Tuesday 10th May -- Sydney to Broome

Monday night at Citidenes Airport hotel we had dinner in the hotel penthouse cafe with Roger, who is flying out to Alice Springs tomorrow to do some walking. Then we did a loop walk through Mascot and back to the hotel for an early night.

Left the hotel around ten to six am and walked through the rain to the Domestic Terminal. Major roadworks along the way, and flooded gutters on the roads that we had to detour around. We did automatic baggage labelling at the machine and went through security with no major problems. Once through I realised that the baggage labeller had only given us 'Perth' as an option, and when we consulted with the Virgin employee at the departure gate she told us we would have to pick it up in Perth and put it back through. 

I took a tablet and dozed through the first hour of so of the flight -- both were on Boeing 737s, with just six seats across the plane. Having paid extra, we were at the front and had plenty of legroom. The woman next to us had a 14-month old called Madden, who fortunately didn't live up to his name; he was very quie most of the time, with just a few minor squalls.

After coffee we watched Virgin Entertainment on our own mobile devices. It was impossible to hear anything, even with earbuds, so I watched The Suicide Squad and a few cartoons in silence. It was incredibly violent and extremely silly; the silliest part of all being Peter Capaldi walking around with old radio valves sticking out of his head.

At Perth we dashed to baggage retrieval and I waited for our bags while Glenda went off to prepare the way; luckily she was able to find an employee who was better informed, and told us our bags were booked through to Broome. So we dashed back to boarding and found everyone still standing around waiting.

Another smooth flight through relatively clear skies and we came down to a sunny 33 degrees in Broome. Lots of bushfire smoke around, here and in Perth, but nothing nearby. Broome is a big sprawling town on a broad peninsula, with a little tourist precinct along the coast and mangroves flanking the rest of it. We took the airport shuttle for $10 each to our accommodation; a fair-sized suite in the Moonlight Bay complex; slightly old style, but very comfortable, with fans, air-conditioning and a real bath.

After a shower and a rest we set off to explore the town, starting with an art gallery opposite the hotel and then Matso's Brewery just down the road. Here we used a voucher from the hotel to try two beers and a plate of salt-and-pepper squid. One was a mango beer, but quite drinkable; the other was a dark lager called Black Bishop, which was excellent. There was also live entertainment in the shape of a guitar player and singer, who played rather better than he sang.

Strolled around Broome afterwards, getting our bearings, then home for an early bed.