Le jour 5 a été un changement bienvenu. Après 5 jours de conduite sur de longues distances, c'était agréable de passer la journée entière à Broome à explorer les sites touristiques. Nous avons pu regarder le lever du soleil sur Roebuck Bay en regardant en arrière vers la côte ouest australienne.
The weather was quite unusual with clear skies to start with, and then as the sun got up a bit higher, thick clouds came in, and soon it was clear again.
After breakfast, we headed out of the caravan park to explore Broome. We went to:
- Pointe Gantheaume
- Broome Port
- Jetée des Streeters
- Cygnet Bay Pearl Showroom
- Pearl Luggers
- Soleil Photos
- Mémorial de la guerre de Broome
- Musée de la société historique
- The Mango Place
- Sanctuaire du Bouddha au corps bleu
- Japanese and Chinese cemeteries
- Cable Beach
Pointe Gantheaume
We got underway early so we could get out to Gantheaume Point at the lowest tide for the day, which was just after 7 am.
Gantheaume Point is charming in its own unique way, and at low tide, there are 3 fossilised dinosaur tracks that you can see.
It turn’s out to be quite difficult to access with a steep and slippery climb down the rocks.
Then, of course, you have to actually find them. We had picked up a map at the visitor information centre the day before that indicated where they should be from the lighthouse. However, they were still tough to find, and it’s hard to tell if the tide is low enough to see them. We knew the tide at it’s lowest was meant to be low enough to see all of them, but it seemed one, possibly two of the tracks were almost under water again already by the time we found them at 7:34 am. That said there are plenty of other interesting things to see from crabs to other funny little underwater things.
Fortunately, all the other tourists were trying to find them too, but even those who had found them only the day before were having trouble finding them again. After a while, some other people found one, possibly two of them and called out letting everyone else know.
We couldn’t find any trace of the third track, and it was starting to get hot, so we decided to call it quits.
Plus, the tide was creeping back in, and we had a lot we wanted to see with a tough climb back up the rocks to do first.
Broome Port
On the way back to Broome, we passed the turn to Broome Port, so we went in to have a look.
It was on our list purely because it was on the way, if it weren’t, we probably would not have gone in. At the port, there is a cafe and beautiful garden with a plaque commemorating the jetty opening.
We weren’t able to go out on the jetty itself, but from the garden, we had a pretty good view of the pier and the surrounding beaches and cliffs.
The tide was still quite low, so it was quite a sight seeing this jetty so high, towering above the water.
Jetée des Streeters
There isn’t a lot left of Streeters Jetty, but the history is fascinating.
It used to be the main wharf in Broome, at the centre of the pearling industry.
Now it is short, ending in a mangrove swamp that was once cleared to let the pearl luggers in.
It is also shorter than it once was.
While not much to see, I did personally find it fascinating to picture the luggers coming into town. Especially after also reading more of the history at the Cygnet Bay Pearl Showroom and visiting the restored pearl luggers up the street.
Cygnet Bay Pearl Showroom
While it is a promotion for Cygnet Bay Pearls, the Showroom at Shop 2, 21 Dampier Terrace in Broome’s China Town is full of history with an operating demonstration of pearl farming.
It has a looping documentary running on the pearling industry along with examples of how pearl farming works now and a history feature wall.
The feature wall includes a lot of history beyond just Cygnet Bay and actually tells a fascinating story of Broome’s pearl history.
As you might expect the Showroom also holds many pearls and pearl jewellery as well as the worlds largest pearl.
It really is remarkably large, and the showroom jewellery is beautiful.
Pearl Luggers
At 31 Dampier Terrace, just up the street from the Cygnet Bay Pearl Showroom are some restored pearl lugging ships with a cafe and museum.
While there is a fee to access the museum, the pearl lugging ships are free to see.
A hard hat diving helmet is also setup for you to get your photo taken if your head is small enough (mine isn’t).
Soleil Photos
The oldest continuously operating open-air picture theatre in the world is located at 8 Carnarvon St in Broome.
Who would have thought that Broome would be home to something as unique as that, especially given that this kind of cinema is pretty well non-existent nowadays?
During the day you can access the theatre for free and learn about the history intertwined with memorabilia and old equipment on display.
Each night there are 2 movie sessions available.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have the opportunity to watch a movie with our schedule, but it would be great to take the time and watch one if we ever make our way back.
While the theatre is open air, a significant portion of the laid back, hessian deck chair style seating is undercover leaving open air around the screen where you can see the occasional plane coming in for landing overhead at Broome Airport.
Japanese and Chinese Cemeteries
The large paifang stands out at the entrance to the Broome Chinese cemetery located on Port Drive near the Taiji Road intersection.
Inside is a history of the Chinese contribution to Broome and the pearling industry.
Located next to it is the Japanese Cemetery.
While not quite as prominent it has recently had all the headstones replaced and looks beautiful. A fitting memorial to the Japanese people that contributed to making Broome what it is today.
Musée de la société historique
The museum is located at 67 Robinson Street in Broome and contains a lot of historical information about Broome. At the entrance is a large time capsule and some general information about Broome.
Unfortunately, there is no information about whether there is a cost to entry, but after going inside and asking the person at the counter, we found it is $6 per adult for entry. The price is reasonable, but the attendant also told us it would take 1-2 hours to go through the museum and read some of the information. We decided we didn’t have the time and saved the money, but from what we could see inside it looked like it would be attractive to the history buffs.
Cet endroit à la mangue
Located in Roebuck, about 15 minutes out of Broome, That Mango Place is a mango farm and cafe that sells everything mango.
You can expect everything from ice cream to cheesecake to syrup and chutney.
We had the mango cheesecake with mango ice cream on the side.
The cheesecake was served with cream and mango syrup and tasted great!
That said, the mango ice cream was even better! It was the best mango ice cream I’ve ever had. It was oozing with mango goodness. I can’t recommend it enough!
If you happen to be a bit bored, there is also a mini golf course that you can try your hand at. We had to keep going, though.
Sanctuaire du Bouddha au corps bleu
The Blue Body Buddha Sanctuary is near Cable Beach at 5 Millington Road and is open to the public from 7-10am and 4-7pm.
It’s a quiet and peaceful place, but the relatively small gardens are dominated by a 3m high Buddha statue.
Entry is free during opening hours, and the gardens are beautiful, it has a similar atmosphere to the Zen temple we visited in Kyoto a few years ago.
So if you have a little bit of free time, it is a beautiful, tranquil place to visit.
Cable Beach
One of Western Australiedes plages emblématiques, Cable Beach est la plage où le câble télégraphique sous-marin entre Java, l'Indonésie et Australie atteint la terre.
La plage est une large plage de sable blanc de 22 km de long avec de petites falaises d'ocre rouge qui permettent de voir plus loin.
Trois sociétés proposent des promenades à dos de chameau au lever et au coucher du soleil qui se dirigent vers le nord des rochers depuis le parking de Cable Beach.
Les quatre roues motrices sont également autorisées au nord des rochers.
Malheureusement, il n'y a presque pas d'ombre à Cable Beach. Juste quelques arbres. Partout ailleurs, il n'y a que de l'herbe ou du sable.
Nous avons dîné à l'arrière de notre camionnette sur le parking de la plage, puis avons regardé le coucher de soleil depuis les sommets herbeux des falaises.
C'était une belle nuit avec un magnifique coucher de soleil. Depuis les falaises, le soleil met beaucoup de temps à se coucher, et vous pouvez le regarder pendant près de 45 bonnes minutes.
En début d'après-midi, vous pouvez voir les chameaux se diriger vers la plage et si le soleil disparaît à l'horizon, les chameaux et un flux de quatre roues motrices reviennent de la plage.
C'est un embouteillage remarquable alors qu'un train de véhicules fait la queue pour reprendre la route.
Bed Time
Enfin, nous sommes retournés au Roebuck Bay Caravan Park après la tombée de la nuit et nous nous sommes dirigés vers le lit. Nous avons commencé tôt le lendemain pour notre visite d'une journée complète des chutes horizontales!
Vous connaissez Broome ? Avez-vous des idées ou des conseils sur les endroits que nous avons visités ou sur d'autres endroits qui valent le détour ? Je serais ravi de les entendre, faites-le moi savoir dans les commentaires ci-dessous.
