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Camels on Cable
by Veronica Matheson | 28 Feb 2013
In an isolated corner of Western Australia, Australia’s pearl capital Broome was built by daredevil divers and is now a beautiful, laidback place to unwind.
The alarm is set for an early morning – I have a date with a camel on the powdery sands of Broome’s renowned Cable Beach in the far northwest of Western Australia.
The beach is only a few hundred metres’ walk from my luxurious room, but the sun is still yet to rise when I arrive, and I am a tad sleepy. ‘Jabby’ is waiting on bended knee but, with his head held haughtily high and a disinterested yawn for a greeting, he leaves no doubt that he is a camel with attitude.
I climb aboard his comfy saddle and we join a camel train for a long, leisurely walk beside the Indian Ocean as the sun rises. I hope against hope that he will behave like a gentleman.
In no time we have a gentle rhythm going, slow and steady, we take it easy, enjoying the fresh morning air and the gentle lapping of the ocean.
Other than our camel train, this seemingly endless beach is deserted. The rising sun casts the shadows of our long-legged camels across the sand, and it gets warmer by the minute.
Too soon, the ride is over. The day is young and there is much to do, yet by day’s end I cannot tick off one tourist ‘sight’. Instead, I have spent the entire day wandering around the laidback town soaking up the warmth, stopping to admire wooden buildings raised off the ground with airy verandas in what seems to be the local style, chat to friendly locals and browse through welcoming shops.
It is easy to understand why people came here years ago on holiday and stayed. To an outsider it looks like an easy-living paradise.
Broome is an isolated little piece of Australia. Some 2400km north of Perth, tucked between the Indian Ocean and the red dirt of the Great Sandy Desert, it is the gateway to the wild Kimberley region and vast mining developments, the source of Argyle diamonds and cultured pearls, and sandalwood plantations.
At the end of my day wandering Broome, I watch an explosion of red tones as the sun sinks into the dark ocean – a must for east-coasters used to seeing the sun slip quietly behind mountains or trees.
Pearler
The next day I check out the pearl shops around town and then head out to Willie Creek to see how pearls are created and harvested.
The ropes of gleaming pearls in the shops are stunning, with prices to match, so I walk away empty-handed. Along the way though, I learnt all about lustre, colour and size – everything I need to recognise my perfect pearl when I see it!
Educational shopping is hungry, thirsty work. Luckily, there is no shortage of eating choices in Broome. At Matso’s Brewery I taste craft beers, including a ginger beer that has a real taste of the tropics, before heading to a Japanese restaurant that seems a perfect fit in this town, built as it was by Japanese, Malay and Filipino pearler divers seeking their fortunes in the South Seas.
There is much more to see, but I prefer to enjoy this laidback interlude and just hang out in Broome.
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