Broome

After three weeks of traveling up the coast I reached Broome, my final destination in Western Australia. To be honest, a part of me felt relieved to be done with WA. I loved the beautiful, secluded beaches but I was beginning to feel a little too secluded. Not to say that Broome isn't also isolated-- in fact the closest city to Broome is Bali. Yes you read that correctly: the closest city to Broome, Australia is not another city in its own country, rather an island in Indonesia-- but the town is big enough to have Vodafone (my Australian phone provider) signal, two supermarkets, and a McDonald's which offers every backpacker's favorite thing: FREE WIFI!

What started as a pearling town in the 1880s has turned into a popular vacation spot for Australians during the dry season, which lasts from April to September. Broome isn't huge, but the major attractions aren't ideally located and I also wanted to learn more about the town's history, so I decided to do a sightseeing tour. I visited during the first week in April so it wasn't very busy yet, which explains why I was the only person on the tour (again). The guide took me all over town, stopping at the courthouse, Cable Beach, Gantheaume Point, Chinatown, the Broome Museum, Town Beach, and finally the Japanese cemetery. My favorite stop of the day was Gantheaume Point, which is where the lighthouse stands. The orange cliffs are strikingly beautiful and it's here where 120 million old dinosaur tracks were found. I mean, how cool is that? I also enjoyed the Broome Museum; it focused on the history or pearl mining and the dangers Japanese and Chinese divers faced during the early days. I very much enjoyed the tour and learned a lot more than I ever expected.

The next day I decided to relax on Cable Beach. I had heard from many Australians that Cable Beach was their personal favorite and I have to say I was not disappointed. The water was the warmest I've ever put my feet in, but I didn't dare go swimming, my tour guide had sufficiently scared me to death at the possibility of being stung by a jelly fish. That evening I went on a sunset camel ride on Cable Beach and then saw a movie with a few of my greyhound friends at Sun Pictures, the world's oldest open air cinema. My last day in Broome, Kelly and Jen (the girls I traveled with in Perth and Margaret River) arrived! Although we only had one afternoon together it was so nice to see them and catch up.

*** Sadly, I do not have any pictures from my day tour. My camera was acting up, so my guide insisted that I use his camera and then brought me to a Kodak shop at the end of the day to get a photo cd made... but when I went in the next day to pick it up the store was closed. Luckily, Kelly picked it up for me, so I will be able to post pictures when I get the cd form her (most likely after I get home in June).

The one and only Cable Beach.

As my sister Jackie would say, I decided to "treat" myself and rented an umbrella and chair for my day at the beach.

Hanging out with my camel, Harley.

It's hard to pick a favorite Australian sunset, but this is one was definitely in my top five. I'm not sure I've ever seen the sky to red (although it looks more orange in this picture).

I've been to outdoor cinemas before, but never an open air one. I liked that they had canvas chairs for us to sit on and that we could see the stars and a few airplanes fly above us.