Day 51 Broome - 19/4/11

Today we had a real lazy day, I swam in the pool and we both did some reading.

There is so many dragonflies here, all shapes and sizes and colours.  At dusk you can see thousands of them flying around in the sky.  Lots of them commit suicide in the pool when the pop down for a drink and then get caught.  The locals say it is a sign of the dry season when they say goodbye to the humidity and the bonus is that they eat the mosquitos!  We have been careful to make sure we have the tropical strength Aeroguard on as there have been cases of Ross River Virus and Murray River Encephalitis here.  There are also lots of sandflies here when there is a spring tide.  The locals recommend gin and tonic as a remedy as the quinine in the tonic helps with the bites and the gin makes you calm!

There is also the flight of the bats at sundown when the fly off from the mangroves at Chinatown into the sky heading westward for a feed.

Tonight we went to see the Staircase to the Moon.  The Staircase only happens between March and October for three nights when the moon is full and it is low tide.  The breathtaking natural phenomenon is caused by the reflection of the rising full moon over exposed mudflats at Roebuck Bay at extreme low tide. The effect produces an optical illusion of stairs ascending to the moon.  The Staircase Markets are held at night in the park at Town Beach near the viewing site.  It reminds me a bit of Mindil Beach Markets at Darwin but the markets are nowhere near as big and jewellery seems to be the most common stall. 

The Staircase Markets

Staircase to the Moon

We parked in an area just near the markets and walked down to Town Beach.  Most people were on a little point but it soon got really packed.  We ended up going back to the car to watch.  When the moon came up it the moonlight seemed to only shine in a narrow strip and was reflected in the mudflats.  It was amazing.  There are three vantage points in Broome that you can see this but the markets are only at the Town Beach site.  We are so lucky that we were here at the right time to see this.

cheers
Pete and Roz