2013 - A BROOME STORY - LYNNE BUNNEY

It was 1977, I was just back from a year overseas and a personal trauma, and I made a decision to return to Broome. (We had passed through in 1974 and got stuck due to wet season flooding). Flat broke and memories of Broome kept dropping into my head. Thanks to the goodness of one of my sisters, I borrowed enough to buy a cheap panel van and off I went, arriving in Broome in mid-April. The weather was perfect and Cable Beach an absolute saviour and healer!

We had many singalongs under mango trees or on the once deserted Cable Beach, with others from 'down south' and a bucketload of local talent, we partied most nights! Soon came the day, when it was time to get a job, if I was going to stay and make a life! I was shocked when the first place I applied, gave me a job, Starting the next day! That was the Conti, by the way.

My home was my panel van, sleeping in the back, waking to the sight of Cable Beach it was soooo awesome! A year later, the long sought after shop premises I had been looking for in Chinatown became available and "Rabbits Asian Clothing" was born, and a year later Rabbits Restaurant!

Chinatown was a bit different back then, the shops were still mostly run by local Asian families and were a bit ramshackle with such authentic character that is now gone! Community and sporting participation was our social life, as there was no television or commercial radio. ABC radio kept us in touch with the outside world. The most noticeable change in Chinatown to me, in those early years, was seeing the roads get bituminised and KERBING put in!

I thought, "wow, that's a bit civilized, what are they going to do next"? Lynne still lives in Broome. She has lots of stories to tell. You might see her in the street one day. Stop and have a chat.