Broome
Trip Start
Dec 23, 2007
1
21
47
Trip End
May 30, 2008
Broome,
Australia
Monday, March 24, 2008
After driving the long stretch from Port Hedland to Broome, all I wanted to do was lie down and close my eyes. Much of the road was off white in colour and the glare was at times unbearable. My head was aching like mad, right behind my eyes. Nothing that a couple of strong pain killers didn't fix though. It took a couple of days to calm down but fortunately all I wanted to do was laze around the Kimberley Klub YHA resort to catch up on some rest. It's actually quite tiring travelling around the country!
There was, however, much to do in Broome, which is situated on the southern most tip of the rugged Kimberley region of Western Australia. My first stop off was at the famous Cable Beach. It was as beautiful as I imagined and I can see why it is named as one of the top five beaches in the world. It stretches for 22 kilometres, the sand is pristine and the Indian Ocean a clear turquoise colour
Cable Beach
. Cable Beach is named after the communications cable which linked Broome with Indonesia. I didn't swim at the beach due to the possibility of box jellyfish and stingers in the tropical waters.On my final night in Broome I took a 'Ships of the Desert' camel train ride on Cable Beach. This was a different and enjoyable experience. I was lucky enough to have a camel to ride named 'Tiny'. Of course, he wasn't the smallest camel, in fact he was the largest and was only newly trained. Each of the camels is captured from the wild and take only weeks to train. Nevertheless, 'Tiny' had an extra rope around his neck to ensure he didn't break free from the train! That was comforting .... not!
I visited Malcolm Douglas' Crocodile Park and learnt so much from the hour long tour with David the guide. The park was full of estuarine crocodiles, commonly known as 'salties'. It's the largest living reptile and has been known to grow up to seven metres in length. It is a fierce and dangerous predator and has no fear of humans. The guide fed a number of crocs, getting some to leap from the water, others snapping their jaws on land around chicken carcases. He tempted a few to come onto land by throwing a buoy attached to rope on the water in the enclosure. After seeing what the crocs did to these buoys, it is really obvious that you wouldn't have a hope in hell of surviving an attack. They savagely attacked the buoy, dragged it into the water, body rolled over and over, then kept the buoy in their locked jaws under water, for sometimes more than 20 minutes before releasing
Camel Train on Cable Beach
. One of the pictures shows 'Bluey' the croc who is over 5 metres in length and weights over 400kg. He didn't appear that big, until he was tempted to come out of the water to feed. He was huge and angry! Bluey was caught and relocated to the crocodile park after causing havoc to a farmer. He took a horse from a fenced off area 150 metres from the Victoria River. He then dragged it to the waters edge and had lunch! Another picture shows 'Aggro', a very aggressive male which was hatched from an egg at Kalumburu. He is a star attraction at the park and leaps high for his food. I had the opportunity to hold a small salt water croc which was about 60cm in length. Fortunately his jaws were taped together so he couldn't bite!
I visited Pearl Luggers to discover the pearling industry; the sea, the men and the legend. I first did the historic tour to learn of the perils of the deep, experience first hand what made the pearl diver's life so hazardous and what drove so many to put their lives at risk. I saw two of Broome's last remaining wooden pearling luggers, viewed artefacts from the early perilous days of deep sea pearl diving, viewed archival footage of the hard hat divers at work in the oceans around Broome and experienced what it was like to be a pearl diver. I saw and held a pearl valued in excess of $100,000. It was amazing to hold something so valuable. I've included a picture of the pearl along side another worth $8,000
'Aggro' the Croc
.An hour or so later I headed out to the Willie Creek Pearl Farm on a guided tour bus. Broome's famous South Sea pearls are produced by the silver or gold lip pearl oyster Pinctada maxima. The oyster grows up to 30cm in diameter and weighs up to 5 kilos. Willie Creek sources South Sea and freshwater pearls that are regarded as some of the finest and purest in the world. Broome has long been regarded as the home of Australian pearling and today is considered to be the pearling capital of the world. The Australian cultured pearl industry grosses over $200 million per annum.
Divers are still used to collect the majority of oysters used in pearl production. Increased production of hatchery produced Pinctada maxima has reduced the cost and hazards of collecting wild shell whilst allowing more control over oyster growth, health and production. Highly trained pearl technicians perform a delicate 'seeding' operation. A small nucleus formed from the shell of the Mississippi mussel is inserted into an incision in the oyster. The shell is then housed within a pearl panel and placed on the ocean floor to undergo a complex turning process, which encourages the development of a round pearl. Oysters are also suspended in panels from long lines several meters from the waters surface during their life on the farm. This method has been successful due to the huge tidal movement in the area. Tidal changes of up to 9 meters are regular
$100,000 and $8,000 Pearls
. The South Sea pearl takes two years to develop.The tour included a boat ride amongst long lines and beautiful estuaries in the Willie Creek area. These estuaries were approximately 4 meters in depth and were lined with mangroves. On an earlier morning tour, apparently people were able to walk on the sand in these estuaries because of the massive tidal movement. There was no chance of that for us. The tide was certainly on the move and a storm was brewing close by.
I was in Broome for 5 nights and spent the last day by the pool in the resort, swimming, relaxing in the sun and just chilling out, knowing I had a long drive to Fitzroy Crossing the following day.
