Where the wild things are

One of the perks of working at a hotel: going on "famil" tours, which are geared towards getting me "familiarized" with the tours I am selling/booking as part of my job. This particular day took me and a couple friends to the Malcom Douglas Wilderness Park about 16 kilometers from Broome.

Where I held a python named Olive:

And a baby crocodile:

Where we saw dozens of Australian crocodiles. The wilderness park actually breeds these lovely creatures.

We had the privilege of watching these crocs being fed... yum! At the park, they are fed every day, though in the wild, crocs don't need to eat every day. In fact, they often go weeks or months without food.

Then we moved on to some of the less threatening species:

For my bird-loving Mom: here's a kookaburra

A close up of the cassuary

Beautiful owl

Chloe & Susi talking to the birdies

A dingo, the ancient link between wolves and today's domestic dogs

One type of wallaby

Kangaroo and joey

To me, these were the coolest thing I saw in the park:

Flying foxes

They literally look like foxes with wings

I'd much rather be face-to-face with one of these guys than with the scary crocs! I guess they're all part of the Western Australian experience!

A day at the races

The horse races in Broome are the social highlight of the year: an excuse to dress up, enjoy a beverage or few, and, for some, gamble away a lot of money. The most popular races are towards the end of the season on Ladies Day and then the grand finale, the Broome Cup. For a small town like Broome, these two days are a big deal, even for those like me who are not into horse racing. If you live in Broome, you're expected to head over to the Turf Club for at least one of these events.

I recently had the chance to join the crowds for Ladies Day with some friends.  Here are some shots from the day:

In Broome terms, this is a crowd!

Placing our bets... Susi & Chloe put down $5 each... big spenders!

"Juveniles are not permitted to gamble."

The horses in action

Me and my lovely housemate Sara

Me and Chloe

With friends: Greg, Chloe, Susi, me, and Nick

A season in Broome

Being on Broome time has been fun, but even here in WA, time flies by! I can't believe it's already August and I have been here for over two months. The past several weeks have been filled with work, moving, friends, biking, and beach.

I spend a lot of time at work, sometimes up to 50 hours per week, which is why I haven't been updating my blog as much as I'd like. I have a bicycle that I use to get around town, including cycling to work, which is 6 kilometers away. My roommate has a scooter, and my other roommate's boyfriend has a car, so we make due with our various vehicles.

With a new (albeit temporary) life comes new challenges and new joys. I have been blessed with wonderful friends, a fantastic job, and a beautiful locale, but have also experienced various struggles the past couple months. It has given me encouragement to hear from friends and family back home, and to feel your support and love even from afar!

And now for some updates:

Our new place

I live with three lovely housemates in a duplex near Town Beach. This is about 6 kilometers from where we were living at Cable Beach Backpackers before. The house is fantastic because 1) we got a good deal on it, 2) it affords us our own space and privacy, and 3) I love my roomies! Currently there are two French Canadian girls and an English girl along with myself in the house.

Here are some pics:

The front (no, that's not our boat!... I wish!)

Kitchen

Living room

Our fabulous backyard terrace, where we spend most of our time

Full moon party
In Broome, the monthly full moon is quite an event, with parties and festivals.

The location of the full moon party is kept under wraps until a day or two before. It usually takes place on one of the beaches, includes a DJ set up, and goes on all night under the bright lunar sky.

The full moon surrounded by clouds:

The full moon party brought out some interesting characters:

Lolita and me next to the shroom... a classic decorative feature of the full moon party:

Staircase to the moon

The natural phenomenon of the Staircase to the Moon occurs when the full moon rises over the exposed mudflats of Roebuck Bay at extremely low tide creating the optical illusion of a staircase reaching for the moon. This is a unique occurence and a big draw here for visitors.

Friends

To celebrate our new house and say goodbye to our friends at the backpackers, we had an opposite gender theme party and dressed up as guys. I was a Tasmanian footy player as you can see from the pics. Some of our guy friends from the backpackers also played along and got dolled up in dresses. Yes, we actually went out in public like this.

Manu, Sara, me, and Sophie

Hanging out with Marvin & Sara at our neighborhood pub

The job

I've been working the past several weeks at a five-star resort at Cable Beach. I work the front desk and really enjoy interacting with travellers from all over the world who come to Broome for work and holiday. Here's a pic of the resort:

If you come visit me, I could get a deal for a room here. :-)

Whale watching
There are lots of humpback whales off the coast of Broome in the Indian Ocean. I recently went on a whale watching boat for the afternoon, and our group was entertained by a particularly showy whale who stayed with our boat for almost an hour.

Beach time
The beach is still my favorite part of this place...

Much love from down unda!
Mary