Broome – 18 to 24 July 2010

After our flight from Hong Kong to Perth with an overnight stay in Perth, we returned to Broome and collected our little pod from storage and returned to the Cable Beach Caravan Park for another week in Broome.   We were lucky to get a site at that time as Broome is fully booked, but because we had been there in June when it was quieter they saved a site for us. 

It was amazing the change in atmosphere, as gone were the groups preparing to venture into the Kimberly’s, replaced by those who know their plans two years in advance to book for a three month stay in Broome.  We used the week to recover from the long flight and do some sightseeing in Broome.   

We followed the heritage trail on our bicycles. Broome began as a pastoral town, but  became renowned as the biggest pearling centre in the world with mother of pearl [Pinctada Maxima] being harvested for pearl buttons.

Broome was exempt from the White Australia policy to allow Japanese pearl divers who were the best to operate with the diving fleet.  It became a culturally mixed town, with settlers including Chinese, Filipinos,Malays, Japanese and Koepangers (Timorese).  There is a large Japanese Cemetery, as many divers died from accidents and the effects of the bends which was poorly understood.

Broome experienced a gradual decline during the 1920's as plastics became available. The declaration of WW2 was the final blow. The Japanese who worked on the luggers were interned and sent south. The Industry depended on their skills and so it was no more. The bombing of Broome in March 1942 resulted in the deaths of servicemen and refugees from Java. Eight flying boats were sunk and Dutch women and children evacuees were killed. The town was evacuated and the luggers were sailed south or burnt as part of the scorched earth policy against possible invasion.

Pearling interests in the town were renewed in the 1950's but were no longer viable.  In 1949 the Government lifted a ban on pearl culturing and a pearl culturing farm was established which included American, Australian and Japanese interests. Today cultured pearls, tourism and the live cattle trade are Broome's mainstay.

The old buildings were built of corrugated iron. These cool down quickly at night. They are also light but strong in the event of a cyclone. Modern houses are usually built of corrugated iron for the same reasons. No Broome house has a letterbox or gutters as these can act as shafts, flying through windows.  We enjoyed the heritage trail and finished up at the Union Bank Chambers, now Matso's Cafe, a microbrewery.

We took a trip up to Cape Leveque. The road in is awful but about half way in the dirt road becomes bitumen, which enables access to the all weather airstrip for the aboriginal communities along the road.  We stopped at Beagle Bay and visited the Beagle Bay Church with its  mother of pearl altar and decorations. On the day of our visit a team of artists was busy restoring the altars.

Most of the communities were established by missions, which provided some protection to local aboriginals who were often treated badly by the pearlers, who  “black birded” them to provide labour for the pearling fleet in its early days.

Further up the Cape we visited  Ardyloon Fish Hatchery where we each fed a Barramundi.  We then visited Cape Leveque where we had a great swim and stopped at its West Beach and on the way home visited the Lombadina Community, originally established as a Palatine Mission, with a Church built of local timbers with a more traditional local architectural theme.

Back in Broome we took Sentosa Charters [who did an excellent job] to watch  the Humpback whales on their winter migration route. To get to their main vessel the 'Observer' they use a three wheeler boat that drives into the a water. It reminded us  of "The Owl and the Pussy Cat".

The 'Observer' is painted so it resembles an upside down whale.  There were a large number of whales and some played with the boat swimming round and round it and diving underneath.  They stuck their heads up and looked at us, causing us to wonder who bought tickets to see who.

We saw dolphins surfing with the whales but they couldn't compete.

We spent the rest of our time enjoying Broome and getting ready for the Gibb River Road.  On our way to Derby we stopped at the 12 Mile Cafe, a lovely organic cafe for Brunch, a great way to start the next stage of our  journey.