Holiday Blog: Broome - Western Australia

We arrived in Broome today with perfect weather for a magical docking. I watched the pilot boat come alongside the ship. A rope ladder was rolled out from the ship and the local Harbour pilot climbed up the ladder holding onto two ropes while both ship and pilot boat were moving. It was like something out of James Bond!

The ship inched towards the dock perfectly straight and parallel with the wharf. Docking was so smooth I didn't feel it. Had to look to check we'd actually landed. 😀 We docked about 11.30am due to the tides and it was very interesting to watch.

I went on a tour today to a pearling museum. The industry had quite a tragic history of injustice against various groups, particularly the local indigenous people. I wasn't aware that the initial attraction was the pearl shells which were used to make buttons, rather than pearls themselves. Only 1 in 5000 shells contains a natural pearl so they were very rare. This pearl she'll is resting on my knees so that gives an idea of its size!

The Japanese figured out how to seed the pearls and also how to grow them in 2 years instead of 4. Once plastic was invented in the 1950s pearl shells became worthless.

Next stop was a crocodile reserve which was a safe haven for crocodiles. We saw them being fed and were thoroughly informed about the behaviour of crocodiles and the need to be wise around them. They can be very clever but are also largely predictable so danger can be avoided with a little knowledge.