Broome

Broome has a deep history based around the exploits of the men and women who developed the pearling industry, starting with the harvesting of oysters for mother of pearl in the 1880s.

At first, aborigines were enslaved and forced to dive naked, with little or no equipment. When slavery was abolished and diving suits were needed for deeper diving, Asians and islanders were given the dangerous job instead. Especially Japanese were valued for their experience. 

The riches from the pearl beds did not come cheaply, however, and the town's Japanese  cemetery is the resting place of 919 Japanese divers who lost their lives working in the industry. Many more were lost at sea, and the exact number of deaths is unknown. The "bends", drowning, sharks and cyclones ended many dreams of a comfortable life. 

In the early 1900s, Broome was a lively, chaotic and lawless frontier town: Chinese, Europeans, Japanese, Malays, Filipinos, Javanese,  Koepangers and Manilamen piling into the opium dens, brothels and gambling houses, the alcohol and the steamy nights of the north west fuelling the swearing and bickering that often times erupts into violent clashes in the dusty streets.

On the fringe of the town lived the lowest and poorest of all, displaced Aborigines in their humpies, exploited and abused by their white masters, treated like slaves if not worse...

Chinatown was a chaotic place, especially when the luggers were in and the crews had money in their pockets, after 6 months at sea, crammed aboard a little lugger with little distractions... 

The town was booming. 

 After the two world wars, disaster struck again. As if all that hadn't been enough, in the 1950s a crucial invention hit the market. Yep, the plastic button. Pearl shell became worthless overnight...

Entering Sun Pictures, a lovely relic from these times, you are taken back to a bygone era where film goers would flock to see the latest silent movie. In the early days, patrons had to lift their feet due to tidal flooding,

A walk through the narrow streets of Chinatown took us to Shady Lane and some psychedelic juices.

Cable Beach
In 1889, a telegraph undersea cable was laid from Broome to Singapore. Hence the name Cable Beach which is our first stop to see the amazing sight of strings of ambling camels. We chat to the cameleer staff and learn the cameloid foibles, including Harley who likes to grind his teeth with a nerve tingling squeak. His neighbour is a female with a fetching droopy lip which she twirls and sucks to wow onlookers.

Each camel train has a last man running behind (see photo below) with a giant shopping bag for poop scooping. Top job description for a shit bagger - lol!

Across the beach, Aboriginal schoolkids play, grey nomads sip drinks, tourists do cartwheels, and frigatebirds scythe beautiful shapes across the sky.

Beachcombing is a pleasure and reveals the delicate shape of marine life.

As the sun sets, stately camel processions walk the strip of the incoming tide silhouetted by the dropping sun. 

Town Beach

Town Beach faces out on to the turquoise waters of Roebuck Bay. At very low tide, the wrecks of Catalina flying boats sunk in WWII can be seen. Low tide also reveals dinosaur footprints.

We spotted a beautiful, restored flying boat, still used by the Broome pearling industry, in the hangar in Darwin:

Boobooks say Woof

Nightime at the campground is alive with the woof woof calls of the boobook owls who land quietly in the tree above to inspect us and alternate their barks with the raucous squealing of the bats.

Reddell Beach

A red sandy track leads past Gantheaume Point to Reddell beach. Deep red cliffs, terraced whirls of stone, pockmarked outcrops, all blend into a sunset series of surreal images. Australia turns up landscape trumps wherever we go: each day lights up a new experience.