We had originally booked a week in Broome but scrolling through tourist brochures that I had picked up in caravan park laundrys along the way, I had begun to think that wasn’t going to be enough. Subsequently we had rung and extended by a couple of nights and I was looking forward to being in the same place for an extended period as well as finally having good internet.
The RAC Cable Beach Caravan Park was very busy but we scored good sites next to one another and close to the pool 😂
Unfortunately, the internet was crap, no catching up on the blog here. Quickly getting over that disappointment we headed down to Cable Beach for the quintessential Broome sunset.
It would be the first of many beautiful sunsets that we experienced in and around Broome.
One of my favourite spots was Gantheaume Point. A lighthouse was erected here as early as 1905 and the current one is still operational albeit on mains electricity, nowhere near as romantic as the need for a lighthouse keeper and kerosene fuel but infinitely more reliable I’m sure.
Gantheaume Point is also famous for its dinosaur footprints. The fossilized footprints are located on the flat rocks 30 meters out to the sea and can only be seen at low tide. The tracks are 130 million years old and extend in patches for 80 kilometers along the coast. We didn’t see them but there are (somewhat tacky) plaster casts more easily accessible to the everyday tourist.
For me though, the stunning red sandstone cliffs juxtaposed with the pristine turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean were the real attraction.
The following night we had booked a sunset cruise aboard the 42 foot yacht ‘Ballena’ – equipped with an onboard bar that served delicious mango daiquiris 😉 and canapes whilst cruising off Cable Beach for a few hours. We also saw the iconic Cable Beach camels which we were to see up close and personal the following evening.
Steph had done the camel tour some years previously and had ridden “Alice” but unfortunately Alice is getting on in years and not up to taking two passengers any longer. We were therefore mounted atop Mufasa, a handsome camel with a penchant for biting so he was sporting a muzzle ‘as a precaution.’
The sunset tonight was unfortunately impacted by ongoing fires in the area but we still enjoyed the experience overall.
Steph was hoping to re hash old memories with Alice after the ride but to be honest I don’t think Alice recognised her 😉
Interesting fact about our ride Mufasa, he was caught near Curtin Springs in central Australia as a four year old and then ridden to Broome along with two other camels!
The journey took three months and he learnt his craft en route. Camels are often shot by station owners as they are present in huge numbers and eat valuable feed so the organisation we rode with sources theirs sustainably as in Mufasa’s case.
We also learnt that in the Middle East there are camel beauty contests and some entrants have been known to attach fake eye lashes and use Botox!!!
The next day we ventured north, stopping at Willie Creek Oyster Farm (no purchases except ice creams) and then continuing further along a (terrible) dirt road to James Price Point.
James Price Point is home to more dinosaur prints. A 2016 study of the footprints here 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. We didn’t know this at the time but the striking red cliffs made the trip worthwhile anyway.
The next day for a complete change of pace, Russell and I decided to tick another thing off of our bucket list and we booked a fishing charter.
The day kicked off with a bus pick up at 0730 for the transfer to Cable Beach and then the amphibious boat transfer from the beach to the big boat.
Each person was then given a coloured paper clip, this colour would be used to tag all of our catches so that after crew had cleaned and filletted the fish we would take home our own catch.
There was a considerable swell happening and it was all we could do keep our feet at the first stop and I was very thankful for the Kwells that I had taken at breakfast time!
The fish didn’t seem to mind though and we were getting good bites immediately.
My first catch was a Red Emperor, apparently beautiful eating but which unfortunately was undersize. It was the only one I got a photo of though as the pace was fast and furious. We would anchor, lines overboard and fish until the sharks found us and started following our catch in then lines out and move on to another spot. The deckhands were great, helping with any problems and assisting with hauling in some BIG fish as well as cleaning them in between stops when I could hardly stand upright let alone fillet fish 😂
In between stops we would trawl for tuna and Spanish Mackerel (my new fave fish) and when a fish was “on” we all had a turn at reeling in the really big ones. This was back breaking! The deckhand explained that normally you would let the line play out and let the tuna tire itself out but in our case the sharks were loitering and we had to get them in as quickly as possible.
The tuna (5) and spanish mackerel (2) were divided amongst all of us and at the end of the day Russell and I went home with 5.5 kg of fish and a grin our faces. Hopefully that won’t be our last fishing trip.
On our last day we found another picturesque beach near the town jetty and managed to get the drone in the air for a short while until the local brown kites got a little too friendly and I had to land for safety reasons! Mother Nature’s wardrobe in this part of the world is so so beautiful, I don’t think I could manage the climate in the wet but the scenery is as good as anything I’ve seen in my travels so far.
As our nine days in Broome came to an end we completed our stay in Broome as we had begun, with a final sunset watching the camels on the beach and the cruises off shore.
Tomorrow, off to Derby and Horizontal Falls….
4 thoughts on “Broome”