Friday, January 13, 2012

Ocean, how I missed you!






We have finally sunk back into relaxation mode following an adrenalin-fuelled dash south to avoid Cyclone Heidi. Although we did make it through to Coral Bay in the end, we spent a couple of nail biting days threading the eye of the needle (yet again!) which I will post about as soon as I feel ready for another surge of adrenalin.

So for now I hope you don’t mind a couple of Posts in retrospect.

Our Broome experience started with Cable Beach and ended with Camels. In between there was lots of mud and caravan park antics.

Since we left Sydney on The Big Adventure almost 2 months ago now we have not stepped foot on a Beach. And if you have spent your whole life living on the coast, the beach becomes part of your psyche and you don’t realize how much you miss it until you have been absent from it. So when we arrived at Broome after a long day in the car we were all completely and surprisingly overjoyed at the sight of the beautiful ocean.

The feel of beach sand underfoot and the smell of the ocean was amazing. We were just in time to see the spectacular sunset over the Indian Ocean, another first for us as we only get sunrises over the ocean on the east coast.






Then the heavens opened up, which was our first prolonged rain since we left Sydney. It was a great relief given all the humidity we have had up north. It also brought about some muddy conditions, which provided lots of enjoyment for the boys and enabled some rainy day games to be played under the Big Top. 

The ability of the Boys to entertain themselves with mud, sticks and water never ceases to amaze me. They made chocolate cakes, Wombat Stew and built car parks for their cars complete with a chocolate car wash.










Finally, a break in the weather enabled some fun on Cable Beach, amazingly the most animal friendly beach I’ve come across. Dogs to the left and Camels to the right. A trip to Broome just wouldn’t be complete without the quintessential Camel Safari, and at the 11th hour the rain cleared and we were able to get on some Camels.  Blue Eyes took the lead on Gustav, followed by the Pianoman with D, then me with Little Buddy and Miss Fancy and her new Bestie giggling all the way on Camel no. 4.


Personally, I will remember Broome as the place where the little boys collected “Fishy Cuddles”, grabbed their “Bobbles and Gaggles” for a swim and rode the “Caramels”.

"Fishy Cuddles" = Cuttlefish
"Bobbles and Gaggles" = Bubble and Goggles
"Caramels" = Camels






14 comments :

  1. Wow!
    Absolutely stunning pics.
    As a fellow beach lover, I can feel your joy.
    We do a good sunset over this side - and you captured it beautifully.
    I just love seeing the kids in their element - and mud.
    What an adventure.
    :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your state rocks! Except for the current natural disasters :-)

      Delete
  2. Once again fantastic photos Mel.
    Have been thinking of you with all the cyclone Heidi updates on the news, pleased to hear you're OK.
    Hubby and I have been talking about a trip to Broome, these photos make me want to get there sooner.
    Love the kids codes, very cute.
    Safe travels.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you like the look of Broome you will probably love Coral Bay even more :-)

      Delete
  3. I won't show this to my whippets, they'll be jealous, they love the beach ;D (Not sure what they'd make of camels though!)

    Safe travels Mel x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our whippet loves the beach too but notice he sticks to the edges. Not a fan of the water :-)

      Delete
  4. Wow so exciting, although perhaps a little too exciting with that cyclone!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I just started reading your blog and I love it Great Pictures, I get to see Australia from my home in New York. I have a question Is all the dirt in Australia that reddish color? Every picture i see and other blogs I read all the mud is the same color. Here we have brown dirt and when it gets wet it is just dark brown.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lisa, welcome and thanks so much for popping in! The red dirt is amazing isn't it? I thought it occurred just in the very centre of Australia but it actually covers so much of the country from outback NSW, South Australia all through the centre up north and we still have it here along the coast of Western Australia. It's your standard brown dirt where i grew up on the east coast and Tasmania too :-) enjoy the rest of your weekend!
      Mel x

      Delete
  6. How I love your images Mel, so beautiful and real. I can almost touch these places you've visited through them. I also 'get' the attraction to the coast on every level. I have now been living close to the beach for 10 years and most of the time, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else again. Like it is our spiritual home or something :o)
    I also 'get' the boys making mess scene. They sure do love getting filthy don't they!?
    Lovely to catch up with your posts as I've been out of blog land for a few days xo

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am absolutely loving your photos and following this great adventure of yours. It takes me back to my childhood of long road trps my family use to take across the Nullabour - I wish we had photos. My brothers and sisters and I still talk about those road trips today as adults. Such great memories your capturing so beautifully here.

    Hope the kids get the chance to use their gaggles again soon!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful pictures. Those sunset ones are stunning.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yep, jealous again. I can see I am going to like stopping by here.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Such stunning photos, Mel. You are a legend. One day we'll venture over there - it's on the bucket list! J x

    ReplyDelete