Second update from Oz

Once in Broome we decide to take a few days rest. We reckon we deserve (need) that after riding the Gibb road. And Broome is a great place to hang out.
We soon agree we shall go Whale watching, they're passing by on their way South, a great opportunity. A bus picks us up at noon en takes us to the beach. Actually, onto the beach (!) and stops next to a speedboat, on three wheels! Once passengers have boarded, it rides into the water until it's deep enough for the outboard motor to take over. Then the wheels are pulled up and off we go to the big whale watching boat. It takes the little boat 3 turns till all passengers are on board the big boat and then we take off at a speed of about 55 Km/h towards the whales.
Soon the skipper spots a sea snake, which disappears underwater quickly. A few minutes later we spot a big sea turtle. The turtle, which is about 80 cm across, stays afloat long enough for all of us to admire him. On we go, we want to see whales, but oops, dolphins! Three of them swim happily through the waters. And soon after we see another sea snake which does not hide immediately. Very impressive, this snake, and very poisonous, so we're told. After you've been bitten, you have three minutes to regret the fact that you came too close. Then it's all over. Luckily the snake has a very little mouth, and the fangs are in the back of the mouth, so it will have to catch your finger or earlobe or something. Good thing to remember if we go diving, we'll cover all little bodyparts...
And then, there she blows! A whale is spotted at the horizon. We slowly approach it and then it swam right underneath the boat! It is massive! Unfortunately it is not very playful at the moment so the crew decides to have a look elsewhere. Then we find a group with two babies, one not older than one week, but already estimated to weigh 400 Kg. Mother and child are nosy and swim next to the boat. Fantastic moment. That's also the end of the trip. The crew says it wasn't a very good day, but we're very happy and had a great afternoon on the beautiful ocean.
In the meantime a local saddler fixed Miek's saddlebags well and good. He picked them up in the morning and dropped them off at the hotel while we were at sea. Great service and job well done.
We head for the Internet café to finish the last posted blog en upload some pictures. This keeps us busy so long, when we're finished and want to go for dinner, all kitchens are closed so we end up eating a burger at MacDonalds...
The next morning we make up for the missed proper dinner with a good breakfast in town and after explore downtown Broome. We come across the old pearler's jetty, about 50 m long. We spend quite some time there watching the tide come in, along with blowfish and octopuses. An Aboriginal family comes out to fish. Mum does the actual fishing, Dad gathers the catches while the three little kids sit at the end of the jetty and teach us all about the fish we see. Such a great morning.
We go back to the hotel to sort our stuff. We've washed everything, even the bags, so everything has to be packed again. In the afternoon we lavish ourselves on oysters, Broome's specialty. We taste four different dishes, and can not say which is the best.
And in the night we go to the pictures! Now this can be done everywhere in the world but Broome has something very special: Sun Theater. It first opened in 1916 and hasn't changed much, since.
You sit in deck chairs, one half of the theater has a roof, the rest is open. So you have stars both over your head and on the screen. There was also a lizard on the screen which at one point sat right on Johnny Depp's nose ( we watched Public Enemies).
Anyway, we thought it fitting to sit in a cinema which once screened the London – Melbourne race and the Uiver landings.


Day 8, Broome to Roebourne: It's two for one day today.


Today we want to ride to the Sandfire Roadhouse. So we make an early start and arrive there at 11:00 AM, a bit early to call it a day. After a short powwow we decide to keep going and postpone the decision as where we will sleep until lunch. An hour and a half later we are having lunch in the Pardoo Roadhouse. The food isn't very good, but the girl behind the counter is doing her utmost to be friendly and polite. We can tell she isn't used to it...
During lunch we discuss our options and we think it's a good idea to combine two days of riding into one. We will push on to the Whim Creek Hotel. Because of the distance involved we think it is a good idea to call ahead. The line is busy so we decide to ride to Port Hedland, a mandatory fuel stop and call from there.
We've been on the road for about 500 Km now and various body parts (legs, necks and bottoms) are voicing their protests. Port Hedland is a local industrial center and not a very nice place to be. We gas up and try the hotel again, still we get a busy signal. A quick conference is called and Annemiek suggests we take the risk and ride on.
The landscape is predominately flat and monotonous. But, if you look closely you'll see that most of the grasses, bushes and trees are in bloom. The effect is very subtle, but the entire roadside is a carpet of colors, ranging from white via greens to violet. Very pretty.
Nine hours after we left Broome, we pull up in front of the Whim Creek Hotel. It's late afternoon and the sun is already on its way down. Small problem: the hotel is no (longer) a hotel but just a pub. As camping is also not allowed here, we have no choice put to push on to Roebourne, 85 Km down the road.
Now the race is on. As we have agreed back in Holland we will not ride in the dark, we try to beat the sunset. Just as the sun hits the horizon, we pull into the Roebourne campsite, 813 Km from Broome. We don't even bother with our gear, leaving it mostly on the bikes. Only the bag containing the tent is liberated and the tent stands inside a minute. After a quick snack we hit the sack and fall into deep sleeps in no time.


Day 9, Roebourne to Exmouth: Two days in one again.


After a good night sleep the world looks a lot better now. Because we made such excellent progress yesterday we decide to push on to Exmouth today. That way we will be two days ahead of our schedule again, days we can spend very well in Denham. It's only 590 Km, which is not all that much, compared to yesterday...
The view remains monotonous, flat, yet very impressive. The flowering roadside, the big skies, we are not getting used to it, yet. After a few hours we meet a couple of emu's. It's again a special moment, meeting these “Zoo-animals” along the road. Other than these big birds we see goats, big cattle and a snake. After a 7 hour day we ride into Exmouth on our reserve fuel.
We are staying in the Pot shot Resort Hotel. Our accommodation isn't as grand as the name suggests but the room is comfortable, clean and affordable. The restaurant offers very good food and the dive operator has an office on the premises. We think we'll be fine the next few days!