18 August, day 14 of our sun and wildflowers trip – a day of reflecting on our change of rig.

We sold our 25’ Travelhome fifth wheeler along with it’s Hi-lux tow vehicle back in 2017. We also sold our little Toyota Yaris to become a one motor vehicle household. A 2016 Prado was our choice of tow vehicle. We like Toyota, the prado is up to the job of towing a good, small sized caravan, and it’s not a vehicle that feels to big for me to drive. We decided on a New Age Caravan.

We didn’t want any weight issues, so rather than looking at the full range of New Age, we asked which models would suit our tow vehicle. The 16’ Manta Ray was recommended – 9’ less in length than our fifth wheeler. It was delivered mid 2018. So after three years, how are we finding it……

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The first thing we found out is that some caravan manufacturers take their measurements internally for the van length, and others measure the external length. The Travelhome was an external 25’ length, the New Age 16’ was an internal measurement. Our 16’ new van is in actual fact 18’ by comparison, which is only 7’ shorter. 7’ is quite a lot – right! Well, no, there’s a lot more to consider than just the length. The fifth wheeler sits in the tray of the tow ute, so there’s no storage in the tray for other things. Additionally, our fifth wheeler was shaped so as the bed was directly on the floor of the nose, and that’s the part that attaches into the tow vehicle tray, so as well as no storage in the back of the ute, there’s none of the under bed storage that traditional caravans have either. Anyone with a normal caravan will tell you how vital the under-bed storage is. Extra bedding and clothes for the colder seasons, cookware that’s only used occasionally, boxes of wine and booze, and all sorts of other things. These were all things we had to find space for in the fifth wheeler, and that wasn’t easy.

Our fifth wheeler had a dedicated pantry which we thought we’d miss. We don’t. The overhead cupboards in our caravan are more than adequate for our food storage. We thought we’d miss the two door fridge, we don’t miss that either. The fridge in our Manta Ray is more than adequate. We used an Engel for our drinks fridge previously, and we still use our Engel as our drinks fridge. Only difference is, our Engel can now travel in the rear of the Prado, it used to have to travel inside the fifth wheeler which was always cumbersome when staying at an over nighter.

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Comparing the two, I think there is really only two main things we do miss, and that’s the fuel economy, and the glossy white interior. The Travelhome towed by the Hi-lux was very aerodynamic by design, and used 13 litres of diesel per 100 kms. The Prado towing the Manta Ray uses 17 litres per 100. On a return trip to Broome that equates to approximately 200 litres of extra fuel. We loved the glossy white interior of our Fifth wheeler. It was easy to clean, and always looked bright, and modern. So we ordered a white interior for our new van, unfortunately though, we didn’t specify glossy white, and Matt white by comparison looks rather dull and flat. Never mind, We’ll live with that.

The additional storage room in a caravan the same size as a fifth wheeler must be phenomenal. I think we have more storage in our van that’s 7’ shorter, and that makes van life a whole lot easier. Of course the big American rigs with their huge boxy front and multiple slide outs are no doubt completely different too, but I’ve never had first hand experience with them to compare.

There are two things I repeatedly hear from caravanner’s. The first is that the bed is hard to make, and the second is that the seating isn’t comfortable. Both of our rigs haven’t proved to be any exception to this. The queen island bed in our Manta Ray is marginally easier to make than making the bed in the fifth wheeler, but the seating is considerably more uncomfortable than the seating in the fifth wheeler. We had a big cream leather club lounge before, it looked gorgeous, but it still wasn’t particularly comfortable. Now we have a small cafe setting. The seats are overstuffed, and too close to the table. The table is over the wheel arch, so although the seats are big enough for two people on either side of the table, there’s only enough leg space for one. Realistically only two people can sit at the table, and that’s with knees almost touching.

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If we were choosing again, I’d still buy the 16’ Manta Ray. It’s a very good van, and is big enough for the two of us. I would specify glossy white for the interior, and I think I’d choose single beds. I think the singles would be easier to make, and as caravan mattresses don’t tend to be made with pocket springs, I think we’d probably get a better nights sleep on our own single mattress without feeling each other’s movements throughout the night, as we do now sleeping on the normal queen innerspring mattress. Plus, single beds give a much better feeling of space in the van. The salesman we bought the van from did actually recommend single beds for smaller vans. We didn’t listen!

The two main choices for the seating in small vans seems to be either cafe style, or L-shaped. I think the L-shape would have been a better choice.

We’re happy with the bathroom. The washbasin and bathroom storage is adequate, and the shower a good size. We’ve removed the shower door though and replaced it with a shower curtain. It just works better, plus the door weighs 20 Kgs. That’s a good weight saving. The wall mounted front loader washing machine is ok. It tends to cause quite a lot of vibration, and it won’t take anything as heavy as jeans. However, I can wash two towels at once, or one queen sized sheet. We’ve found the bed easier to make by using two single doonas instead of a queen, so the machine will take one single doona cover at a time. That’s a lot of money saved by not using the parks washing machines.

So that’s the inside of the van. The outside of both vans is much the same. We did have an annex for the fifth wheeler, although we rarely used it. We use privacy shades on our roll out awning now, and they’re great. As well as privacy they also provide shade. Our ground sheet though is getting old, and is to small. When we get home after this trip we’re going to replace it with one that’s considerably bigger. The shade screens can be extended to create a much bigger roof space over our outdoor area, but we find the area we actually use, regardless of roof space, is governed by the size of our caravan ground sheet. We’ll let you know how that works out.

So, have we regretted switching our 25’ foot travel home for the 16’ Manta Ray. Surprisingly, no, not even a little bit, and that’s mainly because storage is so important when you’re on the road, and storage space was something badly lacking in the fifth wheeler. We’re still living the Life of Riley in our little Manta Ray. It’s always a pleasure to get away.

17 August, day 13 of our sun, and wildflower trip

Three months of each year, during the dry, winter months, the full moon rises over the mudflats on Roebuck bay creating a natural, spectacular phenomenon aptly called, ‘staircase to the moon’. I’ll show you some photos of that when it occurs later this month. Today there were two children enjoying play on the mud flats created by the low tide.

With the town heaving with tourists during the season in which the Staircase to the moon happens, thousands gather and try to get the best vantage point to watch the full moon rising. In past years there was just no-where to sit. The shire has now landscaped the whole area, creating lawned terraces in the upper levels, and rocked terraces leading down to beach area. Empty now, but when the full moon is on the rise over the mudflats next week, these terraces and rocks will be fully utilised as seats to watch the spectacle.

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More thoughtfully, created rock seats amidst the beautifully landscaped gardens, as well as barbecue shelters with tables, have created great places for a quiet rest, or family picnics at any time. I should imagine one will need to be an early bird though to secure a barbecue shelter and table on staircase nights.

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The kiddies haven’t been forgotten. There are several playgrounds dotted around the large area. There’s mini trampolines set at ground level, slides, swings, climbing frames, and a wooden boat to climb over. The eggs had me intrigued, I’m sure the littlies know what they’re for. There’s even a basketball court.

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The jetty is currently cordoned off as work is being done to extend it. Once completed it’ll make a fantastic place for fishing. The photo below also provides a good view of the size of the tides. Currently, close to low tide it’s a fair trek to reach the water. At high tide the water line will cover the rocks at the shore line, and will be deep around the jetty pylons,

They’ve done a fantastic job with the area. I can’t wait to get there next week to find a great spot to see the Staircase to the Moon. Sometimes the bats are flying as the moon rises, and will fly in front of the moon. We’ve tried many times to capture a shot of one, but so far haven’t had any success. Maybe this will be the year….

16 August, day 12 of our chasing sun and wildflowers trip

We drove over to Town Beach on Roebuck Bay this morning and while there had a walk around the tiny pioneer cemetery. There are only a scattering of graves, but wandering amongst the aged headstones did wonders for my imagination.

In the early 1900s Broome was a thriving town built around the pearling industry. We talk about multiculturalism in Australia today, but Broome in her heyday was a real melting pot of multiculturalism long before the word even came into existence. Sea faring captains left their high sea commissions and bought up pearl lugging fleets in Broome – there was money to be made in the pearl industry. Most of the money came from pearl shells for the manufacture of, amongst other things, buttons. Any pearls found in the shells was a coveted bonus. Chinese, Malays, Japanese, Dutch, and goodness knows how many other ethnic groups journeyed here to get their share, plying whatever supporting industry they could offer to the booming town. The less savoury part of the early history was the practice of ‘black birding’, the capturing of aboriginal folk to use as slaves on the pearling luggers. Yes, Australia has done a lot worse by our native land owners than stealing a generation….. and the practice of black birding was long after the abolition of slavery in the southern states of America.

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I wonder what the love story of Alfred and Ruby Morgan was. There’s no mention of children, I wonder if they died childless. Ruby was 18 years younger than Alfred, did he treat her with kindness.

This headstone had me intrigued. What did Phyllis Everett McDaniel do that warranted, “a valiant woman” to be engraved on her headstone. I’m sure there’s an historical/fiction story that could be inspired by such an inscription. I briefly looked to see what facts I could find:

Phyllis was married to Master Pearler, Daniel McDaniels. They moved to Broome in the early 1900s, so I’m guessing Phyllis must have been a teenage bride. How hard must that have been – I’m presuming she would have left her family and friends behind to move to Broome. Without the comforts we have today, would she have felt lonely and found Broome to be ‘a God forsaken place’, or would she have been welcomed into to bosom of Broome society and would she have fallen in love with this unique and wonderful land. Did Daniel cherish his teenage bride, did she love him in return? I’m gathering she must have at least called Broome home by the time she was widowed in 1955 as she continued to live here for a further 24 years. Passing away at the grand old age of 90, I wonder what went on in her long life to warrant the inscription of “a valiant woman”. I can’t think of anything grander than that for a tombstone epitaph, can you!

15 August, day 11 of our sun and wildflowers trip

As we spend a lot of time on the beach, a comfortable beach chair is a must. Our old chairs gave up last season in Broome, so Paul did some on line research, and bought us two new ones for Christmas. He thought these, Tommy Bahama chairs looked pretty good. When they arrived they exceeded expectations by a country mile.

The frame is Aluminium, so extremely lightweight. Folded down they’re very easy to put on our backs, and being so light, we hardly know they’re there.

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If we’re driving to a spot on the beach this isn’t so important, but if we want to swim near the life guards on Cable Beach, we have a bit of a trek from the car park to the area on the beach where dogs are allowed. Lightweight, and easy to carry is a must.

They have lots of pouches, two on the back that hold towels, books, drink bottles and more, and two hanging from the arm for phones, glasses or whatever.

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They unfold (and fold up easily), and once unfolded, they can be adjusted to various positions from sitting upright to completely laid back.

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The bar on the back serves as a towel, sarong holder, or a support leg if we decide we want to lay our chairs flat.

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The biggest problem when going to the beach is lugging enough stuff there so as you can be comfortable and shaded. With our towels, phones, books, and drink bottles stowed in the chair, and the chair easily carried on our backs, we have our hands free. I take charge of Mr Tilly, who must remain on a leash until we get to the dog area of the beach, and paul carries our beach umbrella. We get quite a few envious comments, and I understand why. As far as beach chairs go, they’re the best we’ve seen, and so easy! Thank you Paul, a wonderful Christmas present that hopefully will keep on providing comfort for many years to come.

13 & 14 August

The population of Broome is somewhere around 16,000 people. Currently there are around 87,000 people up here, and during the recent school holidays that number was around 95,000. As you can imagine the internet isn’t equipped to cope with such an expansion. Doing anything at all on the internet hasn’t been easy, writing a blog post very difficult, and uploading photos, virtually impossible. Never mind, the Broome Racing cup is on today. The week following the cup usually sees a mass exodus. I think there’ll likely be a few more people here in the coming weeks than usual, but hopefully enough people will leave to allow reasonable internet access again.

The shire is trialling the use of temporary self contained accommodation in one of the beach car parks. Self contained is supposed to include an on board toilet and shower, and contained waste (an onboard grey water tank for used water).

I doubt the above vehicle is compliant with the rules, and there are many more just like this in the car park overnight. I’m told the shire is turning a blind eye, as with accommodation fully utilised in the town there is absolutely no accommodation available for transient workers. The workers have to stay somewhere, and the town needs all the transient workers it can get. There aren’t enough in town. Restaurants are booked up a week or more in advance, and a 40 minute wait for coffee isn’t unusual. Some small operators are apparently offering up some form of accommodation with a job, and many townsfolk are letting out a room in their homes.

Since Covid has started this is a story often told throughout Western Australia. I don’t know if it’s the same on the East Coast. With no-one able to go on overseas holidays or cruises, everyone is holidaying on home soil. Leases in permanent rental houses are often not being renewed because the landlords can quadruple their rents when leasing their houses as short term holiday accommodation. The short term holiday accommodation is expensive, too expensive for transient workers, and is booked months in advance.

For us on a personal basis, our holiday life is much the same though as usual. We don’t often eat out, nor do we often go out for coffee. Our holiday pleasures are predominantly simple. We’re happy spending time either walking on the beach, or cooling off in the ocean, and then sitting in our beach chairs with a book under the shade of our beach umbrella. Next week when some of the tourists have gone home, we’ll venture further afield to see what changes the town has undergone in the year since we were last here, and we’ll break up our home cooking with a restaurant or two. In the meantime we’re happy to sit back and leave any restaurant tables for those who rely on them more than we have too.

One thing we’ll often treat ourselves to is an ice cream from the beach kiosk, but we learnt last year that’s a treat we can’t rely on like we’d been used to in pre-Covid days. Last year we waited over 1/2 an hour to buy an ice cream. We’ve taken care of that this year by including a box of Ice cream splices with our shopping, Tills eagerly, and patiently watches us when we remove one from our caravan fridge. I’m sure most dogs would gulp it down in a few seconds flat, but not Mr Tilly. He enjoys and savours every morsel of the little bit we save for him, licking around the stick as we turn it for him.

He’s like that with all his food. We can put his favourite food, roast chicken, in a bowl for him. He’ll go and sniff it, then walk away and think about for a minute or two. Then he returns to the bowl and delicately eats it all up.

And that’s about all I dare write for today, and I think I’ve only been able to write this because the hoards are busying themselves at the races and giving the internet a bit of a break. The races will be over soon, so I’d better get this published while I’m able too. I’ll show you a bit around Broome in the next week or so hopefully, so watch this space…..

12 August

Dry windy conditions do nothing for ones skin and hair. Moisturising helps with the skin, but my hair, constantly blowing in my face and eyes, was driving me bonkers. A sign at a nearby caravan advertising hair cuts tempted me in. “What are we doing today?” asks Cheryl. “Something to get the hair off my face”, I answer. Half an hour later it’s off my face, it’s definitely off my face.

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We took the beach umbrella, beach chairs and boogie boards to the beach for a few hours in the afternoon. The waves were just perfect for granny’s or small children. Just powerful enough to push you to shore, but not powerful enough to dump you and roll you around like a washing machine agitator.

Then back to the caravan with just enough time to shower (and tossle my new do into some sort of mis-shape (can’t have it looking too neat), throw together the makings of dinner and we were off to meet friends for a barbecue. A pleasant night on a lovely, balmy, Broome evening. Tills is done in, up on the bed snoring. I think I’ll join him.

11 August

it was Ladies Day at the Broome Racing Carnival yesterday, and on Saturday the carnival will culminate with the Broome cup. This is traditionally the biggest week of the tourist season in Broome, and following the cup the tourists start leaving in their droves. With the town currently bursting at the seams like never before I’m sure the resident towns folk will breath a sigh of relief as they see the town begin to return to normality. It must be frustrating for them to walk around their supermarket with shelves stripped bare by tourists, and then to have to queue for 20 mins at the checkout – yes it’s that busy.

The crowds haven’t bothered us as yet. We’re enjoying staying at the RAC caravan park, which is the closest park to Cable Beach. It’s a difficult park to get into, and has taken us several years to secure a booking. It means we can take Tills for his early morning beach walk without having to get in the car. This morning the tide was low, so we explored around the rock pools. I love the way the receding tide leaves forest like patterns in the sand.

There are a lot of dinosaur prints in the rocks around Broome. We took a Hoovercraft flight a few years ago and were shown quite a few. https://lifeofrileyow.com/2017/06/11/broomes-own-jurassic-park/ They’re quite distinctive once you know what you’re looking at. Apparently as the tide washes away layers from the rocks, more prints are often discovered. I think we found one this morning.

I finally managed to give the caravan a good clean. We left home in a bit of a hurry so the caravan hasn’t been as well organised as usual. I think I have it sorted now! I don’t know about you, but I struggle to be able to relax if my environment is cluttered and messy. After the van was spic and span, Tills was next. Paul shampooed him in the shower. I towel dried him, then clipped his nails. He decided his reward for being obliging should be a walk. He picked up his lead and shook it in front of me – that was a first. It was just too cute to ignore, so we grabbed our towels and walked him over to the beach for a swim and some relaxation on the sand.

Apart from that the day was uneventful. The trip up here is long and tiring, but it only takes a couple of days of being here to feel the stresses from the trip melting away. I didn’t think we were going to make it this year. I’m so glad we did. As always, being in Broome – what a pleasure!

10 August

Paul usually walks Tills first thing in the morning while I slowly ease into the day. I don’t know what came over me today, a bit of a mad moment perhaps. I awoke just before 6am, Paul was still sleeping, so I thought, ‘what the heck.’ I dressed as quietly as I could, and was heading out the caravan door with Tills just as Paul awoke with a look of surprise. I told him which way we were going and before I’d reached the caravan park gate he had joined us.

A short walk and we were on the beach with one happy little dog. I’m reminded that our frequent holidays in Broome, together with our daily walks on Busselton beaches provided the inspiration for acquiring a dog. These two places are doggie heaven and it just didn’t seem right to be walking in doggie heaven without a dog.

I’ve had in mind to find some pink abstract pictures for our bedroom walls. Today’s sunrise reflected in the wet sands had me thinking…..

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I’m sure enough pink sunrises here and I’ll be able to play around with the photos to create my own group of pink abstracts.

A quiet day with a bit of business to attend do, and a good chance to change and wash the bed linen. Then cooking and packing up dinner to take to the beach with friends at sunset. Tonight’s dinner is a honey soy cooked chook, with jasmine rice, and a side of pickled vegetables. I love how pickled vegetables can elevate an otherwise bland meal.

We headed away from the main beaches to the quieter and very picturesque, Reddell Beach. It’s located down a rough dirt track, so that keeps the hoards away. Our two favourite beaches for photo opportunities are Reddell Beach, and then Entrance Point.

And of course we had to have our obligatory ‘cable beach sunset’ cocktails before dinner. This has become a bit of an institution for us and our friends, and I’m sure Brian and Kaye would feel very neglected if we failed in our bar tending duties. It’s our take on a Tequilla sunrise, but usually we make it with vodka. Tonight though I had Tequilla, but as we’re in Broome it’ll still be called, ‘Cable Beach Sunset’.

I mentioned the beach was less accessible than the popular cable beach. That definitely proved to be the case. The rough track to get there was fine, but I’d forgotten about the trek from the car park to the beach. Fine if you’re just going there for a walk and to admire the sunset, but lugging chairs, dinner and cocktails. – note to oneself, ‘not a good idea’.

Dinner and company was good, but there was a cool breeze blowing. We loaded up and lugged everything back to the car not long after the sun dropped over the horizon and back to the caravan park for ice creams, and a cuppa.

9 August

A short days driving for our final day of the trip up to Broome, and thank goodness for that. Paul is looking weary, and Mr Tilly has us wondering if we’re not guilty of cruelty to animals. We appease our guilty conscience by knowing that if he understood that if it was a choice between long travel days with us, or staying at home with someone other than us, we know without a doubt which he’d choose. As far as he is concerned, the pack must always stay together!

There was no point in leaving early as book in time is usually around mid day, so we had a leisurely start to the day. I even gave the van a bit of a clean.

A few ant hills appear to break the otherwise monotony of the flat scenery.

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Other than that, I’d like to say it was uneventful trip, and as far as the trip was, that much is true. However a phone call from a very dear friend as we neared Broome provided us with his medical update – bad news. It seems his lung cancer has spread, and a mass has been found in his brain. He and his wife are both in good spirits and hoping for the best. Tests won’t be completed for a few days yet, so more will be known later in the week. It sounds like the only good news we can hope to hear though is a prognosis that gives more than a few months. Very upsetting news!

We arrived before our site was ready. Our good friends Brian and Kaye, already up here came to the rescue with ham sandwiches and cup of tea. Mr Tilly was thrilled. He loves Brian and Kaye. Their caravan (new to them) has a door that separates into two, apparently called a doggie door. You can see why. It looks like he’s ready to take our lunch order.

Once set up, we did most of the washing from the trip, then had a refreshing dip in the pool. Afternoon coffee with friends, and it was time to take Tills to the beach for his much promised walk. This time we drove up to Gantheume Point. Broome is currently heaving with people, so there were literally hundreds of cars park on the sand. We parked up, and walked for half an hour up the beach again, then back again, wondering all the time if we’d manage to find our car when we returned.

We had only gone to there to give Tills a decent run. Most people were there with beach chairs, drinks a nibbles – cause that’s what ya do in Broome! That’s what Broome’s all about, driving up the beach to swim, or fish, or walk, or sit and read a book, but mostly driving onto the beach to see the sun sink over the horizon at the days end.

Any beach is Mr Tilly’s happy place. He’s talking to us again. And so ends our first day in Broome for 2021, as always it’s a pleasure to be here.