Monday 28 July 2014

It's Broome time

400km northeast of Eighty Mile Beach and here we are in Broome, the official halfway point of our journey from Perth to Darwin.   We've jumped seasons from 'winter' (warm days and chilly nights) to the tropical 'dry' season of the north end - a humid 30c during the day and not much cooler in the night.  It's quite a dramatic change.  Our campsite is full of Melbournian and Sydneysider pensioners escaping their cold winters.  Those we spoke to have been here for months and are slowly thinking about making their way home.  Yesterday there was a 'Christmas in July' party, complete with turkey and balloons.  Wacky.

Broome flourished during the "pearl rush" of the 1880s and by 1910 was producing 80% of the world's pearl shell.  The town is full of pearl showrooms and interesting museums and exhibitions on the subject. It's also famous for Cable Beach, 22km of white sand and turquoise sea.  We did the tourist thing and took a camel ride along the beach.  Well, it's not something you get to do every day. 

Went out for dinner in the evening after reading in the Rough Guide:  "the food (in Broome) is quite literally the best for thousands of kilometres, so make the most of it".  It was indeed very good!  


An ibis wandering around


Camel train


Cable Beach









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