We are finally back to reality after our nice vacation in Broome last week. We had some really good truly Australian experiences.

When telling people where we were going, we learned that not a lot of Australians go there because they consider it too far and expensive to go within Australia. Most go to Bali and Fiji if they are going to travel “that far”. It was only a 4 hour flight, but it did have a 3 hour time change. We’ve found ourselves telling Australians what they can actually do in Broome!

First off, we got exactly what we wanted which was warmth. When we landed, it was in the high 90s at 10am. We were still dressed in cold weather clothing and haven’t been in heat in over a year, so the kids didn’t quite understand what was going on. Until we could get our luggage into our room, the kids were sweating so badly that I just took some of their clothes off to cool down. Greyson was running around in his rolled up jeans without a shirt, and Isla in a shirt only.

But after a long day of travel and the time change, we settled in early with room service, but Isla wondered when we would have birthday cake. As if we hadn’t been celebrating for days, we got her some cake….

Most days were spent on the beach and in the pool. It was perfect weather (but extremely hot – 95-100F) each day with hardly a cloud in the sky. The ocean was a bright turquoise color. As it was nearing the end of the dry season, there weren’t as many people on the beach so it felt like we had it all to ourselves. Brent and kids are the little dots in the first picture.

On Monday night, it was the night that we could watch the “Stairway to the Moon”. It’s when the full moon rises from the water and creates a reflection on the mud flats during low tide which looks like a stairway. It only happens once a month between April and October, so we were fortunate enough to be there for it. It was quite crowded on town beach for the event. I said to another couple that I’ve never had so much anticipation to see the moon rise. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the moon rise. I told Greyson it was going to look like a ball of fire, so he was then scared the entire time and hid behind Brent’s legs.

Another much anticipated event was to ride the camels, and to my surprise, the kids were so excited to ride them. I think it helped that we saw them walking to/from the beach each day, so the kids were used to how large they were. They took off running down the beach to get to them. I was not expecting them to be so high once on them, nor did I expect it to be such a roller coaster when they stood after we mounted. It was lovely that Brent was able to catch some of my “expressions”.

Isla kept asking if we could ride them longer, and here, we only chose the 30 minute ride because we thought they may become too antsy. It was nice to be at last one of the line so I could watch everyone else, but then one of the guides said that Jordan, our camel, was a bit rogue. He had run off one time and spent the night in the sand dunes. They had to get a helicopter to get him out and then once they got him, he ran off and took a swim in the ocean. I think that was years ago, so glad Jordan didn’t escape, but I guess that’s why he’s at the end of the line!

Most evenings, we went to the resort’s restaurant near the beach to watch the sunset. It was a win-win for everyone. The kids loved it because they played with the other kids, and we enjoyed a drink with a beautiful view (not begging the kids to stay in their seats through a meal!). Most of the time it was running and playing, but here was a little standoff we believe…

We also couldn’t miss out on heading to the Malcolm Douglas Wilderness Park which is primarily a crocodile farm for rescued crocs, but we got to see some other cool birds, lizards, kangaroos, etc. The best part was the 3pm feeding tour.  Greyson got to hold a baby crocodile. Fortunately he was unable to get the strap off of his mouth like he tried to do. He also squeezed it a bit too hard, so thankfully they appear tame from being handled. Isla and I were not into “petting” it. We watched the big crocs come out of the water and wait for their chicken carcasses. The snap of their mouth is no joke!

Click here to see the video!

This is Zooey, she is 4.3 meters long. That’s over 14 feet…

You know, just playing in the dirt with a kangaroo!

Feeding time….

Huge bats, yuck!

And last, but not least, we explored Gantheaume Point which is where there are fossilized dinosaur footprints. We arrived at low tide, but were unable to find them. Apparently they are very hard to spot because they essentially look like a pothole and aren’t marked for some reason. Brent explored the coastline, while I tried to keep the kids off the rocks and hurting themselves, then I had enough of the heat and said we were done with that adventure!

And after a long day of traveling back home, when Greyson saw our house, he started to cry and said he wanted to go to the “new house”. He meant the bungalow that we stayed in for vacation… I think we all felt the same way…