After wringing the water out of our limbs and brushing sand off our clothing we piled back into our truck which was now thundering down near abandoned highways in the direction of Broome. Mind you we had been heading in the direction of Broome for the last day and a half and so far the place had refused to show itself.
Before anything Broome like could appear on the horizon we turned off yet again to enjoy lunch, snake scares and a bushwalk with the possibility of heatstroke. I say "snake scare" apparently someone saw a snake. It may or may not have been a member of our party or one of the other random individuals setting out to prove that it is no longer just mad dogs and Englishmen who go out in the noonday sun.
It really was terribly hot but the siren call that lured us on was "crocodiles". For the uninitiated crocodiles look rather like logs but have vastly different eating habits. We gasped and sweated through the bush. Well I gasped and sweated through the bush my travelling companion moved lightly with a spring in her step and eyes agleam at the possibility of crocodiles.
I should point out that we hadn't just plunged into the random bush in the hopes that large aquatic reptiles would present themselves for our entertainment. Below on our weary walk a large creek/small river glistened with beautiful blue-green water. Somewhere within those tempting depths lurked crocodiles, apparently.
As it turned out I was completely wrong. The crocodiles weren't lurking 'neath the turquoise depths. They were floating about in plain sight on the other side of the river. We flicked the sweat out of our eyes and peered at the log like forms. They certainly moved with more direction and purpose than could normally be attributed to logs. Eventually one of them heaved itself up onto the far bank and all doubt was removed.
My companion was beside herself. Well actually she was beside me which was a little problematic as she was eager to entice the crocodiles closer. She threw rocks into the water in the hopes of attracting their attention. When the crocodiles remained stubbornly close to the far bank she eyed me with such a speculative look that I edged nervously backwards. Eventually we had to accept that distant views of crocodiles would have to suffice as none of the crocodiles seemed inclined to visit and I point blank refused to risk my life in the hopes of enticing one closer.
With lunch, and crocodile sightings, completed we piled back into the truck for the journey to Broome. Due to the delay from the tyre changing we didn't return until after dark. Dropped off at the same backpackers we had started from we arrived to discover they had been having a pool party. We carefully navigated vomit and recumbent bodies until we could secure ourselves in our room. Fortunately the party had started in the early afternoon and everybody was pretty much passed out by nine. We decided to follow their example.
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