Before I get to Cable Beach I want to talk about the night before & what we had to go through. After driving all the kilometers with the 4WD it was obvious we had truck problems. The truck was taking more oil than it had before. It was also having problems starting at certain points (there would be no activity like you were not even turning the key). We got into Broome on Sunday & tried everything we could to find a mechanic but since it was in the afternoon we could not. Also what we didn't know was that Monday was the holiday day of the week THIS time. In fact it was even a 4 day weekend, so most people were not even around the phone because they had left after work on Friday. So the earliest anyone (even mobile mechanics) could look at the car was Tuesday. By the time we would get parts if needed who knows how long we would have had to wait. This would not work for us because we could only afford to spend Monday in Broome. So we were in a bad situation. To make matters even worse while driving around trying to figure things out our belt had came off of the power steering. This did not make things easy, if you have ever drove a 4WD without steering you will know what I mean. Anyway we had decided to do what we could about being able to handle the problems so we went looking for a battery charger, but did not find one that was big enough. We did find jumper cables which we bought, as the truck had not had them up to this point. We went to every place we could think of trying to find a mechanic or someone to help us out, but got nothing. Finally it dawned upon me. When backpackers are in trouble they look to other backpackers for help. We were now campers so what better place to look than to other campers. So we went to the caravan parks & asked if they knew mechanics or any were staying there. The first 2, which were in the city, were less than helpful, bordering on rude (even the one I had stayed at before). We headed toward what looked like the expensive end of town toward cable beach. The first one there was nice enough but didn't know anyone. Finally Cable Beach Caravan Park we hit the jackpot. They had a mobile mechanic staying there, who had left his name with the front desk if anyone needed help!! Not only that, but one of the guys at the front desk helped me get the belt back on for power steering & showed me how to adjust the power steering so that it would be less likely for the belt to come off again. He had his own tools & was such a nice guy, plus did all this for free. After that we went into the camp ground which was very nice & huge. Once in there Sayoko started unloading stuff while I went to find the mobile mechanic. I caught him while they were starting to grill, but he took some time to come with me to look at the truck. His buddy even walked over with him to check out our setup. For the starting problem he asked me for a huge screwdriver & gave us this very scientific fix. He scratched an area so it would be easy to recognize later, this part was called the selenoid (if I remember right). He told me if the truck would not start to just take the screwdriver or whatever I could reach with it to hit that place. Sometimes this sticks which will not allow the truck to start. He told us that the huge crack we had in our windshield would be ok & would not break, if fact he said he even had one. What he said is that the oil leak may not be a big deal, but he was not sure where it was coming from. There was oil all over the engine, so what he wanted us to do was the next morning to get engine degreaser, then spray it on the engine & totally wash the engine. Before starting the truck we then had to put baby powder all over the engine (which would show where the leak came from). Then we would come back the next day to meet him at 1pm & he would look at it. Ever since having the truck I had wanted to be able to check the transmission fluid, but there was no dip stick for it. He also told me that he would show me how to check the automatic transmission fluid the next day & that it was beneath the truck. I was so relieved after talking to him, it was great because I was worried about going through the Kimberly & having big truck issues, because it is very isolated. The next morning we did as he said & bought the degreaser & totally washed the engine, which was a dirty job to do correctly. Either way we got it all done & applied the baby powder. After that we did the city things we needed like getting groceries, gas & everything else. After doing all this & getting our stuff all organized we met him back at the camp ground. After looking at it he said it was less oil than he thought it might be & that the leak was not a big deal, because it was coming from a seal which was easy to fix & would not cause the engine problems as long as you kept oil in it. He also tried to show me how to check transmission fluid, but they had broken the bolt off at some point, which made it nearly impossible to move (he was a big strong guy). He said it should not be a problem he told me the trucks there had shifting issues sometimes like I had explained to him (truck not wanting to come out of reverse). After all that we felt pretty good knowing that we should be able to make it to Darwin, where I was going to sell the truck, so it really just needed to get us there. The camping site cost $25 which was by far the most we had paid, but was TOTALLY worth it. The guy did not even charge me that much I think it was like $50 for everything which was great because we had no other options.

After having drove hard for 3 days, running around Broome looking for a mechanic & doing all the activities we had that morning we decided to spend all afternoon relaxing at the spectacular Cable Beach. It was a good choice as the beach was clear & beautiful that day. I showed Sayoko how to wave hop which was fun. I also helped her with her swimming stroke because I am pretty good swimmer & she was trying to learn. Cable Beach is one of the most beautiful in Australia, we stayed there for about 4 hours I think. The last few pictures are of the truck because of the issues we had went through & because the Jackaroo had gotten a bath which made it look so nice & clean. Lastly is the image of the Transformers on a guys van because I used to watch the cartoon.