I left Broome early 92. Last time I was back there they had wrecked the place; traffic lights, Maccas and Bunnings. It was a real wild west town in the late 80's; I had a gun pointed at me during a fracas in the pub one night.
Crikey! There are a few towns up that way which make St Annes look tame. Fitzroy Crossing is another really bad one. In fact all the towns across that northern stretch of road going into the NT are not very friendly perhaps with the exception of Kunnunara, although the last time I went to do the pub there a local told me that I wouldnt be around if I was still in town the next day! Still not sure what I did!
Ha ha, yes, upset the locals in some of those parts and you disappear down an old mine shaft
I may have mis-remembered but I seem to recall good Chinese food and Barramundi, mid-70s. Never got to the 80mile beach but that's a nice sight from the air. Went North off-road from Fitzroy and after a puncture started to appreciate the need for a second spare and lots of water. I don' think we saw a soul for 24hrs. Job involved checking the diesel generators for Telecom Australia and so continued up to Halls Creek. No tarmac in those days. Ventured just across the border so I could say I'd been to NT so just Tassie off the list and I never got there.
Pretty tough country though I do recall the wife of the local techie at Hall's Creek had a joey she was raising. I don't think I saw many aboriginees though.
Yes, the Chinese food is very good in Broome; it's a pearling town and has a rich history of Malay, Japanese, Chinese immigrants who worked in that industry, thus the good food. Fitzroy, Halls Creek are pretty tough places but with history; they breed them tough out there. Lastly, there are plenty of aborigines out there, many in communities out of town a bit, or working on cattle stations. Unfortunately you'll find a lot of the town based ones, if you can call Fitzroy and Halls towns, in the local watering holes. Dole day is always an interesting time.
AKA 'Thirsty Thursday".
I actually really like it up there. I've done the Gibb River Road once in my 4WD Troopy and did attempt to do it in the early 90's in a 1972 VW Combi - not so smart. We had to abort and then the van got a crack in the fuel line about 200 KM of Darwin leading to flames coming out the rear and a very expensive repair job funded by capsicum picking in Darwin ( don't get a job doing that it makes your hands flare up).
Seen many an Kombi with the rear engine door up trying to cool it down in the blistering heat out there. Early Kombis were not made for Outback Oz in the summer, that's for sure.
Anybody here visit Oldham Athletic in 1984/85 season?
If you did you would have seen Oldham bring on a sub who was about to become the world's most expensive 17 year old when he signed for Liverpool a few months later - Wayne Harrison. I remember seeing him on the news or some TV show being tipped as a future superstar. Stumbled across his name today and looked him up, wondering what had happened to him, never played for Liverpool because of injuries including falling through a greenhouse and nearly dying through the loss of blood. He only ever made 10 league apps including the one against Notts. Died on Christmas day 2013 at the age of 46 after suffering from a pancreatic illness.