Broome for two days

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Geo: -17.929, 122.211

We disembarked around 9am and said our farewells to friends and crew. The bus dropped us off at our accommodation - Cable Beach Club Resort. Very nice, but pricey: lucky it was part of our package. As we were too early to get a room, we checked in and then went into town on the shuttle bus. Looked around for a couple of hours then got the bus back to our room.

On 4, 5, 6 May the low tide coincides with a full moon. This results in the "Stairway to the Moon" effect where the moonlight on the rippled mud flats looks like a staircase leading to the moon. Best place to watch the effect over Roebuck Bay on the eastern side of Broome peninsula is the Mangrove Hotel (guests and tours only), or from the town beach. It was worthwhile, but not as dramatic as I recall from my last visit to Broome many years ago.

On Tue we went on the morning Willie Creek Pearl Farm Tour that was very good. Learnt all about cultured pearls and went out in a boat to see how the pearls are tended over their two-year pearl making cycle. I never knew that the first seeding has an 85% chance of producing a saleable pearl, then the poor old oyster is impregnated with a larger seed which is harvested in another two years. The fourth (and final) seeding only has a 5% chance of producing a good pearl but the increased size and value of the few that are harvested makes it still worthwhile.

In the afternoon we lazed around the pool waiting for our transfer to catch the 6:15pm flight to Perth. Boeing 737-700 with 128 seats 3x3. We were again lucky to have a spare seat in our row. The plane was only about 2/3 full.

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Photos

Broome's Sun Cinema
The oldest, still operating outdoor theatre in Oz. Featured in the Aussie movie Bran Nue Dae.

Stairway over Roebuck Bay
Pretty average pic, but you get the idea. It's better when the moon rise is later in the evening when it's darker. Then the "stairs" go all the way to the moon. This was more like a stair and an elevator.

Cable Beach at low tide
On the western side of the Broome peninsula. So named because a trans-oceanic communications cable terminates here.

Pearl Oyster (Pinctada maxima)
Just opened, with a pearl ready to be removed. The shells can grow up to 30cm across and weigh 5kgs. The largest pearl in the world was on display in Broome - it measures 22.4mm.
Note the tiny, symbiotic crab.