Friday 4 December 2015

Roebuck Bay WA

Broome Port, cruise ships visit here sometimes.

The Port of Broome has played a vital role in the past 126 years in the development of the North West of Australia.  On 10 August 1889, just five years after Broome was founded, the Broome Port was proclaimed as a Warehousing Port.
In the first years the Port did not have a wharf to operate from so vessels would come in on the tide and sit on the bottom once the waters receded. Cargo was lowered over the sides of ships and carried to shore.

In 1896 the State Government awarded a contract to J Wishart & Sons for the construction of a 2,953 feet (about 900 metres) wharf at Mangrove Point (Town Beach) which was completed the following year.
 
The wharf was the headquarters of the pearling fleet, and essential to the cattle industry - a tradition which has continued into modern times. The Port was connected to the town by a tramway line which ran from Chinatown to the end of the wharf.
The wharf served as a 'spring tide port' and trading vessels could only enter and leave port on spring high tides. At low tide the flat bottomed vessels would rest on the muddy sand.

Construction on the present deepwater wharf at Entrance Point began in February 1964 and was officially opened in July 1966. The state of the Port's infrastructure received a substantial boost in 1996 when the Government approved a $3.9m deferred maintenance program.
Information above was copied from [ here ]



Roebuck Bay, Broome WA

In 1941 several Dutch flying boats arrived with refugees from the Dutch East Indies. While laying at anchor in this bay they were attacked by Japanese Zero-fighter planes. The flying boats were defenceless and they were repeatedly attacked and sprayed with bullets from machine-guns. A hundred men, women and children were killed, many of them drowned; others were incinerated by the burning fuel on the surface of the water.

The wrecks are still in situ, and several of them are visible a few days each year at extreme low tide.
 
Roebuck Bay, with its sheltered waters, was the site chosen for the undersea telegraph cable from Asia to come ashore in 1871, to continue overland to Perth. This line is not to be confused with the Australian Overland Telegraph Line.   Wikipedia 




The bay is apparently an excellent place for fishing and bird watching!








29 comments:

  1. After following you, I may become inclined to learn more about the places I visit. The history is interesting.

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    1. I never used to include history long ago but decided to, I wanted to know about most places I visited. Thus I have found it interesting to share..

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  2. The scars of war are evident in too many places.
    Which is such a shame. Roebuck Bay looks a truly beautiful spot.

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    1. Lovely area. I didn't realise all the history until I begun to search for it...

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  3. MARGARET PEACEFUL BEACH SIMP[LY PARADISE

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  4. Draws attention , those rocky areas, contrasting with the plain of the sand .

    Kisses

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  5. The water seems so still, it almost looks like glass.

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    1. It does look like glass. Most days we visited it looked like that..

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  6. My husband and I both just love these photos of the ocean! So pretty.

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  7. The old pier was nearly one kilometre long but still not far out enough to reach deep water. How awful for the Dutch/Indonesian refugees, to make it to apparent safety and then be killed.

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  8. Great historical account. That one big chunk of rock looks like part of a petrified tree trunk,

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  9. The history of Broome is quite fascinating, beached boats having to wait for the tides, being attacked during the war and of course the Pearling industry.
    I love that rock formation.

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    1. It is interesting. Being so far from most of us we don't hear what goes on up there in Broome, now or in the past.

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  10. Your beach photos are stunning. It is a very beautiful place and you have captured it beautifully. Love the eroded rocks.

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    1. Thank you..great rocks and shapes there in and around Broome.

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  11. Thanks, Margaret, for the beautiful photos and history lesson! I've always been fascinated by ships and ports, which is rather odd because I can't really have anything to do with boats as I get so seasick!

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    1. You are welcome.
      Gosh, that is a nuisance then getting sea sick..best fly or stay on land..

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  12. Interesting history and beautiful photos in your post.

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  13. Fascinating post, Margaret, and your photos are lovely!

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