Willie Creek

We made an impromptu decision to leave Broome late in the afternoon and made our way to Willie Creek, arriving there in the dark. In the morning we woke to see we were parked above the banks of the creek, it was low tide and the water was 5 or 6 metres metres below the rocky creek bed edge. Later in the morning we watched the tide come in and I was amazed at how quickly it moves. We did a tour of the Willie Creek Pearl Farm a couple of days later and were told that the tide moves in at about 30 kilometres an hour.
We both tried our hand at fishing and I actually landed three fish, two only good for bait, and one bream big enough for brunch. We stayed here for 4 nights, and caught no more fish, but not for lack of trying!!

On day two a local girl and two young guys (indigenous )turned up and drove right down onto the beach where it meets the rocks. Between them they caught 4 good sized bream and ate two of them there and then on a little fire they built alongside their 4 x 4 vehicle. They caught them with hand lines baited with squid and just dropped over the edge, no fancy rods or anything.
Just before they left, one of the guys came over to us with two of the fish scaled and cleaned and asked if we wanted them. Naturally we said yes!!!
He said they had already eaten two fish and they were happy to show some local generosity.

The Pearl Farm Tour was pretty good, interesting to learn how a pearl is grown inside an oyster shell. The tour went for about 2 1/2 hours and involved showing us how and where an irritant is placed inside an oyster shell, then the shell is placed in racks and suspended in water in the right environment for about 2 years before a pearl is harvested.
There was a cruise up and down the creek for as bit of sight seeing and to show us how they hang the oyster racks in the water and check them for cleaning.
Finally a lesson on how they value the pearls according to the 5 rules, which are Size, Shape, Colour, Complexion and Lustre. One necklace he showed us cost a mere $35,000.Leer más