Wednesday, July 15, 2015

western australia: broome

Amanda and Gavin and their two kids from Sydney met us in Broome for a holiday! When they told us they wouldn't be in Broome until late June we had to think how we'd fill in the nine weeks from Perth to Broome up the west coast. Thanks to them we slowed right down and were able to really enjoy some places along the way! 

Our eight night stay in Broome soon became twelve because we were having such a great time. There's so much to see and do and it was fun being with old friends! Miss P's new friend, Pippa, also celebrated her fourth birthday with a pool party in the caravan park which was fun!


What a visit to Broome without a ride along Cable Beach on these guys? Camels are roaming free throughout the top from the days when Afghani cameleers travelled through. Some are captured and spend the rest of their days giving joy rides to tourists like us! 



The Malcolm Douglas Wildlife Park was another attraction on our list. The kids were given the chance to hold these little salties before a croc-feeding tour. It was incredible to see how primitive these creatures are.  




We were in Broome at just the right time to see the dinosaur footprints off Gantheaume Point and the staircase to the moon. Both were far more impressive than we'd expected. 

The first night we ate dinner from the markets at Town Beach while we watched the moon rise. A great place to watch the second night of the staircase is at the Mangrove Hotel who put on food and music. 

I also had a good long browse through the collection of books published by Magabala Books in town. They publish books, fiction and non fiction, for all ages by Indigenous authors and I came away with a handful of great resources. 

The Cygnet Bay showroom (one of the only three farms in Australia) holds free demonstrations. You can watch a pearl being extracted from an oyster and a talk about pearl farming. We really enjoyed this. 

If you do want to buy a Broome pearl then you may be buying a pearl from Broome but it's worth checking if the pearl was produced in Australia. I was surprised to learn that the majority of south sea pearls sold in Broome are from overseas! 

The Japanese cemetery is worth a visit in town. 

A little deli/cafe down the road from our accomodation at Cable Beach Caravan Park (which we recommend) was The Zookeepers Store. They sell a small selection of gourmet foods. The coffee was good (not great) and a mug came in a cup not much bigger than a regular cup size. Their food, however, was most impressive with housemade calzone, sweet pastries and goodies. 


The Blue Buddha Sanctuary next door to Cable Beach Caravan Park is a must if you like your yoga! My friend Miranda and I enjoyed our early yoga mornings followed by Zookeeper calzone!  

If you're in to your sports you should check out websites for local games. We caught a couple of games of AFL with the local teams in town. Those tall lads can jump! 


The markets are held the grounds of the courthouse every Saturday morning. There's the usual wares you'd expect at a market in Broome - sarongs, pearls (imported), jewellery, some fresh produce and a variety of food. I bought myself two gorgeous dresses from Unfurl. 


The two dads took themselves out on a fishing charter one morning and came back with quite a catch! I think there were four fish caught between them including two snapper and this impressive Spanish Mackerel. We enjoyed fresh fish and we'll be eating it from the freezer for weeks to come! 


The Cable Beach Caravan Park is just around the corner from the beach so when our little one was waking up at 5:30 we rode him down to the beach in the trailer. 


It was my birthday while we were in Broome too so my husband hailed a pedicab and they rode he, Baby A and I down to the beach for sunset. Our kids watched movies with our friends, the Wrights while we were treated to a night out. Thanks Em & James!!

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