they farm.

There are numerous pearl boutiques along the streets of Chinatown, the main area of old Broome. Several of these have small museums or displays about the pearl industry. One has some old pearl loggers (boats) out the back. We spent a bit of time in another watching several videos about the industry.

We enjoyed a delicious brunch at the Haven Cafe. I would highly recommend this place to anyone visiting Broome. The food was delicious and the staff friendly and welcoming. After lunch we wandered down to the Old Streeter’s Jetty. This is a historic site and played an important role in the pearl diving era. It is also the start of the Jetty to Jetty walk, a self-guided walk with an app providing information and stories about the history of the area. The jetty juts out into a mangrove estuary… I had hoped to see a bit of wildlife around but nothing doing today…

We followed the Jetty to Jetty route, passing an old boat shed, some abandoned camps, and Sun Studios, the world’s longest running outdoor cinema, built in 1913 and still operating today. I found the commentary and personal stories on the app to be very interesting. We continued back to our hotel and took a bit of a break to rest Roger’s knees before heading out again towards the Town Beach Jetty at the other end of town. There is an interesting monument near the base of the jetty related to the bombing of Broome during World War II. It has nine representations of people of different ages and races, showcasing personal stories and reflections of survivors. Over 100 people lost their lives, the actual number will probably never be known. Many people had fled Java after the Japanese invasion and were sheltering in Broome, some in the flying boats that were easy targets. Many women and children were among the dead and injured.

We wandered back towards the hotel, stopping at Matso’s Brewery and Bar for a quick drink on the way.

Just before 4pm we jumped in a taxi and headed across to Cable Beach House, a stunning bar and restaurant perched on the cliffs overlooking Cable Beach, a fantastic spot to watch the sunset. A camel train headed past, off to pick up tourists for their sunset camel ride. I enjoyed a delicious gin and tonic while Roger opted for another alcohol-free beer, and we shared some scallops, tempura broccolini and zucchini fries. We headed back to the hotel after sunset for another quiet evening.

 

Wednesday 27 May 2026 – Broome, Kimberleys: Roger

It was just after 0730 when Erica, from Broome Adventure Cruises, picked us up in a 50-seat bus and we headed off around the town to pick up a few other people before heading out to Port Drive. Just before reaching Broome Adventure Cruises venue, we came across a road-train pulling out of a container terminal, pulling four 65-tonne containers. Most of the road trains here have three trailers but I think this one runs on a private road bringing out Magnetic Zircon from the mine. The project is a joint venture with a Chinese company and sells for between $700 and $800 Australian per tonne.

Arriving at Broome Adventures, we were briefed by Brendon, the son of the owner, before being led down to the beach and walking a few metres into the water to climb the steps into the back of the Brahminy Kite, a flat-bottomed-boat with a couple of outboard motors. After a further safety briefing on life jackets etc., we were on our way, heading along the coast for about 10-minutes to a very prominent jetty where we stopped for a while. Martin, the owner of the company and father of Brendon, gave us a briefing on the massive tides that they have here while Brendon sat up front and demonstrated using his head to represent the earth and his hands to indicate the position of the sun and the moon. The exceptionally high spring tides occur when the sun and the moon anre lined up with the earth pulling the water in the ocean to a high point on each side of the earth. He also gave us a rundown on the Catalina Flying boats that were here during World War II, housing some of the people that had come from the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, to escape the Japanese. They were living on the boats when nine Japanese zeros attacked, sinking the Catalinas and setting the sea around them on fire from the oil slicks. Most of those that escaped into the water were eaten by the large number of hammerhead sharks that hung out on the bay feeding on the offal and blood that came from the local meatworks. Those that did survive were badly burned and it was discovered that being in the sea for a period of time had helped heal the burns. This resulted in saline solutions being used to treat burns in the future.

Talk over, the boat was cranked up to 20-knots (about 40 kph) for another 10-minutes. We were then nosed into a beach and Brendon got out and put an anchor up on the sand with another anchor being dropped behind us. We dismounted and headed about 100m along the beach and soon nine of our party of thirteen were standing in dinosaur footprints. It was around 30-million years ago that a bunch of dinosaurs had walked through this country when it was a bit soggy. With the large brachiosaurs weighing in excess of 30-tons each, they left their footprints in the boggy surface. Over the years this had become sandstone with the footprints frozen in time. Round Broome 21 different species of dinosaur prints have been identified, the most species of prints found in one place anywhere in the world.

The  low tide here  goes out about 2km and many hundreds of footprints can be found in the sandstone rock. Many universities and their fellows from all over the world come to study these. There was one piece of rock where you could see a footprint and below the imprint the shape that the ground had been pushed into below where the heavy foot had landed. Martin was both very enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about the dinosaurs in the area and many other things too.

Footprint examination over, we reboarded the boat heading back out to sea and back along the coast for about 10-minutes before heading up into the Dampier Creek. This creek is home to a lot of wildlife and we even saw a turtle making its way through the water. Back in the old days many of the pearl divers kept their boats here and headed out to sea to dive for the pearls. Snacks and sparkling wine were laid out on an improvised table while we quietly cruised around the creek looking at the wildlife and learning a little about the mangroves. For those that have seen mangroves before you’ll see little sticks or pods sticking up underneath them. These are not just ornaments but apparently they’re there so when the tide comes and they are covered they send a signal to the rest of the plant to stop respirating for awhile and when the tide goes out signals it to start respirating again.

Creek cruise over we headed back to the Broome adventure base, the tide having gone out a little bit so we had to walk a bit further to the beach this time. From here the road runs out onto a wharf, which is about 300m long. At the end of this there is a channel that runs along the coast in excess of 30m deep, which means really large ships can tie up at the end of the wharf and load their cargoes before heading north.

The tour over, Erica dropped us back in town where we headed back to the Haven Cafe for a relaxing lunch before strolling back to our hotel.

It was just before 1530 when the bus from True North turned up. We boarded it and Stacey welcomed us as we did another circuit of Broome to pick up the other 17 guests from various hotels before heading off to Cable Beach, where we boarded tenders that took us out to the boat that is to be our home for the next 10 days. With the helicopter sitting on the top deck and the large transom at the back it looked very impressive as we approached. We were soon welcome aboard, given a tour of the boat including the bar, lounge and dining room, along with a couple of relaxing decks up the front. We were handed limoncello spritzes as we arrived in the bar and got to chat with the other guests before being shown to our very comfortable rooms.

At around 1800 we were given a safety briefing and a bit of an insight into how everything works. We were also introduced to the crew including the two chefs, the many guides and the helicopter pilot. This was followed by a delicious dinner consisting of white snapper, asparagus,  saffron beurre blanc and a mixed salad followed by a very tasty lemon and fig tart. It was a good opportunity to get to know some of the other passengers, who I’m sure we’ll get to know a lot better over the next few days as we venture into the Kimberley.