Day 2

My day started really early when I woke up, petrified that I’d missed my alarm clock. I hadn’t though, but 4,30 was close enough to my five waking time to make me not go back to sleep.

At 5 I went down and cleaned my truck, inside and out. It was covered in red pindan dust from the day before and I felt bad about being at a swish resort looking like a poor relation. I wore yesterday’s clothes so that the dirt went onto already dirty clothes (as an aside, the night before one of my passengers had very unflatteringly failed to recognize me at the bar when I was clean and brushed and polished) and I got filthy. I decided to move the truck because I was really tired of walking miles around the bloody resort to the back car park every time I needed to get something from the truck. Unfortunately, I neglected to inform Superior Tour Leader Wayne of that fact and he had a minor breakdown, thinking that somebody had stolen the truck, when in fact I was just parking it in front of the resort.

Speaking of the resort, there is a camera which is just in front of it, called “Broome Web Cam” or something like that and it broadcasts in real time. I am very tempted to publish a time and go and cavort in front of it. After a couple of cocktails at the sunset bar.

Off to Derby and the giant old Boab tree. This was used to house Aboriginal prisoners years ago, on their way to the lock up in Derby. It’s hollow and the white police officers used to lock them inside for the night, setting a guard at the entrance.

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Lunch at Derby, a visit to the art community at Mowanjum and then onto Imaji Wilderness Camp. We drove over the Leonard River,

Past Queen Vicky’s Head

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And through the King Leopold Ranges.

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We? I. I drove all day and it was exhausting over dirt roads but exhilarating at the same time. I am very tired now, though, hence the stilted writing. When we got to camp some of the female passengers went to have a swim in the swimming hole and were appalled to discover a freshwater crocodile launching itself into the water at exactly the same time as them. Well, some of them were appalled; others thought it was great and some even went swimming, with my gentle encouragement: after all, it’s not every day that you get a genuine wildlife experience and actually get to swim with a crocodile.