I had an early start as Bluey was booked with Simone for grooming at 7.30am. Simone normally has her first appointment at 8am but started early to make sure Bluey could get to the vet in time for teeth cleaning.
I left a trembling dog in the arms of the lovely Simone and drove back to our camp site. The Town Beach Cafe is only 200m from our van so that was an easy option for coffees. Bluey was finished just after 8.30am so I collected this happy, clean, beautifully clipped pooch. I asked how long it took for Blue to stop trembling, and Simone said it was as soon as I had left!
Five minutes later said pooch was handed over to a vet nurse at the Broome Vet Hospital. We spent our dog-free hours doing washing, cleaning the van, washing the Toyota windscreen, sweeping out some of the sand and dust from the floormats, and topping up water tanks. We then walked back to the now busy cafe for second coffees with toast and marmalade.
As we walked back to our van past the black poodle in the motorhome, he recognised us and barked. When he realised Blue was not with us he lost interest. Our next chore was shopping at Woolies, which is where we saw this German Shepherd guarding the three wheeler.
Lunch at the Mangrove Hotel was passable, but would have been nicer if the staff had tried a bit harder to find our table with our service number prominently displayed. Tomorrow night Deborah Cheetham is performing at the 30th anniversary of Opera Under the Stars. Tickets are available but we decided to stick to our plan and leave Broome tomorrow.
We have to leave the air conditioning on in the van for Tilly, because she is at risk of accidentally falling out of open windows. If she spots a bird outside a window she might lunge at it and dislodge the flyscreen. We remotely monitor the temperature in the van using a camera that allows the thermometer to be read. I can talk to her through the camera!
Bluey was ready to be picked up at 4pm but he was still dopey. He was very hungry not having eaten for nearly 24 hours.
While I was lubricating towing equipment Tilly had outdoor time. Our site is on a thoroughfare so several adults and children stopped and patted her. One of the children travels with a rabbit. Her family will return to Queensland after trying to make WA home. Said rabbit will be left with relatives in Victoria because of laws in Queensland banning pet rabbits.
We could hear music coming from the Town Beach so I went for a walk to see what was going on. The jetty had been turned into a long dining area, with musicians playing at the ocean end of the jetty. This was a ticketed event part of an annual Shinju Matsuri festival celebrating the history and culture of Broome. Pedestrian access was still allowed on one side of the jetty. The singer reminded me of Cleo Laine with her jazz/blues music. We could hear the music 400m across the water. Fortunately the strong winds have disappeared.
Committed Travellers 