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Broome International Airport must be one of the smallest and most quaint in the world. The terminal consists of colonial style buildings.Apparently it became an international airport when one day a plane was forced to land there for a medical emergency whilst on route to Bali. The plane was too heavy for the runway and chewed it up on landing. Whilst waiting on the ground it began to sink slowly into the tarmac and had to be moved every 30 minutes to prevent it from remaining there permanently! Since that time the runway has been strengthened and lengthened but still only domestic flights land there. But that one flight enabled it to be designated an "international airport!" The approach to the airport is breathtaking- a journey along the magnificent coastline of the Indian Ocean before a quick descent over the centre of town. The town has a wonderful old outdoor cinema( the oldest in the world). In the olden days it was prone to flooding when the tide was high in the rainy season, so people often brought their wellies with them just in case! The airplanes come straight over the cinema on their final approach. During the first Stars Wars movie there is a particularly dramatic fight scene involving star ships- apparently at the height of the battle, a plane came into land over the top of the outdoor screen,adding somewhat to the atmosphere of the movie- the audience thought it was planned and all stood up to applaud!
We stayed at the wonderful Cable Beach Resort on the recommendation of the travel agent at Qantas in Perth.We went there at the end of the rainy season, so there was plenty of space for every one- we took full advantage of the upgrade that we were offered! ( when we returned to Perth we were shocked to see adverts for the high season with prices starting at £400 a day! needless to say we paid a great deal less!!!}. We were picked up from the airport and presented with champagne on arrival whilst leisurely completing the formalities before finally being driven by buggy to our luxurious accommodation. The restaurant overlooks the ocean and we experienced some truly breathtaking sunsets whilst munching away. The beach is a haven for 4 wheeled drive vehicles- late in the afternoon they descend on the place and most do not leave until after sunset. We had great fun watching the inexperienced and the foolhardy getting themselves into tricky situations as they negotiated the rocky beach on a rising tide and in rapidly diminishing light.
Broome is miles from anywhere and would not exist but for pearls. The town was created specifically to cater for the needs of the pearl industry.The pearls were used exclusively for button making! In the early days people could walk along the sands, harvesting the pearls at low tide. As the larger specimens were gathered, people were forced to dive for them, further and further from the land. The wonderful museum in town gives a fantastic insight into the life of the town and its pearl fishermen. The life of the divers was appalling -for their very dangerous work they received very little pay and their employers became extremely rich. Most of these very skilled divers came from the diving villages of Japan.
We took a trip out to Willie Creek to see a pearl farm at work. We thought that all you had to do was find the right shell, open it and bingo you had a pearl-wrong!! If you did that apparently you would have to open many thousands before you found anything at all and many, many more thousands before you found anything worth having. These days nothing is left to chance and it is a very meticulous and arduous process to produce a pearl. Shells are harvested and stored in large nets that are suspended in the water. The shell is wedged open and a small "seed" is inserted into the living creature. The animal reacts to the intruder by secreting a mucous substance around it. When this hardens you have a pearl- eventually! The living creature is left for 2 years, but periodically it is rotated to allow even growth and the formation of a perfect pearl. The outside of the shell is cleaned with a very sharp knife to prevent other shell creatures becoming established- some of these will burrow into the shell of the host to eat it. Many of the pearls are grown in deep water off the coast- men are employed for weeks at a time to do this tedious work - living on a small boat in a mighty ocean. After 2 years the pearls are removed and reseeded in a larger host with the hope the pearl will further increase in size. At every stage many pearls are discarded either because they do not grow or because they are imperfectly shaped. Very few become the large pearls that you see around the Hollywood starlets' necks. A very informative day- with crocs watching our every move as went out in a small boat to see where the shells were being grown.
TRIVIA: how do recognise a real pearl? Apparently there are 2 ways : a) if you rub the pearl across your teeth it feels gritty, or b) you put it in vinegar. I was about to try the second method as the first seemed a little to close to nature, when we were told that the pearl dissolves by this method! The true acid test for identifying pearls! - my little joke, ha ,ha....oh no!!
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