Broome (Wk 10/11)

Broome, largest city in the far north of WA. A truely tropical location and gateway to the Kimberley region (land of Crocs and Barramundi).

A few interesting facts about Broome: Broome owes its place as a tourist destination to Lord Robert Alastair McAlpine who built (amongst other things) the Cable Beach Resort along with many other improvements; there are no traffic lights due to potential power cuts during cyclone season, instead it has hundreds of roundabouts; house roofs do not have gutters as they get destroyed by the power of the rainfall, houses do not have water tanks as there is too much dust in the air that washes into the tanks; it has the 2nd largest tidal range in the Southern Hemisphere at 10.8m; it has a population of 15,000 residents that swells to 40,000 during the high (winter) season.

We have absolutely loved our time in Broome.

After Karijini we headed slowly to Broome. First we spent 2 nights (26/05 & 27/05) in Port Hedland which is the largest Iron Ore port in the world (the one in Brazil is closed due to Covid). We went on a tour of the harbour run by the Seafarers Mission (a Christian non for profit organisation supporting seafarers in terms of disputes, illness, pay etc). It was amazing seeing these Cape class container ships (named cape as they can’t use the canals like panama) up close.

Our second stop was Barn Hill Station, a homestead and caravan park right on the beach 150km south of Broome. A beautiful spot to have a couple of nights (28/05 & 29/05) with some downtime.

On the morning of 30/05 we drove the short distance into Broome to Tanangau Caravan Park. After setting up and doing the laundry (still need to wash even on holiday 🤣🤣) we headed to Cable Beach for a swim. Lovely and warm with the right amount of waves for a bit of excitement. We then sat in the surf life saving club for a beer watching the sunset. Loving Broome already.

31/05/2021 started with a visit to the hospital for our first COVID-19 jab. This was followed by shopping for supplies including the bottle shop which is aptly named as no cask wine in Broome due to strict alcohol laws in certain country locations for locals, although being tourists we were allowed to fill our boots…..

01/06/2021 saw us take a bus tour of Broome with a small group including the highlights like Cable Beach, Gantheaume Point, Entrance Point, Japanese Cemetery, Town Beach, Sun Pictures and Broome Town. It was a good flavour of the town.

In the evening we watched the sunset followed by a scrumptious dinner at the Cichetti Club.

02/06/2021 we had a down day….. well, as much as the Tedder’s have down days ….. in the evening we drove down at low tide to watch the Pearling Lugger and the camels along cable beach as the sun set.

03/06/2021 we drove out to Willie Creek Pearl Farm for a tour. We had an excellent guide who covered the process from birth to death of an oyster. Very interesting. Nothing goes to waste. And boy, are the pearls expensive! The day ended with a wander around the weekly market at town beach.

On our last full day we drove to the southern most beach of Broome (Cable and Town being the other two) called Riddell. The tide was going out so there were lots of rock pools to investigate and hermit crabs to annoy!

As I said in the introduction, loved loved loved Broome. Another reason we love WA.

Tomorrow (05/06/2021) we head north to the Dampier Peninsula. A remote part of WA which is slowly getting more accessible as the tar road is just about to be completed. We are staying a week at Banana Well which will allow several day trips to Cape Leveque, Kooljaman and Cygnet Bay.