Broome and Boabs

So we last left off in Broome, the strange crossbreed of a Little Japan and a palm-tree'd resort town..


A tour guide puts on a divers helmet.




The Broome sunset, with a replica Pearl Lugger ship sailing in the background. Backpackers were playing guitar on the beach, and there was a wacky crab in a pool of water near the shore. Also lots of tiny spider crabs running around and hiding in their sand holes.

Anyway, after Broome we drove east, stopping off for a hike (bush walk) at a "Devonian Era Reef," which today is mountain range of limestone rock, which at one point was a prehistoric coral reef.

What millions of years does to the algae in a coral reef.

We also headed up for a quick detour to visit a`Boab prison tree', in a dirt cloud town named Derby. Boab trees are these Dr.-Suess-looking trees only found in this particular part of Australia, Madagascar, and one part of Africa. They supposively store water in their trunks, and nobody knows how old they live since they don't produce rings in their bark. The only thing that kills them is termites or lightning (I was told).

A Boab tree is one of Australia's many weird trees.

The Boab Prison Tree was made of a much larger, hollowed out Boab tree, and was used at one time to hold Aboriginies who were being forced to become pearl divers in Broome. The prison tree in all its glory:



Our next major stop was a hostel at a town called Kununara, but not before popping a tire (they spell them tyre's out here) and having it replaced in that same town. The hostel was where we learned that Steve Irwin had died two days previous (I didn't believe the guy who told me until he showed me it on TV). We also went to a Karaoke night after some backpackers in the hostel invited us.

Next morning, clean and sparkly from our showers, we drove onward in an easterly direction, across the Northern Territory border, where we were greeted by the greatest road sign ever:

This sign means: no speed limit. All Northern Territory highways (and it's a big territory) have no speed limit (with the exception of towns). This, plus a rental sports car, equals LOTS OF FUN! I've been wavering between 150-180 Kilometers/hour, or 93-112 MPH. The longer I drive without a speed limit, the faster I find myself comfortable driving. This will be bad when we find ourselves in a state with a speed limit again.

Dropped by a place called Katherine for a bite, and utilizing the (lack of) speed restrictions, cruised up north to Darwin in about two hours. On our arrival in Darwin, which is Faizah's last stop, we were greeted by Faizah's grandma Fran, who showed us around the house. As she showed us the bathrooms, we were greeted by this friendly feller:


GREAT GOLDEN CRICKEY'S! I thought it was a plastic toy or something, but it was real. Fran seemed unconcerned, and went to get a plastic grocery bag. She then tried to catch the mammoth beast with the bag, but it jumped roughly two feet to the right of her, onto the nearby wall. "Oh," she said calmly, "it's one of those jumping ones." She then continued to try to bag it until it crawled through a crack in the bathroom window and disappeared. She then shut the window and continued the tour of the house.