Broome arriving and leaving

We have sailed over 2,500 km to get from Fremantle to Broome. From our last stop at Dampier it has taken a full day and most of an evening to reach Broome. Most of the passengers will have taken this time to pack in preparation for a very early disembarkation the following morning. Because we are going on, we could spend a leisurely day as few activities were scheduled.

What I'd been looking forward to on this trip was the opportunity to swim at Ningaloo. Even though this was possible only once reflecting on where we have been and what we have done, the journey has been a remarkable one. We have been taken to remote places generally inaccessible except with a relatively small ship or via zodiac. Some of the excursions have been quite unusual, particularly sailing around Montebello Islands where the nuclear testing took place, I had no expectation we would see anything, but in fact it was a very nice experience. The wildlife we have seen has also been a highlight. Whales are everywhere of course because they are migrating South and we are sailing through the same waters. They are often very close to the ship. We have also seen a wide variety of birds and one land animal, the wallabies. The weather caught everybody by surprise, but the captain and the expedition leader were able to always come up with a plan b and in some cases a plan c. It will be interesting to see when they do this again, if they do, how the trip might change.

It has been more than 10 years since we have been to Broome but not a lot seems to have changed, although there is much more development around the outskirts of the town and particularly the port. Given how many small cruise ships now sail up and down this Coast, it isn't a surprise that the port facilities had to be upgraded. I think more than anything else to get us off the ship while cleaning etc. was done, we were offered a trip to Willy Creek Pearl farm. My initial reaction to this was oh not another bloody Pearl farm. However, the day turned out to be a lot more interesting than I expected.

The drive to Willie Creek was really interesting, a lot of low scrub and quite substantial trees in places contrasting against the red sand. It's a beautiful day and finally we have a 35° day but it is surprisingly mild as there is no real humidity. We see brolgas at a distance challenging to get a picture. I am surprised that there is actually a very wide tidal creek. At the farm itself we are introduced yet again to the process of seeding an oyster and harvesting. What was interesting though with this demonstration was a camera was placed over one of the skilled workers who retrieved a pearl and reseeded the oyster. Even more fascinating is that they have been participating in a research project with the University of WA investigating how the calcium carbonate of the oyster shells can be used to help with the repair of bones in people. They're very close to the trial stage.

A small electric powered boat is used to collect the oysters, which are taken in, cleaned, pearls harvested and reseeded before being taking back out to sea, The roof of the boat is made just of solar panels. We're given more information about the maintenance of oysters, it's quite a process to make sure they are clean and in good condition. Of course there is always the retail opportunity and of course their pearls are the best in the world. One long string $32,000.

The family's a little way out of town and there are numerous birds. A small bird bath attracts the attention of zebra finches and a red-headed Honey eater Myzomela, I manage to take pictures of both which has its challenges because they pause to drink water for only a second. Also discover how to identify a bird from a photo I've taken. Also a kite observes us leaving the small boat used to show us oyster beds.

There is a shuttle from the port to the center of town, I want to pick up a couple of things from a chemist and so we're dropped a little way out of town to find a chemist that's open because today is Sunday. That's all good but to get back to the ship we need to take a taxi. Not really a problem. It's always good to be back on board before the next lot of passengers arrive.Leggi altro