Broome, WA

May 5-8 2008 Broome, Western Australia

Monday we left the beautiful 80 Mile Beach and drove our final leg north to the city of Broome, a very interesting drive. We left before 7:30am and saw 20-30 eagles and other birds of prey along our route. They were feeding on the road kill from the night before, mostly wallabies. It was very impressive these huge birds winging up just in front of the moho as we drove along. We saw more birds that we did oncoming traffic. We got into Broome (situated at the southernmost tip of the rugged Kimberly region of Western Australia it is only 18 degrees south of the equator), in the mid afternoon and it was very HOT. The campsite that we got had no shade, so we decided we would drive downtown and see if we could find something to do with air conditioning. We walked along the shopping area they call Chinatown, although there are very few shops that are owned and or operated by the Chinese as they once were. We saw the famous Sun Cinemas, the oldest running outdoor garden theatre in the world. They started showing silent movies in 1916. You sit outside in canvas lawn chairs and watch the movie on the big screen. Unfortunately they were not showing a movie that night, but it was very intriguing. We saw a lot of interesting shops, most selling the pearls that Broome is famous for. Because of the heat we felt it necessary to go to Matzo’s the local full mash hand crafted brewery. It was a nice break from the heat.

Tuesday morning we packed, cleaned and turned in our little Maui Motor home and checked into The Cable Beach Club Resort. What a beautiful place, tropical gardens, beautiful pools, luxurious rooms, and interesting artifacts from China, India and other exotic places around the world. Well, now I can tell you, this is the LIFE! This is what traveling should be about. J Call me spoiled, but one could really get used to living like this. Of course had we stayed many nights here, our trip would have been considerably shorter and we wouldn’t have seen as much. But we definitely enjoyed this nice change of life style. We spent the afternoon by the pool swimming, sunning and generally unwinding.

Wednesday we went on a city tour of Broome and saw more of this beautiful beachside community that has become very popular and expensive. The employers have trouble finding enough people to staff the resorts and tourist industry because many, who would ordinarily work these jobs, work for the mining industry and make a lot more money. The young folks that are traveling around Australia, called “backpackers”, often stop and stay for a while make a few dollars. This does lead to a lot of turnover and can be problematic especially during their busy tourist season when the population swells from 15,000 people to over 50,000. We went to the Lugger's Museum (the old wooden pearling boats) and saw examples of the old pearling industry and gained much more respect for the difficulties that this early industry encountered. Up until the mid 1940’s the pearling was done for the mother of pearl found on the inside of the oyster shell. We are talking big oysters; the “Pincada maxima”, the largest oyster in the world, many large ones measuring 10” or more across. The Second World War had about destroyed this industry and it was dealt a final blow after the development of plastics as mother of pearl was no longer needed for buttons. The Japanese that had been imported and worked as the divers in this trade strengthened the industry with the introduction of cultured pearls. This breathed new life into the trade and has put Broome on the map. We went to the Japanese Cemetery where over 900 young men are buried. Most of them died while working on the Luggers. Many died from the bends or resulting disabilities, drowning or being caught in cyclones. Many of the graves are made from the beautiful red rock that is found in the area. Gantheaume Point was our next stop. We walked along some red craggy rocks and enjoyed the contrast with the beautiful turquoise blue Indian Ocean. There are supposedly dinosaur foot prints to be found in the rocks at very low tide – guess the tide wasn’t out enough, because we didn’t see any. We did find Anastasia’s pool, a place in the rock where the light house keeper had dug out for a soaking tub for his wife with arthritis. The pool will fill during high tides. The tides in this area are amazing they can vary in depth up to over 30’ in less than 12 hours. The best part of the day was our camel ride. We rode in a train of camels on a great big “ship of the desert” named Ezrah. It was quite an experience riding on these plodding guys along the sand at the water’s edge watching an incredible sunset. We rode for over an hour and it was one the highlights of our time in Broome. Even Mike said he liked it, after originally thinking it was just a “touristy” thing to do.

Thursday morning we went about 30km/20miles out of town to Willies Pearl Farm, had a informative presentation on how cultured pearls are made, then a nice boat ride out on the estuary to see oysters as they are hung on long ropes in the water. It is quite a labor intensive industry, after seeding the oyster the shells have to hoisted out of the water every 2-3 weeks and scrubbed clean. Backpackers can get up to $1000/week for this seasonal job that for up to three months. This goes on for 2 years while the little pearl is developing. Guess that is why these Broome pearls are so expensive. We have really enjoyed our time in Broome; have felt quite pampered and rested. Tomorrow we head to the “Top End” portion of our trip.