Broome, Western Australia

Sipping a Chardy on a beautiful balmy night, watching the sun go down over Cable Beach in Broome, is something I've waited a long time to see. It's a tradition when you come to Broome, you take food and wine and join all the other tourists to see the sun sink slowly behind the Indian Ocean. We missed the spectacular 'stairway to the moon' by only a few days.

The Yawuru Aboriginal people are the traditional owners and custodians of Broome, a tropical paradise with a colourful history. In the early 1900's the little town thrived on the hugely profitable and extremely dangerous pearl shell industry. The pearling fleet owners were Europeans and Asian labour was cheap. The shopkeepers were mainly Chinese, the divers mostly Japanese and Aboriginal and the deckhands and labourers were mostly from Koepang in Indonesia. At one time there were up to 400 pearling luggers moored in Roebuck Bay and the town was more Asian than Australian. The cemetery gives us an insight into just how many Japanese died while diving for pearl shell in Broome.

The White Australia Policy was put into place at the time of Federation in 1901 and continued until 1973. It was drawn up initially to keep the Chinese and Japanese out of Australia. At that time, Prime Minister Alfred Deakin said he felt threatened by their inexhausable energy, endurance and ability to apply themselves to new tasks. But when they discovered how vital non white labour was to the success of the pearling industry, they quickly lifted the ban, but only for Broome.

On the 3rd March 1942 Broome was bombed by the Japanese. Taken completely by surprise 15 marine aircraft, mostly Dutch Dorniers and Catalinas but also some British and US Catalinas and a pair of Australian Empire class flying boats were burnt or sunk at their moorings. At the nearby airstrip, several US B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator heavy bombers were destroyed as well as a number of twin engined Douglas DC-3 transports of the Netherlands East Indies Airline (KNILM)

Most of the flying boats were crammed with Dutch refugees fleeing the Japanese in Java and on that terrible day, the burning fuel on the water as well as the strong tidal currents in Roebuck Bay made escape almost impossible. At least 40 people are known to have died, although the exact figure is thought to be much higher. Only 30 bodies were ever recovered from the water.

When America entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbour, all pearling stopped in Broome almost overnight because most of the pearl divers were Japanese and they had to be put into a prisoner-of-war camp.

Today, modern diving equipment is much safer and Broome is once again the world's major producer of South Sea pearls and mother of pearl shell.

But by far, tourism is the major industry in Broome today and grows bigger every year.

Willie Creek Pearl Farm, Western Australia

Willie Creek is the only pearl farm open to the public in Broome. If you drive yourself out to the farm, 22 kms from town, it's half price but if you prefer, they will pick you up at your accommodation and bring you home.




After learning all about the seeding of the pearls, we enjoyed a delicious morning tea, they make fresh damper for every tour which lasts for 2 hours. Then we went out in the boat to see the farm operations and we also saw their resident crocodile sleeping on the bank. Lastly, we were taken into the showroom to see all the different pearls we had just learnt about and I would guess that most people bought something. Very clever business strategy indeed.

Highly trained technicians can earn up to $100,000 for three months work performing the delicate seeding operation and a good technician can seed 500 oysters a day. To qualify, applicants must first hold a marine biology degree and are then apprenticed for five years. These highly skilled people will then move around the world to other pearl farms in Tahiti, Indonesia and Hawaii.

Our guide told us that 14 vehicles have been sucked into the sand here this year, one was a brand new four wheel drive with only 500 kms on the clock. The tides come in so quickly, people leave their cars and go fishing only to find when they return they are partly submerged in water. They are impossible to pull out and in time, the sand slowly swallows them up completely.

Port Smith Lagoon, Western Australia

Fish and Chip Night

Feeding the orphans



High Tide




Low tide

Very low tide

Shady sites

Port Smith, 22 kilometres down a dirt road, is 150 kms south of Broome. The caravan park has large sites with plenty of shady trees and first class amenities. You don't need a boat, the management will personally take you to the island to fish the tide in and bring you back after lunch. All you have to do is turn up at 8.30am with your fishing gear, travel by 4WD to the beach, then by boat to the island.

Mud crab is our favourite seafood and we brought a crab pot all the way from Sydney only to find they are banned at this park. Visitors would often lose their pots with the high tides they have up here and management were finding lost pots all over the lagoon. They become death traps for fish and other sea creatures, pollute the area and are a pain in the neck to pick up, hence the ban.

The sign that reads 'Ask advice or pay the price' sounds a bit aggressive but when you hear about the idiots who come here expecting to be pulled out for free, it's understandable. People camp not far from the caravan park even though 'no camping' signs are put up by the local Aboriginal people who own all the land surrounding the park. Not knowing about the nine metre tides that rush in at an alarming rate, some vehicles get stuck and they expect to be pulled out.

Every Thursday night is fish and chip night, it costs $5 each. An excellent Aboriginal band provided the music, there was a bush poet, competitions, raffles and dancing. The park have been organising the Thursday night get-together for eight years and it's a very pleasant night out and all monies raised go to the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Accommodation shortage in Port Hedland, Western Australia

It's been an interesting experience spending time in Port Hedland. One caravan park in town has been bought out by a mining company to house their workers and this one, the Port Hedland, is full of permanents working in the mining industry.

Our 60 something next door neighbour and his wife live in a flash motor home and he has the garbo contract to drive hundreds of kilometres every day and empty the garbage bins on the 'pull-offs' on the side of the road that caravaners and truckies use to take short breaks. His other duty involves removing all road kill off the road. He drives such long distances that he often has to stay overnight away from home. If it can be believed, he says he earns between $3600 without overtime to $4600 with overtime a fortnight, in the hand, after tax. He was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time when his boss won the contract and the truck, his fuel and all associated expenses are paid for. His contract has one more year to run before he retires.

But at the end of next month, this caravan park, under new management, is going to move all permanents out, some caravans and motor homes are so old, they'll have to be towed out. The residents are very worried about where they will go, all accommodation is already full to overflowing, even the Port Hedland Detention Centre has been converted into cell like rooms for workers. Our neighbour says he will park his rig outside the council chambers until they find somewhere for him to go, and I believe him.

Even with high wages, some workers can only afford caravans or demountable huts, known as 'dongas' (dog boxes) like those here in this park and the 40 plus temperatures in summer must be unbearable.

But you can't help admire these men and women working in this mining town, they've come here to make money and hopefully set themselves up for life. After being here for nearly two weeks, I think they earn every cent.

Port Hedland, Western Australia

Port Hedland harbour

Loading the ship

The Pilbara supplies 34% of the world's sea-bourne iron ore trade. It starts off as red earth, from the earth comes iron ore and from the iron ore comes something the world can't do without - steel. 98% of mined iron ore is used to make steel. So it's likely that your car, your washing machine and even your kitchen sink was born in the Pilbara in Western Australia.

The demand for iron ore strongly depends on Chinese steel production. Iron ore shipments from Port Hedland slipped slightly in June 2009 to 13.02 million tonnes from 13.09 million the previous months, figures show.

BHP Billiton Iron Ore is one of the world's leading suppliers of iron ore and has about 2000 employees and 5000 contractors. They have six mining operations in the Pilbara area including the biggest single pit, open cut ore mine in the world - the massive Mount Whaleback mine at Newman. The ore here is of exceptionally high quality, containing up to 68 per cent iron.

BHP Billiton uses the open cut method of mining. Holes are drilled into the pit floor and explosives inserted to break up the solid rock, then the excavators scoop up the huge boulders, load them onto trucks and take them to the primary crusher. The crusher breaks them down into lumps about the size of a football. It's then taken to a secondary crusher where it's broken down into grapefruit size lumps. From there, it's sent to stockpiles, ready for loading onto the trains.

These trains are mind blowing, some up to 3.7 kilometres long. Six 6000 hp locomotives are spaced evenly along the train and together they pull a gross weight of 26,000 tonnes of ore 426 kilometres from the mine site at Newman to BHP's processing plant in Port Hedland. This takes about 8 hours. The other track line runs between the Port Hedland and the Yarrie mine. Twelve loaded and twelve unloaded trains runs every day of the year.

Finally the iron ore is loaded onto ships for export to Japan, Europe, China and South Korea.

Karijini National Park, Western Australia

The traditional owners, the Banyjima, Yinhawangka and Kurrama Aboriginal people call the Hamersley Range Karijini. Naming the park Karijini National Park recognises the value and significance these people place on this land and also their involvement in park management.

It's set in the Hamersley Range in the heart of the Pilbara. Two billion years old, deep caverns, colourful gorges, waterfalls and rock pools filled with clear cool water are all here to marvel at in this spectacular part of Australia.

Australian Naval Communications Centre, Western Australia

Australia and the US agreed to build a Naval Communications Centre at Exmouth. It opened in 1963 as the US Naval Communication Centre Harold E Holt, named after the late Australian Prime Minister who drowned while scuba diving near his home. The primary purpose was to create a radio relay station so messages could be passed between Australian and US Command Centres to submarines and ships in the Indian Ocean.

Today as the Australian Naval Communications Station, it continues to play a vital role in the secure operation of the Australian submarine fleet. Tropical Cyclone Vance caused about 12 million dollars worth of damage to the base and destroyed many older, unused buildings. The US Navy still maintains an involvement with the station and contributes to operating costs and upgrades.

It is the world's largest low frequency transmitter. The central tower, known as Tower Zero stands majestically overlooking the north west cape. It stands in the centre surrounded by 12 others, which can be seen from a great distance. Because cyclones come through this area every few years, it was built to withstand winds of 500 kilometres an hour.

Exmouth, Western Australia

More and more tourists come to Exmouth and Yardie Creek every year. They come to this isolated place in north west Australia to swim with the whalesharks, Manta rays, turtles and other sea creatures on the beautiful coral reef at Ningarloo Marine Park.

Yardie Creek

The reef is in the hot, dry tropics and summer temperatures can reach more than 47C. That's why visitors come now, in the winter months, when temperatures range from low 20's to low 30's. Because it's peak season and the school holidays have just started, all accommodation in and around Exmouth is completely booked out.

Yardie Creek

Coral spawning is an important event and sets off a chain reaction. It happens when the coral releases eggs and sperm into the ocean and it's said to be a wonderful sight for snorkellers and divers to experience. This happens around 10 to 12 days after the full moon in both March and April.

Sand Dunes

After the spawning, the whalesharks arrive in April and stay until early July and the Manta rays arrive in May and leave in mid November.

Looking down on Lighthouse Caravan Park to the Naval Base

Although tourism is the major growth industry today, there is also fishing, wool production and oil exploration around the Exmouth area.

HMAS Sydney Wreck, Western Australia

Crew

After searching for sixty six years, the wreck of HMAS Sydney was finally found in March, 2008. German Raider Kormoron and HMAS Sydney were engaged in a bitter battle on the 19th November 1941 which resulted in the sinking of both ships. All hands were lost on the HMAS Sydney, a total of 645 men, and remains to this day Australia's worst naval disaster.

Simple HMAS Sydney Cairn

Eighty men perished on the Kormoron but a total of 319 men survived - 216 were taken to Carnarvon by rescue boats and 103 came ashore in life boats and landed here, later to be rounded up and taken to a prison camp. It's thought that the Kormoron was scuttled by its crew.

This simple HMAS Sydney Cairn is located 76 kilometres north of Carnarvon and stands high above the rugged coast of Quobba.

The HMAS Sydney Memorial Wall in central Carnarvon, lists all the names of those lost in this tragic battle.

Rugged coastline of Quobba

The Kormoran lifeboat is on display at the Carnarvon Heritage Presinct and plans are underway to restore this valuable relic.

German sailors loaded onto rescue ships



Captain J. Burnett

Captain Theodor Detmers