Broome Favorites

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Fondest memory: What I enjoyed most while staying in Broome were the two evenings I spent at Cable Beach. Although I did not see a proper sunset because it was always too cloudy, it was a very special atmosphere.
Broome was just a unique place - this small beautiful town with its otherworldly beach, surrounded by miles and miles of desert. Sitting here at the beach in the evening, I indeed felt like being in another world.
In Australia I always had the feeling of being very, very far away from anything (and of course I was, somehow), but almost never was it so strong as in Broome. It is not easy to describe it, but it was just very special.

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Favorite thing: I really wanted to travel along the west coast, but the problem was that I don't drive and did not want to hire a car with others. You can go by Greyhound bus, but like this you miss the most spectacular places, as they are off the road - Greyhound only stops in the towns, but what I wanted to see were of course the National Parks. This is why I decided to do a guided tour from Perth to Broome. The tour was recommended to me by a friend and the company seemed to be very trustworthy, and so I booked the ten day tour. I was looking forward to it so much and it really was one of my biggest dreams. When the tour started I could not believe that now it was really coming true!

The itinerary was as follows (and it still is for these tours):
Day 1: Perth to Horrocks, including Nambung NP
Day 2: Horrocks to Shark Bay, including Kalbarri NP and Shell Beach
Day 3: Shark Bay to Coral Bay, including Monkey Mia and Hamelin Pool (Stromatolites)
Day 4: Coral Bay to Exmouth, including Ningaloo Reef
Day 5: Exmouth, including Turqoise Bay (and usually Cape Range NP which we skipped because it was New Year's Day and too hot)
Day 6: Exmouth to Karijini NP, mostly driving
Day 7: Karijini NP
Day 8: Karijini NP
Day 9: Karijini NP to Pilbara, mostly driving
Day 10: Pilbara to Broome, including Eighty Mile Beach (which was closed when we were there)

While all the things we saw and did exceeded my expectations, I was quite disappointed by the tour guide. She actually did not even deserve to be called a "guide" and I deeply regret that I never made a complain at the company. I won't go into detail, but there were many difficulties and of all the tours I did (and those are quite a lot), she was the worst "guide" I ever had.
Apart from this it was very stressful to be in a tour group for ten days, given the circumstances: Dorm or tent accommodation, almost no privacy at all, being together 24/7, in a very hot and humid climate. We also needed to do our own dishes and cook in the group which is common on such backpacker tours. I had totally underestimated how stressful all of this would be, especially on such a demanding tour in such a climate, involving walking and hiking etc.
I think that I would not do such a tour again but next time invest more money to do a tour with more comfort and less duties (and hopefully a guide who does his or her job!).

However, I am still happy I did this tour because it still was fantastic experience. I met some of the best people I ever met during my travels, and I saw some of the most beautiful and stunning places. Beautiful beaches, amazing landscapes, rocks and gorges, and of course the sheer size and grandness of Western Australia!

I did this tour with the company Western X-posure, but shortly after it was taken over by Adventure Tours, which is another reason why I would not do it again. The website now looks totally different to when I booked, but the itinerary is still the same.
http://www.adventuretours.com.au/western-australia/perth-to-broome-budget

Picture 1: Nature's Window, Kalbarri NP
Picture 2: Sandy Bay, Exmouth
Picture 3: Dolphin in Monkey Mia
Picture 4 & 5: Hancock Gorge, Karijini NP

Favorite thing: Always leave something for the next visit... These are the things I didn't to in Broome so far and that I want to do when going back!

Japanese Cemetary - I skipped the Japanese Cemetery when I visited Broome. It simply was too hot, and I was too tired to do the walk. Usually it is one of the "must dos" and it will certainly be in my plans for a later visit

tour to Cape Leveque - this is a place I have wanted to go to since I saw some pictures taken by a friend. When I visited Broome in 2010 it was beyond my budget, though. It is a beautiful cape on the Dampier Peninsula with beaches and stunning red rocks. There are many interesting day tours and overnight tours, but they are very expensive.

tour from Broome to Darwin - I did the leg from Perth to Broome, and of course I really want to do a tour from Broome to Darwin to see the wonderful Kimberley, Purnululu NP, the town of Kununurra and Mirima NP, and all the other things that can be experienced in this region.

Favorite thing: This place has a bit of legend status amongst the locals and rightly so. Though it is a well known hotel these days it was originally a bank! I'm sure there's some irony in there somewhere, I just haven't thought of it yet.
After its life as a bank ended it actually became a general store but it wasn't where it is today. No, it took the legendary Lord McAlpine to move the entire building to its present location where you can sit and reflect while you have an ale today.

Fondest memory: Beside the pub there's a wonderful gallery with a quality eclectic collection of works. Whatever your choice in art, you're bound to find something here to interest you.

Favorite thing: Somewhat surprisingly, cultured pearls weren’t commercially grown here until after WWII (1957) and it was a Japanese man who worked out that local oysters injected with grit from the Mississippi mussel (pig toe clam) was the way to make pearls on a commercial basis.
Some of the places the 19 farms are located are very remote. I know this because I went on a 10 day cruise and we went past a couple located in the middle of nowhere.
What I found surprising is how labour intensive they are. The pearls have to be turned regularly otherwise they don’t grow uniformly. They feed on microscopic phytoplankton.
They also have to be cleaned every three weeks, first with a brush and then with a meat cleaver, the latter to remove things like barnacles.
Inside each oyster there is a blind crab whose symbiotic relationship keeps the inside clean.
55% of oysters can be reseeded for a second time, 30% a third time but only 5% a fourth time. They are checked by x-ray and 15% are lost at the first incision. Pearl technicians work for 3 months of the year and can earn around $100,000 but, remember, shell dust is carcinogenic.

Fondest memory: After their pearl life they are then inserted with plastic shapes to make Mabe or half pearls. Up to 7 per oyster can be inserted.
If all that wasn’t enough, oyster meat currently sells for $700 per kilo in Japan!
The lustre of a pearl is merely the nacre (mother of pearl) deposited uniformly on an irritating object inside the oyster.
The fabled black pearl is also now being grown in the Abrolhos, a group of islands off the West Australian coast but all Australian pearls are silver or pink.

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Favorite thing: If you haven't got access to the net the Eco Adventure building in Chinatown (Carnarvorn St)offers an internet service. $5.00 an hour. They have about 5 computers.

Favorite thing: Make sure you take plenty of sun cream. We had two days of 39C, and the other days did not get below 35C. The coolest night we had was 22C.