Day 353 – Broome, WA (1 Sept)

Wow woke during the night as it was really cold.  We turned on the heater.  Scary thing was it had gotten down to 17 degrees!  We must be acclimatising.  We travelled 145kms west from Fitzroy Crossing to Roebuck Plains Roadhouse where we stayed for the night.  The roadhouse is 33kms out of Broome.   As much as we didn’t want to (because caravan parks won’t have us because we have a dog bigger than a cat) we had to go into to Broome to buy groceries as there are no stores now until we get to Port Hedland 725kms away and a good week and a half away.  We did though want to catch up with the Douglass’, Carl, Alison, Emma and Troy.  They are staying at the Cable Beach caravan park.  Because we had Coco we caught up with them on Cable Beach watching the sunset, it really is a fantastic spot.  The beach was closed for swimming due to the sighting of a crocodile.  There were a couple of surf live saving boats out there following it.  After the sunset we grabbed some takeaway at one of the cafes overlooking Cable Beach.  Calamari and salad very nice and the night was pleasantly warm. Enjoyed catching up with the Douglass family.  Carl and Troy and going to spend a night with us at our next stop which will be good. Woollies is open until 9pm each night so we did our shopping and headed back 33kms to the roadhouse.  Surprisingly the roadhouse wasn’t too noisy with traffic. The roadhouse closes at 10pm so after this time the trucks aren’t able to come in for diesel - so peace.  We heard the odd road train roaring past during the night but we did have the a/c fan on to help drown out the noise.  We did get woken at 3.50am by a magpie (or some similar noisy bird) that was perched on the tree above our van who cawwed until 5.30am when the sun came up.  That did keep us awake.  For a roadhouse park it wasn’t too bad at all the amenities were modern and spotlessly clean.  So because Broome wouldn’t accommodate us we had to do 132 extra kms!

Jabiru

John was so infuriated by the attitude and unhelpfulness of the Broome Caravan Parks and the Shire that he has written a brief letter which you can read below. He plans to send it to as many people, travel associations, Government ministers and anyone who will read it as it seems Broome lives with an attitude of complacency - that being “because we are so popular we don’t need to care or worry about the tourist industry!” feel free to pass the letter on if you like:
Warning! Broome WA CLOSED! Quarantine Alert!
Tourists thinking of visiting the Western Australian town of Broome should STOP and re-think especially if you have a pet because the town does not want you, your money and especially your pet!
I’m sending this to people I have met while travelling, family, friends, all travel related Associations those I’m a member of and others, Shires, Ministers of Government, State and Federal, individual caravan parks, in fact just about anybody who may one day travel around Australia.
Here is our story, in brief. My wife and I and our RSPCA rescue dog, a kelpie cross, have been travelling around Australia for the last 12 months staying in many caravan parks across this great country. We planned on including Broome but were warned by several other tourists that Broomes’ caravan parks were animal phobic and actively discouraged anyone with a pet. Despite the heads up we decided to make our own enquiries well in advance of our expected arrival date, mid August 2010.
Via email we were unceremoniously informed by the Broome visitor centre that during June, July and August there were NO caravan parks which would accept pets (we assume this is because they are so busy with visitors without pets that they don’t need to cater for them!) however there were three overflow facilities during that period and as of 1^st Sept the Tarangau Caravan Park would then take pets (no doubt to subsidise the falling numbers as the season is drawing to a close, your money is good enough then!).
Unfortunately these “overflow” facilities (temporary sites) are closed at the discretion of the Shire. When we phoned these facilities we were told that they either only had tent sites, were already closed or due to close imminently. Additionally the facilities were of a temporary nature and the maximum period of stay was restricted to seven days. (Tough luck if you wanted to stay longer, enjoy full facilities or spend more money in the town!)
I also contacted the Shire and whilst there response was at least polite, basically they added no help to the situation. So reluctantly we decided to delay our arrival by staying longer in the Kununurra area, planning to then stay at the only Broome park that allowed pets after 1^st Sept.
So today, 26^th Aug, we phoned the Tarangau Caravan Park and were told that our Kelpie cross dog (22Kg’s) was too big that they only want ‘small caravan’ dogs! and so we come full circle once again, that being if you are travelling with a pet bigger than a cat, Broome has the gates firmly shut! They DO NOT want you or your business. Oh, by the way, if you were planning a stop over at Eighty Mile Beach on your way to or from Broome, forget it! as they have the same Broome mentality!
I have re written this several times as my initial response was very emotional! So I hope this give the facts in a cool and calm manner. If you feel this situation is unfair and discriminatory and needs to have attention drawn to it, as we do, please then feel free to pass this on to as many people as you know and maybe one day Broome will wake up before its reputation is tarnished permanently!