Broome is a beautiful town set in the middle of nowhere. Separated from the green ocean by idyllic long white beaches and a clean sand-bottomed sea famous for its pearl diving, the red desert presses in on Broome's other side.

The nice thing about Broome is that it's still a working pearl port, so things haven't changed that much. There are still the same ramshackle, sun bleached looking pearl boats and markets where you're able to buy some of the worlds best pearls - out in the middle of the desert.

At Gantheaume Point at low tide you can walk in dinosaur footprints still scoured deeply into the rocks, even after 130 million years, and when the tides are right more of the sea's bounty is exposed, a couple of creaking pearl wrecks as well as some World War II wrecks sunk in one of the few Japanese air raids on Australia. In contrast, there's a particularly peaceful cemetery with a truly special view over the flats and out into the Indian Ocean which commemorates the lives lost in the early years of pearl diving - about a third of the divers lost were of Japanese descent.

As well as the pearl markets there are traditional dealers in Chinatown - as well as a few restaurants. The older parts of town date from the 1880's but the whole place has a weathered, lived in feel that tackles newer buildings quite quickly - that's what you get for building on the harsh ground on the edge of nowhere.

Written by  Kat Mackintosh.

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whats the weather like in april

while on holiday in Perth thinking of flying to broom for a week in mid-late april 2010

 

Question posted 19th October 2009 by peter grainger.

1 reply...

Have a look at our <a href="http://www.worldreviewer.com/world-weather">World Weather Guide</a> for approximate weather conditions - but at a guess I'd say it's going to be similar to Perth and a couple of degrees warmer.

 

Reply posted 19th October 2009 by Kat Mackintosh.

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