Broome part 1

Usually I break my posts up into days for each trip, but since for this holiday we stayed in one place and only did a few activities, I'm just going to post a few "Broome, part 1 (2, 3, 4, etc)" things. Today I have a rant, and a recommendation.

Because Broome is in the middle of nowhere (see map below - you can click to make it bigger), you don't have many choices in getting there. You can either fly with Qantas, or with Virgin Blue. If you choose Virgin Blue, you must go via Perth (totally not on the way). The distance from Melbourne to Broome is 4,996km. That's about 3,104 miles. A very long way. The distance from Melbourne to Perth is 3,456km (2,147 miles) and then from Perth to Broome is 2,233km (1,387 miles). You can understand why we chose to fly direct to Broome with Qantas.
There are several things wrong with this decision. Despite the fact we have a rule that for all flights over three hours we will consider going business class, we chose to fly economy. The reason for this? Business class flights to Broome (on the ONLY direct flight for the week) were more than it cost for our entire New Zealand holiday back in March. We simply could not justify the cost.

In retrospect, of course, we should have sucked it up and paid the extra 40 gazillion dollars because OH MY GOD it was awful. The stewards were rude. Every single thing they served us to eat contained nuts. I am allergic to nuts, as a lot of people are. Surely they could find me something else to eat? Just a simple cookie with no nuts in it? No, apparently not, I should have ordered that IN ADVANCE. If I'd known IN ADVANCE that I was going to be poisoned, I wouldn't have flown with Qantas in the first place.

My recommendation? Take an extra day on either side of your trip and go via Perth. It's a lovely city and you'll feel much better. Also go with Virgin Blue, not Qantas.