From the Principal’s desk
Over the last few days we have been very lazy and spent most of our time in Broome.
Mr Mottershead and I enjoyed going out for breakfast instead of our usual muesli and cup of tea at our camper.
Broome is quite a special place with lots of really interesting history. Lord McAlpine is credited for making Broome famous. He visited in 1979 and fell in love with Broome. Lord McAlpine really promoted tourism for Broome, he collected Aboriginal art and helped build the reputation of Broome pearls. At one stage Lord McAlpine even owned the Sun Pictures in Broome.
The picture below is of one of the early pearl divers in Broome. These men wore really heavy suits so that they could stay below water to collect pearls. It was very dangerous. Pearls were discovered in the 1860s in Broome, with some people collecting up to 6 tonnes of pearl shell a day. During the 1860s a lot of Japanese people emigrated to Australia and a lot of them worked as crew for Australian pearlers. The influence of the Japanese is really evident in Broome and makes the place even more fascinating.
The Sun Pictures is the oldest open air cinema in Australia. The cinema was built in 1916 and still operates today. Mr Mottershead and I went to the Sun Pictures a couple of nights ago and saw the film Top End Wedding. We enjoyed the film and the popcorn. The film was about a wedding in the Northern Territory. I think we enjoyed it because a lot of the places in the film we had only just visited. Luckily the people who run the cinema had plenty of insect repellent for us to use to keep the sand-flies at bay. One of the most iconic things about Broome is Cable Beach. It really is beautiful. The water is a really clear aqua colour and then the white beach sand joins the red cliffs behind. Mr Mottershead and I decided to have a swim at Cable Beach yesterday. Alas someone had seen a crocodile at the beach and so it was closed. Needless to say we didn’t swim! Luckily for us there is a pool near our accommodation so we swam there instead. There was lots of activity with helicopters as people tried to locate the crocodile. Cable beach also has regular camel rides at sunset. The picture below shows the camels and the beautiful sunset.
There are lots of interesting birds in Broome. This Frogmouth Owl spent every night in building near where we were camped. Very cute.
We begin heading home today. I suspect we will feel the cold as it has been 36 degrees here most days. I am really looking forward to seeing you all at the end of next week.