DAY 21 - TUESDAY - 10/05/16 ….Somewhat wasted day as far as looking around……Initially we had to wait for the tradie from Broome Gas & Plumbing to ring and advise he was on his way to install the glass in the oven. He was very good and helpful identifying and partially correcting a faulty knob for the gas hotplates. We need to contact Thetford re posting a replacement knob.
During our wait period, it was time for domestic duties. I organised 3 loads of washing and though we had grey clouds, the very stiff wind made for ideal drying conditions…..in fact I think the first load was dry before the second was hung out!
A number of phone calls to and from Elite, mainly by Tony has really shaken them up, resulting in a caravan repair specialist to attend today.
We head to the Town Centre to do car washing followed by some shopping and sight seeing. The car washing was costly as we did not get any results from 3
of the $2.00 coins..Strong winds were blowing a lot of the water away from the car. The job is not a 100% but it is better than it was.The latter is cut short following a call from Tony indicating the serviceman would be attending around 1.00pm, so we head back to the Park. Ron and Scott [Overall Constructions} arrive well after 3.00. Ron was a no nonsense type of guy, wanting to deal with one problem at a time and prepared to tell you so.He starts on Tony’s Dust Pressurization System and found that too much silicon (and the wrong sort)) had been used, which was possibly blocking up the outlet holes……a similar situation with our van. Then onto attempting to resolve the problem of the vans dust pressure system not switching off, when the car’s ignition had been turned off. No matter what he tried on Tony’s van, Ron could not resolve it. Our same problem seemed to be resolved once he removed a 50 amp fuse and then reinserted it…..this was a great surprise to us, as it had not been shutting off since the fuse had been replaced in Alice Springs. I’m not sure that he believed us when we told him ours had stopped switching off.
They fix our broken door latch and provide some excellent advice on the cleaning maintenance of the door/s and their surrounds. Ron indicated that he would be making calls to Elite and caravan electrical group to ascertain the wiring layouts of the van & cars, in order to resolve Tony’s issue.
It is dark when they leave to go to another couple of jobs. Whilst this work is going on, Michael wipes down the car to clean all the areas still showing red mud….then he starts on some of the van’s underside and stabiliser legs. Since Friday and Saturdays traverse through the ironstone mud, it has set like concrete around the stabiliser legs swivel and locking point….very difficult to pull the locking pins out.
Later tea than usual, with MILNER’S eye fillet, cooked on the BBQ (6.3.3 method ….6 minutes on one side, 3 minutes on the other side, then 3 minutes rest) going down beautifully.
DAY 22 - WEDNESDAY - 11/05/16 …….We manage to get the blog up to date and loaded this morning. Receive follow-up calls from Elite Warranty Manager Melissa, who indicated that Peter [one of the owners] would be sitting down with us on our return to advise on how these building defects we have encountered were to be corrected and to confirm Coast to Coast RV has contacted us re the microwave oven not heating. Coast to Coast were wanting Michael to remove and install replacement unit, which I said was not happening.
Meanwhile Tony was having discussion with Elite and the Caravan Electrical Group concerning his reversing camera cable and now his Fusion sound system. I had prepared a USB with music for Tony and Jen, but his Fusion system does not appear to be receiving power………Electrical group wanted Tony to disconnect and remove whole system. They were told where to go and whose responsibility it was to fix.
The four of us head into town for a coffee and cake before lunch. After lunch Michael and I head back into town….first to the Information Centre, but are
side-tracked by a pearl shop with unique designs next door. Following the Information Centre, it is off to view the working port, where a number of container ships were being unloaded. We take the opportunity to sit in the Wharf Restaurant and have a refreshing glass of Tasmania Sauvignon Blanc. It is then off to view and walk on Cable Beach. As we leave a number of couples 
were arriving with their picnic hampers, obviously to view the sunset across the ocean….something we hope to do over the next two days!!!The weather according to the locals is the coldest it has ever been with dull grey skies. We find it quite warm and somewhat humid at times…..definitely a need for the air conditioner in the van.
It is then back to the Caravan Park to find Tony and Jen to go out for Chinese Meal. Tony is quite frustrated that the van serviceman has not returned today or returned his call.
The Chinese Meal is quite nice, and the waitress recognises Tony and Jen from their previous visits some 3 years ago.
DAY 23 - THURSDAY - 12/05/16 …….
Michael did some work on the van this morning, ie chiselling some mud off the underside of the van and cleaning up around the door. The wind has dropped and the clouds have disappeared, and promises of a much warmer day lies ahead.
About 8:00 am all four of us headed off to have another look at Cable Beach. We saw the camel train walk past and one of the life guards go out into the sea with a net which he dragged behind him for approx 50 metres (while we were watching parallel to the beach). We wondered what he was looking for.
After Cable Beach we went to Zookeepers for morning tea, very nice indeed. Then off to Bunnings for more stuff to maintain the caravan. Tony then noticed that someone had hit his car on the left side of the bullbar, crumpling it in a bit and leaving black paint on the fender. He went back to Zookeepers to see if they had CTV – no only inside, so he is left with the excess on the repair bill. NOT HAPPY TONY!!!
Next to Zookeepers is the Willie Creek Pearl shop, we went in to have a look and met a very interesting shop assistant who explained pearls to us and showed us one pearl worth $53000. Michael and I have booked in to do the Willie Creek Pearl Farm tour tomorrow morning.
After lunch Michael and I went to Gantheume Point to see the red cliffs and pink sands of Redell’s Beach, very impressive although there is no easy way down onto the beach so we viewed them from the cliff top. At the bottom of Gantheume point, when the tide is out, you can see dinosaur footprints, there is a model of them at the point. Apparently we had some huge dinosaurs 30 metres long in this part of the world, some millions of years ago. On the lighthouse at two levels we could see the nest of an osprey…..the osprey was preening itself but the buffeting wind made it hard to get crisp photos.Michael had expressed a desire to see the museum, so that was our next stop. We found it very interesting and spent some time there, this was followed by a walk through town and a visit to ARB to see if they could fasten the control box of the winch (cable tied ATM) No use, whole lot has to be dismantled for refastening so it is still cable tied. Off to ARB when we get home.
After their afternoon nap Tony and Jen went down to the pier and along the cliff top to
Gantheume Point too.There are frangipani bushes are flowering everywhere we go in Broome. Lovely.
DAY 24 - FRIDAY - 13/05/16 …….
Michael and I went on a tour to the Willie Creek Pearl Farm this morning. Tony took his Toyota in for a service. He was told that the courtesy bus left at 8:00, he got there a couple of minutes to to find that it had already left. He was not happy and had to catch a taxi back to the caravan park
The Pearl farm visit was excellent, our guide opened an oyster and extracted the pearl it held. To her amazement and ours, it was large and a very nice
specimen. They provided morning tea, two types of damper and fruit cake as well as tea, coffee, iced tea, cordial and water. After a talk (about an hour) we went out on the boat to see the pearls where they grow. Two very informative and pleasant hours. On the way back we drove through a mob of wild horses (about 10). They just calmly watched us drive by.Tony and Jen did catch the courtesy bus back to pick up the car. This afternoon we all have to shop, we are leaving Broome tomorrow morning for Middle Lagoon and will be there 5 days, no real shops there apparently.
Michael and I have decided to do an overnight trip to the Horizontal Falls. We do this from Derby so this afternoon we went and booked it. We now have to hope and pray that we are not rained in at Middle Lagoon – we will lose our money if we are a ‘no show’.
Ron is coming back to see if he can complete the work on Tony’s pressure system, he seems to have fixed ours! Maybe pulling the fuse out and putting it back in has reset the system, (shrug – who knows). Meantime Tony is experiencing problems with his washing machine, it keeps on throwing up an error 02 which means it doesn’t have enough water. Ours occasionally won’t let us open the door. Our second microwave doesn’t work, lights, noise, turntable, no heat!!!!
It has been another warm day to us …..low 30s but cool to the locals.
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