So after Port Hedland we had three nights in Broome. We arrived here in an evening and as soon as we'd dropped our bags in our room (which was far nicer than Port Hedland and $110 cheaper too!) we walked down to the local pub for some dinner as we were starving.

The next day we explored Broome in the sunshine. We jumped on a shuttle bus into town, as we were staying at Cable Beach, and had a look around. Unfortunately though, we hadn't thought about the fact that it was Sunday (no times and dates matter when you're travelling, apart when you've got to get a bus or a flight somewhere!) and pretty much everything was closed, so we went again the next day. It's a funny little town Broome, larger that alot of the mining town's we'd been too but big enough for a Mcdonalds. The rest of the town is made up of small shops, cafes and market stalls. There are lots of galleries and pearl shops, as this is where lots of pearls are found and it is also the home of the oldest outdoor cinema.

The highlight of our short time in Broome had to be Cable Beach - this was the Indian Ocean at it's best!! If only it hadn't have been stinger season and we'd have probably gone for a swim for hours! Instead we walked along, enjoying the views and the lovely white sands. Cable Beach is 22km in total, so we only walked a bit of it, but what we saw was stunning! We also had a walk along it one evening to see the sunset which was even more unbelievable. There were quite a few people doing the same, but the beach is so huge you didn't even really know anyone else was there, just a few people sitting on the shore meditating and some others sharing bottles of wine near the dunes - very romantic!

It was so hot in Broome that I have to admit we did spend quite alot of our time there in the pub, but not particularly for the beer, more the air-con and the TV'S for the sport - we watched football highlights (not sure there were many highlights in Arsenals game against Middlesborough though!) and the Grand Prix - fantastic for Lewis Hamilton, just a shame we were so close but so far from actually being there - bloody hell this country is big!

The third night we were woken up by the most amazing tropical storm. Huge sheets of lightening lit up the whole sky and rumbles of thunder louder than we'd ever heard, which was all topped off with the most torrential rain, which sounded almost scarey in itself on the tin roof above our heads! Unlike some tropical storms we've experienced in the past this one went on for ages and it was still raining midday the following day, so our last 12 hours here was spent hanging around the hostel, writing the blog and emails etc as we'd checked out at 9am. We did venture out to get some food with rain macs and a brolly in tow and the ground was steaming from the rain, but it seemed to cool the air for a short while.

Overall we liked Broome and would again recommend a trip there if you're over this way. There's loads of fantastic hotels and apartments at Cable Beach to choose from.

Hope all's good with you all and I'll write the last three Australia blogs in the next week, as we leave for China on the 2nd April! Can't believe we're half way through the trip already!!