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Published: August 9th 2008
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Willie Creek Pearl Farm Tour
Julie from Berlin was very good! Hi All
I have just seen Matt off to the airport for his flight home to Sydney, so I am back travelling on my own again. I have to admit that seeing Matt walk through the departure terminal to board his flight to Sydney gave me a slight sense of homesickness, however it won’t take me long to get back into the solo travelling routine again.
On Wednesday afternoon we visited the Willie Creek Pearl Farm, where tours are conducted in which you can learn how the cultured pearl is created. For those who are not aware, the cultured pearl (the spherical variety) is created through the insertion of a small foreign matter (a piece of pearl shell) into the gonad (yes ... the gonad) of the pearl oyster via a small incision, from where the oyster takes over and coats the foreign matter in mother of pearl in order to “ease the irritation” so to speak. Whilst Matt and I squirmed with sympathetic pain as this was described to us, we still thoroughly enjoyed the tour which was made even more pleasurable thanks to our tour guide Julie from Berlin. Julie was very pleasant, and very knowledgeable, and
very easy on the eye - in fact with the exception of her actions in “squeezing” the pearl within the oysters gonads (again making us squirm), she was an all round excellent guide! I have included a photo of Julie for the guys. :-)
Thursday morning we packed up the Thunderbox and headed north to Cape Leveque, during which I clocked up my 20,000th kilometre on this journey. Cape Leveque is some 200kms north of Broome at the top of the Dampier Peninsula. The road to the Cape is largely dirt and, we had heard, full of corrugations, something which did not excite me one bit! Well Matt will advise you that the road is no problem whatsoever - this is because he managed to sleep almost the entire journey. I kid you not .... this guy could sleep through a train wreck! At least he did not snore whilst on the trek north, so the earplugs I have been using each night were not required at this time (sorry Matt - I couldn’t resist)! Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the final half of the journey was completed almost entirely on sealed (and impeccable) roads. Having
checked into the campground, we headed to the beach - which was heaven (even better than Cable Beach). I have to say that I have a new highlight to my journey - Cape Leveque. The beach was gorgeous, the water was crystal clear and very mild. We snorkelled for most of the afternoon (at least 3 hours) enjoying many fish and sting rays in the water. I can honestly say that it was the most enjoyable beach swim I can recall in my life - I simply did not want to get out of the water. I managed to take some underwater pics of the marine life including a small stingray. That afternoon we went to the western beach for sunset - this was even more spectacular. The beach is flanked by vivid red sandstone cliffs which contrast against the white sands and blue waters. Add the sunset to this, and I had a permanent smile on my face. This followed by dinner at the eco-resorts restaurant (probably one of the best meals I have had during the entire trip), and I was sold. I will definitely visit Cape Leveque again.
Friday saw us return to Broome and check
Sunset at Cape Leveque
I never tire of these sunsets ... in fact I am thinking of dedicating a wall in my house to sunset photos. into the Palm Grove Caravan Resort once more. Having a few hours to kill, we decided to visit the Malcom Douglas Crocodile Park. I have seen my fair share of crocs during this trip, however Matt had not experienced any as yet, and to visit the park established by my childhood outback adventure hero was something which I could not resist. Unfortunately I have to say that I was disappointed. The park is definitely showing its age, and the enclosures are small and rather uninspiring. We did see our crocs, but Malcolm was nowhere to be found. In fairness, Malcolm Douglas has established a second park about 16kms outside of Broome which is meant to be better - the park we visited was on Cable Beach.
This morning we met some acquaintances of Matts for breakfast before Matt was due to board flight QF1041 for Sydney. Having done my washing this afternoon, I have some time to kill before heading down to Cable Beach for the afternoon, so have decided to add some pics on here. I have a free day tomorrow before doing the Red Dirt Photography Tour on Monday and then departing Broome on Tuesday morning to
begin my trek down the west coast.
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Simone
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Willie Creek Pearl Farm
Hey Richard, what about a shot for the girls. I know for a fact that the guys who drive the boats and greet n meet at Willie Creek are very easy on the eye also.