Our plans for a long drive to Broome was compromised by reduced service hours at Sandfire leaving us 300kms short and with nothing but the burnt out shell of the old roadhouse to crash in. The next morning we continued to Broome where we were fortunate enough to have free accommodation. The girls were dead keen to get to Cable beach and swim in their "party suits", however, sticking to the busy family part of the beach reduced them to sunset Yoga (a practice they would tragically continue throughout the trip) ... I joined in to promote group bonding until Hannah introduced a move unfortunately (though aptly) described as "the downward dog" ... that was my cue to run and hide, though some of the locals were remarkably interested.
Broome had the feel of an tourist town - and the extent of a seasonal tourism and its effect on the locals was emphasised by the fact that the local guys have seasonal girlfriends - the local girls are referred to as wetsuits as they keep the guys warm in the wet season - due to this mindset, and the influx of miners, our lovely hostess (Ellyn) assured the girls that she could “get you a root” - surprisingly none took up the offer. We enjoyed, kicking back on the beaches, swimming, playing Frisbee, fishing, loosing money at the races and two up, and even managed to find a great Chinese restaurant (where Jen struggled to keep the food contained in her mouth). Due to the extended stay in Broome we had to compress our time by driving a 1500km day to Exmouth.
Our plans for a long drive to Broome was compromised by reduced service hours at Sandfire leaving us 300kms short and with nothing but the burnt out shell of the old roadhouse to crash in. The next morning we continued to Broome where we were fortunate enough to have free accommodation. The girls were dead keen to get to Cable beach and swim in their "party suits", however, sticking to the busy family part of the beach reduced them to sunset Yoga (a practice they would tragically continue throughout the trip) ... I joined in to promote group bonding until Hannah introduced a move unfortunately (though aptly) described as "the downward dog" ... that was my cue to run and hide, though some of the locals were remarkably interested.
Broome had the feel of an tourist town - and the extent of a seasonal tourism and its effect on the locals was emphasised by the fact that the local guys have seasonal girlfriends - the local girls are referred to as wetsuits as they keep the guys warm in the wet season - due to this mindset, and the influx of miners, our lovely hostess (Ellyn) assured the girls that she could “get you a root” - surprisingly none took up the offer. We enjoyed, kicking back on the beaches, swimming, playing Frisbee, fishing, loosing money at the races and two up, and even managed to find a great Chinese restaurant (where Jen struggled to keep the food contained in her mouth). Due to the extended stay in Broome we had to compress our time by driving a 1500km day to Exmouth. 
Unfortunately we missed the opportunity to swim with whale sharks at Exmouth by a couple of days, however, the sun sand and snorkelling were fantastic ... and more importantly it offered another chance to catch some dinner. I had almost decided that concept of recreational fishing was an industry ploy to sell a whole lot of lures ... kind of like Hallmark’s valentines day, I had spent far too many evenings trying to catch dinner and then explaining to the unduly smug and disbelieving girls the many reasons why I was unsuccessful & somehow restore a fading sense of male provider masculinity. Fortunately, just when I was about to finish the deal and throw the rest of the gear into the sea, I latched on to a monster ... well, it was something between a sperm, a tadpole and the small goldfish I caught in china ... I was loathe to keep it and thus end its obviously short life but I had to show the girls. It tipped the scales at.... errr... it didnt even tip the scales ... i quickly cut off the morsels of flesh and sheepishly hid the remains inside the head of someone elses fish in the bin. After a couple of days in Exmouth it was time to head to Coral Bay.
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