The ‘Broome List’

Before heading to my next destination to find work again, I plan to experience Broome to the fullest, for the next 5 months. I consider myself very lucky to have the opportunity to do this. I find myself as a strange combination of a traveller, with some local knowledge and that most definitely inspires me to make the absolute most out of this time. I’ve been doing a lot of research into different things to do and see – there are plenty of day-to-day experiences that I will be doing regularly – walking on Cable Beach, coffee at the General Store, visiting the Mango Place for a mango smoothie, watching the tides change at Streeters Jetty. That and enjoying the weather, the pool and the laid back lifestyle that makes me feel like I am on holiday..(well sort of)..

I’m all about balance. I am a Libran. I do it badly, but I strive for it always in my life, so the next 5 months will be trying to achieve some balance between work, future work and experiences. That’s the hard bit. The easier bit for me though, is coming up with my list of the 12 things on my Broome List.

I have prepared my list. 10 are brand new experiences and 2 are repeats from previous visits, that I would love to do again. There is one spot that is ‘flexible’ because I may not be able to financially achieve the option I have chosen for this spot. So here is a question for my readers. Do you have an item for me to add to the list as Number 12 – something the arm-chair readers would like to see – a view, a challenge or an experience? Add them to the comments if you do.

Pleasingly, I have ticked off 2 items already in May, so you will hear about them very soon in upcoming May blog posts. The rest I will have to start planning on when to do them and I will then reveal them in the blog over the next few months. Can’t wait!

Broome Time

Its been just on 4 weeks since arriving in Broome, Western Australlia. Tipping the end of the wet season, the first week was humid with a few remaining storms that had lingered for our arrival. I spent the first month on-foot and changed accommodation in the middle. I now have my own ‘studio unit’ which is comfortable, cool (when the fans are on) and with a shared pool and garden to enjoy in the mornings and evenings when the sun dissapears but it’s still warm.

There are a couple of disappointments to be honest. The Town Beach café, which I fondly remembered enjoying breakfast and dolphin spotting at, has closed. This is where I was going to write my book. It seems not. The town centre has been undergoing renovations for a while and the streets are messy and closed with the end of construction. Locals say it needs to be finished by the end of May and I hope it is. I’d had enough of construction in Sydney, both in the city centre and in the Northern Beaches and it feels to me like the local businesses are suffering, they are quiet even with the impending start of season just around the corner.

But these are just adjustments, letting go of the ‘dream’ and creating a ‘reality’ was always going to be part of the plan.

On the positive side, some of the old favourites, Cable Beach, Matso’s, The Mango Place and Town Beach still remain as remembered. I have also discovered the Broome Library which will be a great spot for writing, reading and working on my blog posts!

A month on foot has given me blisters, a light tan and also re-aquainted me with some of these locations as I pounded the streets, finding my way around. I feel like I can visualise the town a little better and have set myself up for finding my local hangouts. Good coffee is still on the list. I have had a few mediocre ones, generally sticking instead to chocolate milkshakes and Iced Coffee if I’m honest!

Broome presents me with an interesting challenge. A mental toughness is needed to dig in and find structure and comfort (and work!) in a different environment, where there are probably only 2 shops to buy clothes from (but you live in shorts and tshirts), limited café’s and expensive toasted sandwiches (but cheaper to buy from the supermarket anyway) and a delicate balance between travel and work to be re-found.

And….there are galleries and bookshops to visit, pindan earth and tranquil waters. There is much to explore, learn and find out, about Broome and about myself. And last Friday, I purchased a car, to take me on the Broome journey and beyond. I’m loving him already!

This is my Broome journey…And Gecko my car!

Travel retrospectives

I have started 2019 in typical fashion for me, with a number of ideas and projects that I would like to work on during the year.

One of them, is a resurrection of my blogging, specifically focused on travel and photography stories. My idea is to create a catalogue of retrospectives, covering the trips and experiences I have had over the last 10 years.

This is going to range from overseas photography experiences through to the back-yard local adventures. I will work on a plan of locations in the next few weeks and then aim to post every fortnight.

If there are any special requests from my current readership on locations, then leave a comment and I will add to the plan (assuming I have been there!).

Photo memories – South Australia

Today, I have started the mammoth task of slowly working through my catalogue of nearly 20,000 image files from the road-trip, in an attempt to feature a few memories each week, as well as find a few of my favourite images. I took quite a bit of kit with me in the end including my Canon 5DM3 and 5 lenses, my new Olympus OMD10 with 2 lenses as well as an old infrared camera and of course my IPhone. It would be fair to say that they didn’t all get used as frequently as each other. The Olympus, mainly due to weight was my camera of choice on walks or when we were mobile and travelling. It was a fantastic travel camera and the kit lenses were pretty good for coverage. I will be planning some upgrades in the future now doubt. My main camera, the Canon I used for all the low light shoots, sunsets and sunrises and I also tried out my last lens purchase, just prior to the trip, which is a 100-400. It was mainly purchased for wildlife, for opportunities on the trip but also beyond. Needless to say it was perfect for that but I also discovered it to be an excellent wave lense when the location was right. I will always remember standing atop the cliffs on the Nullarbor or on the beaches, trying to capture that perfect curl in the wave.

But back to the wildlife, this image was the very first trial of the lense at Seal Bay in Kangaroo Island. It was a lovely spot, where in guided groups we could go down on to the beach and actually get pretty close to some of the seals basking, but the longer lens meant I could try and focus on a few of the ones a bit further away and witness some of their natural behaviours just a little closer. I have wanted to process one of my images from Seal Bay right from the start, but decided to keep all the processing until I returned. I have a few favourites, but this one reflects the sense of family as we saw lots of mothers and cubs together on the beach, chilling out and watching the waves.

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What…when…where

I’ve blinked, and its over! How did that happen. Last I knew I was on the Great Ocean Road, today I am sitting in my Stayz apartment in Sydney, on the hunt for jobs and getting ready to move into a new apartment lease next week! That’s just the crazy, quick way that this journey ended last week.

On the Great Ocean Road we saw some great scenery, but were a little thwarted by school holidays, so had to stay about a 45min drive away from the coast and also rain…rain and more rain. It made it hard to get around and due to some road closures there was a small part of the road we didn’t even get to see. I don’t think the GOR was the highlight for any of us really, but it was rather lovely watching the coast unfold and also seeing some more of the inland landscapes/rainforests. I also had a lovely birthday enjoying cake and chocolate with a bit of coastal scenery thrown in.

From Victoria, we decided to head towards Jindabyne and the snowy mountains. We joked about how amazing it would be to see a bit of snow on the mountains, just to finish off the trip in a special way, and add to the variety of weather conditions we had experienced. Well, fate took its path and we ended up driving through the snowy mountains, while it was snowing, quite hard as well as getting to do a trip to the Thredbo snowfields and take the chairlift up to the highest spot where there had been recent snowfalls. It is actually the first time I have seen snow in Australia. My very first time ever was NZ and from there a number of amazing experiences overseas, so it was a rather special event in my home country.

We then headed to Canberra, with the main focus being the Floriade exhibition, and to celebrate Kath’s birthday. We stayed a bit out of Canberra, actually in NSW so kept crossing borders. Enjoyed the flower displays, before we headed back to Sydney and Kathy’s flight home last Tuesday. Its taken me a while to get my head around it as it has been a whirlwind of househunting and also starting to try and find work. There are lots of memories and photos to process so I am thinking of giving myself a ‘project’ to try and work on them before it all becomes a faded memory.

It has been, one of the most amazing trips of my life, not doubt about it and I have, as per usual no plans to stop travelling and exploring the landscapes of this amazing planet. Stay tuned, if you dare, for the next adventure 🙂

Dodging rain in the South West

After spending just over a week in Perth with family or friends, we set off again yesterday for the South West region. The rain has been pretty persistant and aside from a couple of clear days hung around most of our time in Perth! We did get a lovely day to visit Rottnest Island however, over on the ferry and a day on the hop on hop off bus, and also a few sunny hours in Kings Park for lunch and a walk through the gardens, so lucky on that front.

We are now staying in Busselton for 6 nights in accommodation rather than camping to see out some of the remaining winter.
Aside from the obvious food and wine opportunities in the nearby Margaret River region, their are many scenic spots to expore with the cameras. Today we went down to the famous Busselton Jetty and walked down to the end, the underwater observatory unfortunately not open for business during the winter months but the impending rain clouds made for some nice moody skies.

Shark Bay

Ever since I was a small child, I have wanted to visit the area of Shark Bay and to see the dolphins of Monkey Mia. After a couple of days exploring the area and visiting some of the great beaches we got up early to head down to Monke Mia to arrive for the first feeding. Watched from the jetty at the same time watched a few swimming around and loved the experience of seeing them in the wild doing their thing. Second feeding watched from the shoreline as the rangers gave us lots of information.

After some brunch in the restaurant a bit of shopping and a walk along the beach we then did a 3 hour cruise where we spotted plenty more dolphins and turtles and sea birds and enjoyed some sun and salt air. Fab day which ended with a lovely sunset which I watched over our local beach.