Near Broome - Willare, Derby and Quondong Beach

After three days at Robuck Roadhouse, Saturday morning we back-tracked 170km east to a roadhouse campground at Willare.

Not much here, but nice grass, well priced, a good pool and a shared TV to watch the footy finals and talk with other travellers (including a 70 year old Canadian guy cycling from Darwin to Perth).

Enjoyed talking with this guy. Because of the heat, he typically rides from about 4am till 8am, then from 4pm till 8pm. He likes to ride with no lights on so he can enjoy the stars. He can tell when cars or trucks are approaching and turns them on briefly at that time. 

Its also conveniently close to the turn-off to visit Derby, which is another reason for coming here. 

After a very lazy start Sunday, we headed the short distance north to Derby for a looksee. 

Just South of Derby is (another) prison boab - the other one we saw was near Wyndham.

So interesting to reflect that indigenous (mostly) men were enslaved and held at places like this as part of the blackbirding that occurred in the day.

Near this was a historic water trough, built for when cattle were driven across the land for weeks to reach the port to go to market.

Best known for the biggest tides in Australia (a tidal range of nearly 12m!!), there's not a lot else at Derby.

We looked at the sculptures along the mudflats, looked at a local gallery, checked out the pier, quick stop at the supermarket and a short drive around town.

It's blowy here, and rain is forecast. We haven't actually seen any rain since May so will be nice when it comes!

We spent the WA public holiday Monday by the pool reading and chatting.

Tuesday morning we headed in to Broome for a quick supermarket stop before heading north to a free camp at Quondong Beach. 

Sandy, dirt road but a little air let out of all the tyres and the hour long drive was fine.

 

We camped just at the top of the dune overlooking the Indian Ocean. Just beautiful,  the cool sea breeze keeping the temperature just lovely!

Little or no service but Starlink is doing its thing. 

Some nice walks on the beach, some VERY quick squat/immersions in the water (#crocs) and enjoying reading with a view. 3 days here... very nice. 

The first night there, we were excited to see a few hermit crabs scuttling around our van.

The next night, though... wow! 

THOUSANDS of them, all shapes and sizes. Amazing!

After three days here we headed into Broome to a caravan park where we'll meet our daughter. Looking forward to seeing Emily.