Cable Beach, Broome WA

Cable Beach in Broome.

There are no high-rise buildings at Cable Beach or in Broome.

Cable Beach is a 22 kilometres (14 mi) stretch of beach near Broome, Western Australia. Cable Beach was named after the telegraph cable laid between Broome and Java in 1889.
Last year, on or about 25 Feb. 2014, a 12-foot (approx. 4 metre) long saltwater crocodile caused a brief but excited shutdown of this beach to all public swimming.

Broome is an isolated town, many people drive onto the beach taking a bottle of wine, food, table and chairs and have their evening meal on the beach in the northern part of the beach.
There are cricket games, footballs teams, all kinds of activities some late afternoons where by people entertain themselves.

There are so many people that come each evening to see the sunset.

The first two photos is where people who don't have a vehicle come to lay on the beach.

There is a large carpark plus restaurants, the surf club, lots of green grass with manicured lawn along a small area before heading down the steps to the beach.

This is the northern area where you can get on a camel and off you go at sunset.  I did hear that the camels do go other times in the day as well.

Me cooling off.  Yes, I have my handbag with me, well can't leave it ashore.

The above photo gives you the idea of an afternoon on the sand.

Broome WA

Broome in Western Australia.

First ever visit to Broome we were not wrapped in the town.  Second time we loved it, and of course this last time we still loved it, in Broome.
There are a few older posts of the sunsets looking from Cable Beach, and there is nothing like the sunsets there. I shall post some more later.

Broome is a coastal, pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, 2,240 km (1,390 mi) north of Perth. The permanent population is estimated at 14,436, growing to over 45,000 per month during the tourist season.  Broome International Airport provides transport to several domestic destinations.
 
The town has a deep history based around the men and women who developed the pearling industry, starting with the harvesting of oysters for mother of pearl in the 1880s to the current major cultured pearl farming enterprises.
At first, aborigines were blackbirded (enslaved) and forced to dive naked, with little or no equipment. Especially pregnant girls were used as they were believed to have superior lung capacity. In 2010 the Shire of Broome and Kimberley commissioned a Memorial to the Indigenous Female Pearl Divers.
When slavery was abolished and diving suits were needed for deeper diving, Asians and islanders were given the dangerous job instead. Especially Japanese were valued for their experience. The riches from the pearl beds did not come cheaply, however, and the town's Japanese cemetery is the resting place of 919 Japanese divers who lost their lives working in the industry. Many more were lost at sea, and the exact number of deaths is unknown. The Japanese were only one of the major ethnic groups who flocked to Broome to work on the luggers or the shore based activities supporting the harvesting of oysters from the waters around Broome. They were specialist divers and, despite being considered enemies, became an indispensable part of the industry until World War II.

Headstones in the Japanese Cemetery

Each year Broome celebrates this fusion of different cultures in an annual cultural festival called Shinju Matsuri (Japanese for festival of the pearl) which celebrates the Asian influenced culture brought here by the pearling industry


Broome was attacked at least four times by Japanese aircraft during the Second World War, and the worst attack was the 3 March 1942 air raid in which at least 88 people (mostly civilians who were refugees from the Dutch East Indies) were killed.

Racial segregation was common in Broome until the 1970s.
Broome entered into a sister city agreement with Taiji, Japan in 1981 as historic ties between the two towns date back to the early 1900s, when Japan became instrumental in laying the groundwork of Broome's pearling industry.  Wikipedia

The shopping centre is called Chinatown.

The main street in Chinatown, Broome at the top end of it.

The photo below is down the street a little.

 

You will notice that none of the buildings have gutters on them.  This is because of the rainy season, the gutters would not hold the water.

Pearls are sold in many shop, some exclusively.

An arcade.

Pioneers in the cultured pearl industry.

Open aired picture theater in the main street.

Fitzroy Crossing WA

Back to travelling Western Australia 2015

Fitzroy Crossing is a small town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, 400 kilometres east of Broome and 300 kilometres west of Halls Creek. It is approximately 2,524 kilometres from the state capital of Perth.

The photo below is of the old crossing, once it was the only way to go via vehicle to Derby and Broome.  The second photo is the river bed but of course in the 'big wet' the water flows.

Two houses at Fitzroy Crossing.  It's a nice little town with one IGA Supermarket.  Hospital, Court of Law which is being built (a new one).

Part of the Caravan Park.  The Amenities being up on the hill, you can just see the building.  The drainage from the showers and washing machines comes down the hill, all the way around thus keeping the grass green.

Just up the road, the sunrise the morning we left.

On our way to Broome WA

The boab tree which I posted when travelling.

Nearly to Broome, just 166 kms to go.

This is Willare Bridge where fuel can be bought for the last leg of the journey to Broome.

Tessellated Pavement, Eaglehawke Neck, Tasmania

Again this month my husband and I headed off to the southern area of our island State of Tasmania for just over one weeks stay at Cambridge about 10km from the State Capital Hobart.  We visited Eaglehawke Neck - see the Location map at the bottom of this post.

Tessellated Pavement, Tasmania.

The most well known example of a tessellated pavement is the Tessellated Pavement that is found at Lufra, Eaglehawk Neck on the Tasman Peninsula of Tasmania. This tesselated pavement consists of a marine platform on the shore of Pirates Bay, Tasmania. This example consists of two types of formations: a pan formation and a loaf formation.
The pan formation is a series of concave depressions in the rock that typically forms beyond the edge of the seashore. This part of the pavement dries out more at low tide than the portion abutting the seashore, allowing salt crystals to develop further; the surface of the "pans" therefore erodes more quickly than the joints, resulting in increasing concavity
The loaf formations occur on the parts of the pavement closer to the seashore, which are immersed in water for longer periods of time. These parts of the pavement do not dry out so much, reducing the level of salt crystallisation. Water, carrying abrasive sand, is typically channelled through the joints, causing them to erode faster than the rest of the pavement, leaving loaf-like structures protruding.
Wikipedia.

The walk to see these pavements is a short one, and you can go down to the sea to have a better look.

Part of Pirates Bay, Eaglehawke Neck, Tasmania.

To Geikie Gorge WA

Geikie Gorge National Park is a national park in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, 1,837 kilometres northeast of Perth and approximately 420 km east of Broome by road.
The Gorge is not far from Fitzroy Crossing in WA.

Geikie Gorge has been carved by the Fitzroy River through part of an ancient limestone barrier reef which snakes across the west Kimberley. It was laid down in an ancient sea that covered a large part of the Kimberley in Devonian times, some 350 million years ago.

There are Freshwater Crocodiles up the Gorge, these are smaller than saltwater ones.

Previous post on the Gorge [ here ]

The Guides on the tour.

Fitzroy River - when it rains in the big wet (summer time) it can and does flood

Sunset on the way home from Geikie Gorge WA

Scenery along the way to Fitzroy Crossing

From Kununurra To Fitzroy Crossing WA, a Map below.
Shown in blue the highway we took, in fact it's the only road that I know of.
We left early in the morning from Kununurra arriving at Fitzroy Crossing after a 648 klm drive ( 403 miles approx.) in a day, taking 7 hours.
One small town between called Halls Creek.


During this day trip I took several photos from the moving vehicle - if they are a bit blurred you know why.

So beginning with the late sunrise on the highway.  Not that the sunrise was late :) it was difficult in that particular area to get a photo before the sunrise disappeared.

 

 

 

The above three photos are of Mary Poole which is a rest area/overnight stay or longer for caravans, motorhomes.  No power, no water, it's dusty, sandy and dry.  Cattle can wander around though we didn't see any there.
The above photo is the creek with certainly no sign of water.  We just called in but continued on.

As we travelled along this lonely highway in the distance we saw flashing lights, lots of vehicles, then we saw a caravan in the bush in one piece without a vehicle attached.
The closer we came to the flashing lights it was easy to see, the fire brigade, the police and an ambulance.  Spotted was this 4 wheel drive burnt and still smoking hot.
Presume the man with the fire extinguisher in one hand and water in the other was the owner.
How he got the caravan unhitched by himself was a miracle.
 

Ord River, Ivanhoe Crossing, Kununurra WA.

Continuing Kununurra.  A selection of photos.

A Tortoise in the Ord River up stream.

Not far from the Tortoise

The Ord River near the bridge.

Ord River and the Restaurant which is near the Golf Course.

Part of the town.

Kelly's Knob a lookout.

The View.

Ivanhoe Crossing where people can fish but beware of the Crocodiles.  The crossing itself has been closed for while due to structural damage.

Ivanhoe Crossing takes it's name from Ivanhoe Station a large Cattle Station.

Aboriginals at Ivanhoe Crossing.

A chit chat near the crossing.