July Holidays - Gibb River Road

The Gibb River Road was as great as everyone said it was. We went from the Derby end and finished in Kununurra with Jess and the Stones. Not sure how far it was but I counted just over a billion corougations.

We visited numerous gorges and stayed at plenty of cattle stations, crossed rivers, swam in water holes, saw cattle being mustered with helicopters, lit campfires, got three flat tyres (one half way across a river), saw rock art, ate some camp food, drank warm and coolish beer, enjoyed the cattle stations that had a bar that served cold beer, saw spectacular scenery, played spotlight, toasted marshmallows, went horseriding, did some walking, packed and unpacked alot of times and watched Darcy do the whole trip without much concern for his personal hygene.

Undoubtedly the highlight of the trip however was the nifty little demo I did for the kids to show them what happens when you don't tighten up the wheel nuts enough. The rear wheel came off as planned in spectacular fashion, shearing off a couple of studs and buggering the rest in the process. As luck would have it, before the dust had settled a mechanic called Jason rocked up, got out his big toolbox (much bigger than mine) and his big jack (also much bigger than mine) and proceeded to repair what to me looked like a lost cause. His wife served cold drinks for the kids (we only had coolish or warm) and "jobs right mate" off ya go! I owe the bloke a kidney if he ever needs one or at the very least a carton of warm to coolish beer.

James Price Point protest

Well the coppers finally started to get a bit fair dinkum.

About 40 came up from Perth to get the protesters to "move on". Tracey and the kids were once again out there doing their bit. There were 25 arrests but the best Tracey could do was a warning. Anna was pretty impressed. Told me she heard plenty of "s words" and even a couple of "f words".

Sadly Woodside had their way and have began clearing the site. Very few people in Broome want the gas hub at James Price point and are hopeful that it can still be stopped. Alot of people remain camped at the Minardie Road turnoff in an attempt to slow the progress of the works.

Netball and footy lightning carnival

Broome Primary travelled to Derby for the lightning carnival. Trace and Gran and Gang (who are in town) went along for the trip.

Ruby played in one of the netball teams who did very well and came fouth. She had a dodgey foot which Mr Super Physio (Terry) fixed for her so she could keep playing.

Darcy played in the footy team which came runner-up which was a great effort considering there were some pretty handy teams there. There was even a team from Wanami which is a remote community 3 hours from Derby which was all girls except for two players!

All the kids had a great time and all the supporters were most impressed with the sportsmanship shown by all the teams.

Broome races

Ahhh you know the racing season has arrived when you can smell the motor oil in the main straight (it keeps the dust down). Not quite Caulfield, but then again Caulfield dosen't have two-up either.

Some of the reprobates I work with - case in point the bloke with fists full of bottles.

I think the bookies went home happy.

James Price Point picket

Tracey, Rube and Darcy and friend Holly went out to the Minardie Road to do their bit to stop the James Price Point gas hub. Along with many others who are camped out there they threw their bodies (not quite) in front of the Woodside veichles to stop them clearing the land. They met John Butler out there before he flew off on his American tour. I hear he was extremely chuffed to be rubbing shoulders with such high falutin folk!

Look what happens when Tracey goes out on her own

She buys paintings. Or etchings as she corrects me. Actually a very nice piece. Like her hairdo's I didn't ask how much. The figures are Wanjinas which are anly found in this part of the world, and only certain artists are allowed to paint them. This etching was done by a dozen or so different artists, so will be a great reminder of our time here.

James Price Point

Darcy is pointing to James Price Point which is about 60km North of Broome. It is a spectacular bit of Kimberly coastline which Woodside and the WA government want to build a big gas hub on. It will be bigger than the township of Broome when it is finished. There is alot of opposition to it in Broome beacause of what it will do to the kimberly and the township of Broome. Have a look at savethekimberley.com

Camping on Cable Beach

On the long weekend we went for a drive up Cable Beach with some friends and camped in the sand dunes for the night. Anna kicked me half to death in the tent and the rest slept on the beach under the stars. Except for being illegal it's a great place to spend the night - deserted beautiful beach, no rain, spectacular stars and a driftwood fire - not sure what the fine is if the ranger catches up with us, but I'm sure its worth it!

Overnight camp at the rodeo ground

We had a great night out at the Rodeo grounds with a whole lot of other 10-12 year old girls and their families. We had dinner there and the girls all played a variety of horse oriented games. Ruby and I camped overnight and then the girls rode the horses down to Cable Beach where they galloped up and down on the sand. The horses legs enjoyed the nice soft sand and Rubes head enjoyed it too when she fell off.

Diedre drops in for a visit

Diedre came to Broome for a week or so with a trip around the Kimberley in between. Great to see her again.