Broome

Yes, you do need a four-wheel drive to get almost anywhere.

We were fortunate to be able to add a two-day trip to Broome to our itinerary. Broome is located on the northwest coast of Australia a long ways from Perth which is a long ways from anywhere else. A rather small town, it is famous for its pearls which are some of the finest in the world. If you believe their hype, they are THE finest in the world. I’m not competent to judge, but the ones we saw are beautiful.

Our hotel

We arrived Broome about 2:30 and went to pick up our rental car. The agent told us we really wanted to upgrade to a 4-wheel drive if we wanted to drive on any dirt roads. We thought this was a bit harsh, but went along as it was only an extra $40 for the three days we would be using the car. After checking into our hotel we headed out and quickly discovered we really needed a 4-wheeler.

I could walk to the shoreline through the mangrove forest below our hotel

Mangrove forest and beautiful waters.

Our intent was to check out the Broome Bird Observatory about 15 kilometers out of town. After only 5 kilometers our GPS turned us onto a single track road that was both rough and soft. After only a few hundred meters of that, we decided that as late in the afternoon it was, we would ask about the road tomorrow and headed out another direction towards the pearl farms. This road also quickly turned into a soft, rough road. However, in this case we had a map and knew we were headed in the right direction even though at one point we were following a set of flags that were set out to designate the correct track. While we never had to shift into the 4-wheel option, we were certainly glad it was there and fully understood the restrictions. Our guess is that the roads that were still off-limits were ones where we would have to cross flooded areas that might even require one of the snorkels we saw on lots of vehicles.

After about 15 kilometers of dirt, we arrived at Willie Creek Pearl Farm. They had closed for the day, so we just looked around for a while and headed back to town. That’s probably all we would have done anyway as they charge for the tours of the place and their retail store is in town. Once back in town we headed out to Gantheaume Point to see the sunset, another dirt road. The agent was right. We would have been able to do very little with a two-wheel drive unlike in some places, where we have taken a no dirt roads as an advisory.

Gantheaume Point in the afternoon sun

Such beautiful sculpted rocks

After our morning visit to the Broome Bird Observatory, we headed back to town for some exploration there, had a great lunch by the port and headed back to Gantheaume Point to see it in the daylight. We discovered an amazingly colorful, rocky point, another place to add to the litany of beautiful Australian coastline views. We ended the day with some wine and cheese in our room.

Sunset at Gantheaume Point

After breakfast and checking out we headed out to Cable Beach to see the #3 rated beach in the world. Beautiful white sand kissed by the blue waters of the Indian Ocean do create a special place for beachgoers. I suppose it helps that the town is so isolated that the crowds never become unbearably large like they do at other beaches.

Cable Beach

Since our plane didn’t leave until 5:00 we still had time to have lunch and visit some of the pearl shops in town. The history of pearls in Broome is quite a story beginning with Aboriginal pearling before the European invasion. Over the following years, pearls were collected by naked divers, some of whom were virtual slaves from Asia, and helmeted divers. This history has made Broome another of Australia’s multicultural towns. Today, the pearls are farmed making the job much safer and involving a lot fewer workers. The pearls themselves are beautiful and priced accordingly.

Statue honoring the man whose vision built the Broome tourist industry.

I don’t know if we'll ever make it back to Broome, but I am certainly glad we took the two days to travel there on this trip. It will be one of the more memorable parts of this trip.

Australian white ibis enjoying our pool