We arrived in Broome much earlier than planned, but have both agreed that this was a fortuitive move as there is just so much to see in this town. Also we are both much happier now, as Donna is finally able to stand upright and is moving pain free, thanks to a couple of visits to a physio and finally a chiropractor.
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| Pearl Buttons and Shells |
Broome has so much to offer and we’d like to share some of our special moments from the 10 days that we spent in this picturesque place.
ITS HISTORY
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| Pearl Lugger |
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Broome values and promotes its pearling history and doesn’t shy away from the negatives of the past. We really enjoyed the Pearl Lugger Tour and exhibit and learning about the origins of the mother of pearl industry; firstly based in Cossack and later on in Broome.
The pearl shells were initially collected for the manufacture of buttons for the clothing industry. The local aborigines at first were willing to help collect the pearl shell from nearby 80 Mile Beach, but as the shells close to shore were over-farmed they were then forced to collect shells from deeper and deeper waters and became very reluctant to collect mother of pearl.
Faced with labour problems, the Pearling Masters turned to `Blackbirding' as the primary means to obtain aboriginal labour to dive and collect the valuable pearl shells. Aboriginal men, women and children were considered expendable and were forced to dive or suffer the consequences. If they returned to the boats without any pearl shell, they had to bring up a handful of sand and / or seaweed to prove they’d reached the bottom otherwise they were not allowed back into the boats. Many died from shark attacks, or the bends, or were stranded on islands far from the mainland.
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| Diving Equipment |
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| Hard Hat Diver Statue |
Thankfully, with the arrival of deep diving technology used by the Japanese Divers the pearling industry was revolutionised. These helmeted and weighted divers were attached to the pearling luggers by air tubes and communicated with those above, by pulling on ropes. We were amazed at the layers of clothing and the amount of weight these divers needed to wear so they could stay underwater for long periods. Even though many divers still got the bends there was much less death. Pearl diving didn’t change very much until the mid 1970’s, when suddenly a new breed of diver started experimenting with light weight wetsuits and aqualungs which were used by the Abalone divers and allowed these modern day pearl divers to collect more shells with a reduced length of time under water.
Nowadays `Mother of Pearl’ is still used to make items such as Automotive Paint or in make-up, both shiny and / or reflective. The industry today in Broome is mainly based on culturing South Sea Pearls, with the mother of pearl becoming a by-product. However in days gone by, mother of pearl made the Pearl Barons extremely rich. In Broome they liked to display their wealth by always wearing white linen suits, white shirts and shoes. As you can imagine, due to the red dust and soil in this region, many of these Pearl Barons needed to change their clothes regularly. It was reported that they had a wardrobe of around 200 white linen suits to ensure they were always pristine. According to the locals, the Barons would often have man servants following them around town with replacement suits and shoes, so they always maintained their immaculate demeanour. Guess where they had their white suits laundered........SINGAPORE! Then, as now, Broome depended on bore water and to ensure that their whites weren’t stained by the bore water, every two or three weeks a laundry ship would arrive at Broome Harbour to collect the next laundry parcel. Can you believe it?
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| Sun Pictures |
We also experienced a blast from the past when we went to the Sun Pictures which is the world's oldest operating open-air picture garden. We felt it added to the atmosphere of the movie "Red Dog" to see this Aussie movie about the Pilbara Wanderer in such a theatre. The theatre reportedly holds around 500 patrons and it was packed on the night we saw "Red Dog". At $12.00 each per ticket, not a bad night's return for the owners.
THE BEACHES
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| Entrance Point from Natures Window |
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| Roebuck Bay from the Port |
We also visited
Entrance Beach and the
Port. We were quite surprised at how small the port actually is – only one boat can unload its cargo at a time. Seems downright medieval for this part of the world!
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| Donna at Gantheaume Point |
The colours of Broome are spectacular. The contrast of the flowers, boab trees, palm trees, red cliffs and turquoise sea is amazing. At Gantheaume Point we went to the pindan rocks to see dinosaur footsteps and Anastasia’s pool created in these red cliffs. We also like the way the town is using sculptures and shaded areas to beautify public areas.
FESTIVAL OF THE PEARL
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| Sammi the Dragon |
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| Dance Troup |
We are lucky that in the time we’re in Broome we get to experience both the
Staircase to the Moon and the annual
Shinju Matsuri (Festival of the Pearl). This festival has a Japanese name however a traditional Chinese dragon (Sammi) opens the festival which celebrates Broome’s colourful pearling history. It seemed that most of the town folk came out to celebrate the festival. There was also a float parade in the afternoon in which many businesses and public organisations participated and a Mardi Gras in the evening featuring local dance schools and bands. On the evening of the full moon there was also a Light Show as part of Shinju Matsuri. The involvement of the local schools in this was amazing. A choir comprising members of all the local schools as well as the community choir sang during the parade of lights. The lights themselves were made by year seven students, and they were proudly carrying them home after the show finished.
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| Light Festival |
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| Light Festival |
DAMPIER PENINSULA
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| Sacred Heart Church Beagle Bay |
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| Shell Altar |
We went to Cape Leveque and visited the Beagle Bay Aboriginal Community and the Sacred Heart Church. This was originally established by the French Trappist Monks in 1890. They built a bush timber and paperbark church, learnt the local Nyul Nyul language and taught in the local language. When they returned to France the German Palottine Missionaries took over the settlement. They commenced work on this church with the assistance of locals while under house arrest during World War I. It was made of hand formed clay bricks that were fired in local kilns. They made lime by crushing and burning shell and used this for mortar and plaster. They decorated the church with mother of pearl, cowries and other shells gathered from local beaches in the area. It is a stunning Church that has been well restored.
The community at Beagle Bay is currently undergoing a major refurbishment. All the mission homes are being upgraded. Apparently in the wet season, when local indiginous folk return from water logged areas of the Kimberley, there can be up to 20 people living in each of these houses.
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| Tidal Flow at One Arm Point |
We also visited an aquaculture centre at
One Arm Point also run by a local aboriginal community. They are concentrating on cultivating the Trochus shell, which has a thicker and stronger nacre (mother of pearl) content than pearl shell. It is used by all the high class fashion houses for their up market buttons. They are also studying other sea life and supplying aquariums with interesting animals. Tides in this area flow extremely quickly through the Buccaneer Archipelago making it extremely dangerous for boating.
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| Cygnet Bay |
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| Donna's Pearl! |
A highlight for us (especially Donna) was visiting
Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm. This is the oldest Australian owned Pearl Farm and has operated since 1946. They grow the largest pearls in the world at Cygnet Bay and at present have 400,000 oyster shells, half of which are growing cultured South Sea Pearls. The other half are immature shells, most of which they grow from about the size of a 20c piece. Yes !!!@!! I bought a pearl.
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| Western Beach |
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| Eastern Beach |
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We also visited
Cape Leveque. This land is now under native title and we were made very welcome at the visitors centre. We drove to the Eastern Beach first, but the wind virtually drove us from there to the Western Beach (Sunset Beach). This is famous for the pindan cliffs which are the richest red colour and they were spectacular during the sun set. Perhaps you’ve noted my next vehicle in the sunset picture we took....mmmm.....will have to take helicopter flying lessons.
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| Pindan Cliffs | | | |
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| Sunset & Donna's New "Dinghy" |
There have also been a few other things that we found quite surprising in Broome. For example, the regional prison is located right in the centre of town. It's right opposite the Courthouse Gardens where the markets are held every weekend. There is also a branch of Notre Dame University in Broome. We are also surprised and appalled that anyone would contemplate building a huge gas refinery, jetty and port facility in this pristine part of Australia. None of the locals speak positively about the proposed Woodside Venture and are hopeful that the Federal Government will scrap it.
As you can see we've had a fabulous time exploring Broome, but its time to move on so we can experience the nothern parts of W.A., in particular the Kimberley region . Our next stop is Derby and then we'll travel a couple of hundred kilometres along the Gibb River Road so we can spend some time in both Winjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek.
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