The dry November heat was almost too much to handle when we first arrived in the town. The temperature was already in the 30’s (degrees) at 9:30 in the morning when we departed off the coach. We headed straight to the visitor center when we first arrived to check out the most cost effective things to do and how best to get around. Apparently the town is only big enough to warrant 1 local bus an hour at $4 per journey; well at least it was more than what Exmouth had to offer for public transport. We checked into our rooms at The Beaches Of Broome Hotel which was $24 per night and included free wifi and a continental breakfast. I must admit it was probably the best place I have stayed in Australia in the first 9 months and it also had a pool.
We walked to Cable Beach on the first evening to watch our friends ride the camels and watch the sunset. The guy walking at the back seemed to have picked the least desirable task having to pick up the camel droppings in what looked like a bag for life. I hope he was at least getting AWARD wage for that shitty job.
You weren’t allowed to take any pictures of the camels because they offered that as an extra charge to customers so I walked behind the camel train like a spy hiding in plain sight pretending to take pictures of the horizon whilst carrying out my duty of taking a couple of snaps of Katie and Alex to save them a little cash.
We headed into town the next day to check out the amenities and even saw globalized brands such as a McDonalds, we must be back in western civilization I thought. The Pearl shops were nice to look around and one particular jeweler had a old fashioned pearl ship at the back of the store where you could read up on the history of the farming. In the early days they used to get Aboriginal people to dive down for the pearls and risk life and limb for a pittance. In more modern times the Asian community and in particular the Japanese used to collect the pearls in the bay when the tide went out however there was a tragedy where hundreds drowned and are commemorated in the grave yard which you can look around to find out more.
The Sun Pictures cinema on the main shopping street is the oldest outdoor picture house in the World and was established in 1916. We went to watch ‘The Girl On The Train’ and it was the best cinematic experience I have ever had. You walk through the old wooden hinged doorways to see the original projectors they used to use and kept the vintage feel to the place. Deck chairs were laid out in rows spanning to the front and a grass patch and trees hugged the outsides of the screen on either side. Whilst we were watching the film there were Geckos running across the screen and bats swooping down from the trees they were nesting in. You could see the stars clearly from your seat; I must have missed half the film just looking around.
On the final night we went to witness the natural wonder which is the ‘Staircase To The Moon’. This is where the moon rises from the distant horizon and creates a silhouette on the surface of the water which looks like steps leading up to it. I must point out that we actually missed the initial part because we were on a lounger looking at Joe Biden Memes after the US Presidential election and thought the moon was scheduled to rise 10 minutes later than it did but oh well.
The majority of our time spent in Broome was in the pool and the hotel due to the high summer heat. As a coping mechanism I would sit in the pool for a couple of hours then sit in the shade afterwards. I thought it might be a fun idea to roll backwards in the water and learnt the hard way in a 1.2m pool by banging my nose and scraping my face on the floor. I rose out of the water like a scene from Deep Blue Sea with blood trickling down my face; what an idiot!
