This post records our time in Broome – our first visit to this wonderful area. We had heard so much about this place and sometimes when this happens the reality proves a let down. But not here. We really love it. Broom and its environs can be defined by its vivid colours – the striking red cliffs and rocks, the white powder-fine sand, the vibrant turquoise of the ocean, and the endless deep blue sky. We could have happily spend more time here, despite the fact it is expensive. But we will be back.
We were in Broome from 21 July – 27 July (this post). After that we went on a 7 day cruises (see seperate post), and returned to Broome for a couple of days in August.
Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia
Getting there
Derby > Broome (222kms)
History
Broome is situated on the traditional lands of the Yawuru people.
It is often mistakenly thought that the first European to visit Broome was William Dampier in 1688, but he only visited the north of what was later named the Dampier Peninsula. In 1699 he explored the coast from Shark Bay to La Grange Bay, from where he headed north leaving the Australian coast. Many of the coastal features of the area were later named for him. In 1879, Charles Harper suggested that the pearling industry could be served by a port closer to the pearling grounds and that Roebuck Bay would be suitable. In 1883, John Forrest chose the site for the town, and it was named after Sir Frederick Broome, a Governor of Western Australia in the 1880s.
The 1880s saw the commencement of Broome’s pearling industry, which initially involved slave labour and later slave-like labour, pearl diving being an occupation reserved for specific ethnic groups. The Broome community came to “reflect the hierarchy of the pearling industry, which was based on occupation and ethnicity”. White collar occupations and positions of power were exclusively held by white people. As a consequence, racial segregation was common in Broome until the 1970s.
In 1889, a telegraph undersea cable was laid from Broome to Banjuwangi, East Java, connecting the colony to England. Hence the name Cable Beach given to the landfall site.
Broome was attacked at least four times by Japanese aircraft during World War II. In the worst attack at least 86 people (mostly civilian refugees from the Dutch East Indies) were killed. Twenty-two aircraft were destroyed, most of them flying boats, the remains of which can still be seen in the harbour at low tide.
From 2012, the Broome community led a protest against a proposal to industrialise the James Price Point outside Broome.This proved successful. The urban population was 13,984 at the 2016 Census, growing to over 45,000 per month during the peak tourist season (June to August).
21 July – Drive to Broome
It is a short drive to Broom and we are away by 8am. We follow a road train for a good while before it turns into Wallare Bridge Roadhouse. As it turns in front of our eyes, we could appreciate how big these things are.
We stopped at the Nillibubbica rest area – amazingly with 2 toilets. We chatted to a young dutch couple, here for 3 months, advising them of where to go etc. Nearing Broome, the road deteriorates markedly – the edge of the road is quite broken up with lots of patches along the way. This continues for about 20km or so – not a pleasant drive with quite a bit of traffic coming against you.
We got to the Palm Grove Holiday Park a tad after 11, and found the office empty. Nice to get the booking in done quickly. Our booking was for16 days as we have the 7 day cruise while we are here, and then a night at a resort in town as part of that deal. The cost was of the van site was $55 a night, our most expensive so far. But the park has good facilities – especially lots of BBQs scattered around. There are 2 ablution blocks and despite the fact that it was packed, did not see any queuing for the toilets.
We got a large site, which is ruined by a small garden on the left hand side of the site as you look at it, making it hard to get the Mobi around and in behind the garden so as to maximise the area we had for our living space. We had to get it in at an angle, but it worked out OK.
Disturbingly, as we got close to the van park, the battery monitor in The Cruiser started to buzz and flash. This monitors the battery that controls the electric breaks in the van. It did this a number of times, which was a real worry. The same thing had happened as we got to Derby, although not to the same extent. This is puzzling as the battery should have been charging on the trip yet the warning came on as we arrived. I put the issue onto the Carvanners Forum where I had received some good advice previously.
After settling up we drove into town to have a look around. Unfortunately, just about everything is closed as it is a Saturday afternoon. We looked at Streeters Jetty – which goes out to the mangroves for about 50m and stops abruptly. A jetty had been at this site since 1897.
We walked around a bit, noting the amazing number of pearl shops in town. Took a photo of Sun Pictures – the picture theatre that has been showing films since 1916.
We went to the tourist information centre. As expected there were heaps of people booking tours – why does this take an interminable amount of time. So we grab a stack of brochures, disappointed that many we would have liked are out of stock, and move on.
Outside on the verandas is a pearl shop, one of the few open that day. So we went in to look around. I got chatting to the sales lady and asked her how to tell what quality my pearls were. She said bite them. So I did…. she had a look at them and said they are very good quality and good lustre.
We had been a little disappointed at Broome town – for some reason we expected it to be on the water. But there is only a small outlook to the water in a few spots – it is certainly not the feature we expected. We then went to look at Cable Beach, and that knocked us out! What a stunning beach we came to! So many people on the beach and actually out swimming – no crocs here and no stingers. Wonderful. We took photos and had a look around.
We walked down to the point where 4WDs get onto the beach – they have to head north, away from the peopled area.
We followed them around and saw the camel riding industry in full swing. The 3.30 ride was just leaving as we got there. We have no interest in camel riding. Me especially – as I went for an unexpected camel ride at the Pyramids, I’ve little interest in repeating the experience. The camel took off! As well, it looks so regimented.
We walked back down the beach then went up to Zanders for a sit down and a drink, watching the world go by. Then back to the camp for a home made pizza.
22 July – markets and lazing about
Sunday is market day, so we went in to see the Courthouse markets. As with so many markets, so many sell the same stuff everywhere. However, as my Byron Bay (used to be white) hat is looking a little worse for wear, I decided to get a more durable hat. Not a bad price either.
While there we looked around the courthouse – a lovely old building with wide verandas and wrought iron features. The Broome courthouse has a rich historical significance to Western Australia and in fact began its life as a cable station enabling early telephone communication with the rest of the world, dating back to 1889. This is a fascinating story and can be read here
After that we go over to Chinatown for that market, but cannot see anything looking remotely like a market. Kerry went into a clothes shop and asked the lady there about the market. She said that she tried to start a Chinatown Market, but the council objected: “too much competition” they said apparently.
Then we went to Woolies to fill up with fuel and do some more shopping. Later in the day, I scootered down to Cable Beach expecting, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, to find it packed. But no! Not nearly as many people there as were yesterday.
23 July – Maintenance day
It was a very misty damp morning – very unusual and unexpected. On average Broome has 22 foggy days each year mostly from June to September. The fog is formed when the perfect conditions come together. You need a very gentle afternoon sea breeze, and then an equally gentle reversal of that wind over night. These winds will carry wet air from over the sea inland where cool dry season temperatures can condense the water into airborne droplets.
I had a scoot down to the beach and then went to the office to enquire about an auto electrician. Allvolts Power were strongly recommended. I gave them a call but unfortunately they do not come to the van – we have to take it to them. We went down to talk to then about it and agreed that we would bring Mobi there at 1.30. Hating the thought of packing up, even if we could leave all the outside stuff on site, we had to get the battery problem fixed.
In the meantime we went to a few places to get a replacement filter cartridge for the kitchen sink. Finally we went to ThinkWater and got a cartridge there for $99.00 – a bit expensive we thought. Then we went to get Mobi ready, a bit worried that it the battery is not charged – the test button shows red – how will the brakes work?
At Allvolts, it is quickly determined that the battery is not charging properly nor holding a charge – it’s a dud. In a 10 month old van that is disappointing, but we are assured that this happens occasionally. It may have spent a long time on the shelf before installation. But the new battery should last lt least 3 years. I also spoke to them about installing the holder I had bought on the internet for the Andersen plug in the vain hope that it prevent it separating and smashing on the road again.
As well we got them to fix the 4g aerial which had come loose, as I cannot get up to it without a ladder, and the van park will not lend me a ladder – “it’s OH&S”, I was told. I mentioned this to the boss at Allvolts and he asked if we had seen the new collapsible aluminium ladders he was selling. We went inside to have a look and these are amazing. The 4-step one which we would need folds up into a bag only 120mmx60mm. I took one out to test it against the van and I reckon I could at least reach up and clean the solar panels. We took one home at $149, and it fitted easily into the rear boot in Mobi. Back at the van park we had little trouble backing Mobi in again, and I did indeed clean the solar panels. We are now carrying 3 ladders (yes THREE).
We also found that Lilian and Jon had arrived back from Cape Leveque and in fact were on the very next site to us. We had thought it was their van we were looking at. They had had a great time camping out – the road was awful, they said, corrugations, dust and terrible drivers going far too fast. So everything was covered in dust and dirt and they were in a massive cleaning up stage when we got there, which lasted all afternoon.
That night we went to the restaurant next to the van park where the Monday night special is spag bol with garlic bread for $15. This was ok, but from from great. Unfortunately, Lilian and Jon were leaving the next day.
24 July – to James Price Point
Another of the foggy days greeted us, with everything damp again. We chatted to Jon and Lilian as they packed to go, also getting ourselves ready for a day out to James Price Point on the western side of the Dampier Peninsular, but only 50km of so up. There was no way we were going to drive the over 200km to the top of the peninsular, especially as Jon had told us the road was awful. He had spent yesterday afternoon cleaning out his Cruiser. Then we said our goodbyes and we were off. We hope to see them again in Exmouth or some such wonderful place.
We drove up the Cape Leveque Road for about 15km before turning left onto the Manari Road to James Price Point. This was just after the bitumen turned into dirt – here we go again. The road is fine in some parts, deepish sand on others and awful corrugations on other parts. Thankfully, these absolutely awful sections were not very long.
At Quondong Point, we went down a side track to the coast.
We were amazed to see that there were many little areas off the track, high up above the beach, where campers and caravaners were set up with a glorious view to the sea. The views are stunning. This place is really beautiful and this handful of people have the most perfect camping spot you could thing of. We walked down to the beach and then about a km to the south. Such a lovely place, with Kerry lagging behind picking up shells and unique little rocks.
We moved on to James Price Point. The location is believed to be named after the Minister for Works who died in 1910. The indigenous name of the area is Walmadany.
It is a stunning place, and to think it was nearly destroyed in the name of progress. James Price Point was just another camping spot north of Broome until 2009 when it was chosen as the State Government’s preferred location for a precinct to process gas from the extensive fields in the off-shore Browse Basin. From then it has been the centre of a storm of opposition with concerns about impacts on Aboriginal Heritage, surrounding communities and the natural environment. Attention initially focussed on the red sandy cliffs and large intertidal rocky shoreline, it became apparent that Cretaceous dinosaur footprints extending from Broome, through the development area, and right along the 200 kilometre coastline of the Dampier Peninsula was going to be a key feature.
The aborigines take the fossilised footprints on the beach for the footprints of Emu-man, their ancestor in the “dream time”. A 2016 study of the footprints by the University of Queensland confirmed they are the largest collection of dinosaur footprints in the world and contain the world’s largest single print. Indications of 21 separate dinosaur species from the Cretaceous period have been identified. In 2013, the Supreme Court of Western Australia overruled WA Environment Minister and the WA Environmental Protection Authority and blocked the proposed Browse LNG plan. Thank heavens! Don’t you just love it – the misnomer that an “Environmental Protection Authority”. They couldn’t give a toss about the environment. They should re-name the state bodies to “EVA’s” (Environmental Vandalism Authorities).
The area is simply stunning, even if we did not know anything about the dinosaur footprints, nor indeed see any. The red cliffs provide a magnificent back drop to the vast rock shelf and rugged cliffs closer to the sea. How could anyone have approved the destruction of this incredible landscape?
From here we headed back south but thought it may be nicer to take the coastal track rather then back on the horrible corrugated road. So we went back to Quondong Point and turned left up the track. It was very narrow and we were concerned about scratching the car again.
We got to Cape Boileau and got out to the ocean again. This time we were staring at the strangest rocks we have seen. Extraordinary conglomerate formations with little holes and fissures but looking a bit like coral stone but hard and prickly – but best let the pictures fo the talking. There were so many “tube” formations too. incredible.
Oh, and it was a beautiful beach as well.
What an amazing day we had.
25 July – around Broome
No fog this morning, just the promise of another great day. We are going to look at Gantheaume Point and see where that takes us. We know that this is where you can see the dinosaur footprint, but the tides this week are not low enough. We really did not know what to expect. But it was awesome!
As we arrives at the point, admiring the most amazing house right at the point – used to be the lighthouse keepers “cottage” – we meet a lady that tells us that there are whales out there. I ran back to get the zoom lens and Kerry took the camera out to see what was happening. There were indeed whales out there, but a little too far away to get a great shot. But, as always, it was wonderful just watching them frolic in the water.
The rock formations on the Point are brilliant – it seems that we are presented with new types of formations all along this coast. A truly amazing place.
Kerry had seen what she initially thought was the nest of a sea eagle – we later found out it was an osprey. The nest was up the tower of the lighthouse and we could see the chick stomping around and demanding his parents do better. One of the parents came back with a fish for the stroppy youngster. In fact there were 2 adults – mainly with one staying with the nest, but they did both fly off at one stage and both came back almost together…. Magnificent birds.
From there we took the dirt road around to Entrance Point, stopping on the way at Reddell Beach. I am running out of superlatives – for the beach and the rock formation that frame it. We spent ages there – just walking the beach looking at the rock features and Kerry looking for shells, especially those with little hermit crabs. We reluctantly moved on. So many tiny crabs scurrying along in their “homes”
Entrance Point is next to the harbour and jetty – the jetty is off limits with security guards. We walked around the area – it had a good boat ramp – and then looked for the cafe there. It is in a lovely setting but the food prices were way over the top. We had been looking for a tea/coffee and cake or sandwich, but all that was offered was extremely expensive full meals. For lunch – not for us?
What an absolutely amazing morning… we started off to look at a view over the ocean and saw whales frolicking, a breeding pair of Ospreys and (at least 1) chick, lots of little hermit crabs, so many lovely shells and rocks, and so very many other birds too.
26 July – around Broome
Another lazy day for us., just mooching around town. We went to have a look at Town Beach, which is pretty nice, although the caravan park at one end does not add to a lovely setting. From here we can see that the mangroves get much denser and more extensive towards the town, explaining why the town has no ocean view. But out at Town Beach is a good swimming spot.
We went to the museum nearby, and spent a fascinating time there. The pearling industry and how it was managed must represent a really dark period in the history of this area. The racial issues were staggering, initially by kidnapping the aboriginal people to do the diving – no white person would do that – and then later with the Japanese. Racial segregation was prominent even up to the 1970s.
My hair has been such a mess, I treated myself to a colour, conditioner and trim…. So much better. Highly recommend Shaggahs in Chinatown. He did a fantastic job.
Later afternoon we drove the short distance to Cable Beach to take Mobi for a run along the sand. This is an excellent beach to drive on as the sand is so firm. We got the drone out and tried to get some brilliant footage, but it was such bright day it was hard to see what was going on. Brilliant it was not, but a few pics turned out OKt.
Further on it did become a nudie beach, but there is so much space and relatively few people, that no-one could get offended. On the run back we came across 3 camel walks underway – we still have no interest in this.
Back at Mobi, I found that the drone video had not worked – invalid format, it said. So we will have to go down and do it again tomorrow.
26 July – around Broome
Another perfect day. I had an early scoot down to Cable Beach to see what high tide looks like. It is quite a way up the beach so we will wait until the afternoon to redo the drone shots. In the morning we got ready for the cruise – we get picked up at 8am tomorrow. We are limited to a soft bag of 10kg max so we need to pack carefully. I also updated the blog. Kerry went in for a pedicure and manicure.
Thankfully, we have 10kg EACH and Des’s bag weighs a ton. Great pedicure, but they were so busy it was a perfunctory manicure to say the least.
In the afternoon we went back to cable beach. But I was still having format problems with the sd card. But I did get a few more good pics.
That evening we had dinner with Barb & Keith at the local craft brewery, Matsos. The beer was good, but the company even better. A bit sad as we will part company here – they have to make a quackish trip down to Perth and back over to NSW and home. While we can linger over much the same journey. But it has been great that we could spend time together in this wonderful part of our country.
To see the photos from this post, click here
To see the video from this post, click here