Wednesday 28 April 2010

Beautiful Broome

As promised, here are some of the 400 photos we took during our Broome adventure. It has taken me ages to decide which ones to share with you, because everything was so new and exciting!

We stayed at the lovely Sanctuary Beach Resort, which had gorgeous rooms, grounds and pools.
I LOVED our bedroom:


this boab tree,

and these flowers:






We even saw this big monitor lizard prowling around our apartment.  Over a metre long, they are allowed to roam free in Broome, but they do bite!


On our first day in Broome, there had been a huge rainfall, and the tree frogs were all out. They made a hell of a racket, like barking dogs! (These frogs are notorious in Broome for tumbling into your toilet when you flush it, but that didn't happen to us once!)


Jack and Jonathon spent HOURS in this beautiful pool:




Down town, the shops are built in an Asian style, and referred to as Chinatown, after the many Chinese people who originally settled in Broome.





Palm trees line the streets...


and Cable beach was magnificent (much like Yanchep Lagoon),



but with one main difference: camel rides!




The camels were such characters, and during the ride, the guide walked alongside telling us the names and stories of each camel in the train. The other guide ran along beside us taking our cameras to get sunset shots.


There was a glorious sunset that night!


I felt so exhilarated during the camel ride, and Jonathon and Jack's camel kept sneaking up so I could pat him -adorable!


On another day, we went on the hovercraft ride which took us across the mudflats and over Roebuck Bay. The driver/guide had a great time doing bogan burnouts in the hovercraft, and it was quite thrilling!




Over the other side, at Gantheaume Bay, we all got out to have a look at the stunning rock formations,




and the ancient fossilised dinosaur footprints. Quite incredible to think a Brontosaurus had walked over this area thousands of years ago!



Jonathon was fascinated by the red dirt, known as pindan (said with an accent on each syllable, like pin dan).
He even collected some from here as a souvenir (ssh...Don't tell!)

Another great adventure was a visit to Malcolm Douglas' Crocodile Park.


It was a VERY hot place to walk around (really, if you ever go to Broome, take a bottle of water wherever you go!), but the crocs were such characters. They were called names like Chomp, because they had attacked people in the wild.



The pools of green water looked empty and then from out of nowhere, these massive crocs would launch themselves out of the water and clamber up the fence snapping their jaws!! Crikey!! (That's probably exaggerating a bit, but a couple of them did do that!) 


You could only see the heads of crocs in the distance in the water, but when they were called to be fed, they all ran up onto the sand, fighting over who would catch the chicken and fish that were tossed to them. It was great entertainment, with lots of oohs and aahs from the crowd!

There were dingos at the park,


this cute owl,


and we even got to hold a baby croc!




The Japanese cemetery was interesting, with many headstones made of beach rock. All of the people buried here (919 of them) were pearl divers in the late 1800s-1935. Most died due to drowning, diver's paralysis, or in the 1908 cyclone in Broome.


We visited the Pearl Lugger's museum where we learned all about the pearl shelling industry in Broome.
A suit was invented to help the divers go into deeper waters, and it was extremely heavy. Jack had the opportunity to try on the helmet, which weighed 32 kgs!


These are the boots that the divers had to wear,


and here are two of the refurbished luggers that were used many years ago.


Broome is now known for its cultivated pearl industry, which you can see at Willie Creek Farm, although it is a four hour round trip, so we didn't go there this time.

We had some AMAZING meals in Broome. At the Pindan restaurant, which was at our resort, we had a yummy garlic bread made with Turkish bread, garlic butter and parmesan cheese (best garlic bread EVER!),


and other delicious things like seafood linguine, and creme brulee (oh my gosh!).

At the Sunset Bar and Grill, at Cable Beach Resort, Jack had the best lamb cutlets, Jonathon had an exquisite steak, and I had sizzling garlic prawns with ratatouille and smashed potato (heavenly meal!)


We were also pretty excited about the chocolate fountain with marshmallows!


Other great places to eat were The 12 Mile Cafe, the ZooBar and the Lustre Bar (all had delicious smoothies!)

Amazingly, we didn't see any flies or mozzies in Broome, but we did have to wear a hat and sunscreen outside during the day!

What made the trip even more enjoyable for me was indulging in some massages (my birthday pressies!) at the Sorbet Day Spa at our resort. Soooo relaxing, and the beauticians were lovely!


On a final note, reading this fantastic Di Morrissey novel about Broome in the early days was a very memorable read to accompany a very memorable adventure!
Put Broome on your travel to-do list!

Monday 26 April 2010

We're back! And there's a giveaway winner!

We're back from our wonderful holiday in glorious Broome! What a pretty, pretty place - such beautiful colours everywhere, and so HOT!


But before I launch into showing you all the photos (which I've been madly trying to scrapbook for the last 2 days!) I just want to thank all the lovely blogging friends who wished me a happy birthday, to family who sent me gorgeous cards, and to all the people who commented or became a follower of my blog to enter my giveaway!

And now, to announce the winner...

I wrote all the names on paper, and spread them on the kitchen bench...



Jack closed his eyes, waved his magic hand, and put it down to touch one of the papers.
Turned it over and found...


Nettie's blog,
(aka Nettie Nostalgia).

Yay!!!! You are the winner!!!

All these lovely goodies will be sent to you this week!!!!!


Enjoy!! xxx
P.S. Go check out Nettie Nostalgia - a blog full of gorgeousness, with a Tasmanian flavour!

Friday 16 April 2010

We're outta here!

Just to let you know, we're off for a holiday to a far away destination!


See you in a week! Wendy xxx

Thursday 15 April 2010

My Creative Space - Painting


I am still painting my Alice in Wonderland characters, so I thought I'd show you my upcycled tools of the trade! We abandoned this spice rack when I madeover my pantry, and it is perfect for holding all my paints. My palette is an ice-cube tray! No fancy studio to work in (I would love one) but our dining table is a huge surface to work on, and I can watch the tele while I paint. You can see more creative spaces on my bloglist, and over at kootoyoo. Check them out!

Tuesday 13 April 2010

My Place and Yours - Behind our front door

This is one of those voyeuristic games where you get to see inside everyone's homes - I love it!  This week at Hello Owl, we're finding out what you see when you open your front door. Here's what you see in our house:

Straight ahead:


To the left:

And over in the corner, on top of the piano, my new ornamental birdcage, a birthday present from my Mum. Swoon!


You can see some more home reveals over here. Play along too, if you wish!
Oh, and don't forget to head back here on Friday to enter my 40th birthday GIVEAWAY!
Wendy xxx

Monday 12 April 2010

Madame Butterfly

Malcolm McLaren died this week. You may not know of him or his music, but he was the manager of the Sex Pistols. In the eighties he had some fantastic songs, with my favourite being Madame Butterfly.


There is a side of me that is very into opera, and this song is probably the reason. I love the spoken part, the pop part and the opera part of this song. The final note is glorious! Try to stay to the end of the video to hear it.