Broome was our next stop. At one time it was the major producer of pearl shells (pearls being a bonus if they were found) producing 80% of the world's mother-of-pearl shell during the first decade of the 20th century and over 400 vessels were registered in the port. It also had a very culturally diverse community with Chinese, Filipinos, Malays, Japanese, Koepangers (from Timor) and the Pacific islands all working in harmony. The old Chinatown area is being redeveloped but to the original plan of the town and while the exterior is still galvanised iron they are now air conditioned.Streeters Jetty, Broome with a pearling lugger.
Some of the old names connected with the pearling industry are still in evidence such as the Streeter’s and Male’s store which was built in the 1890s and has changed little· over the years and is still run by the descendants of Arthur Male who one of the original owners. There are still two jetties in the old town that are used still by the luggers though there is now a deep water port at the entrance to Roebuck Bay. Further around is Gantheaume Point where there is a lighthouse, at low tide there are dinosaur footprints visible in the sandstone near the cliffs. Concrete casts have been made of these prints and they are displayed on top of the red sandstone cliffs. Here the water is a bright turquoise while a few kilometres away in the town it is a muddy brown from the mangroves. These red cliffs with the brilliant white beach and the turquoise ocean makes it a popular site for fashion photographers. 
Further around is Cable Beach so named because the submarine telegraph cable, which had been connected to Darwin, was rerouted through Broome due to volcanic activity in the Arafura Sea. The Courthouse (previously the Cable House), located on the corner of Hamersley and Frederick streets, was built at this time as an office for the telegraphists. It is a popular story that the building was actually meant for Kimberley in South Africa and somehow ended up in Broome on the edge of the Kimberleys in Australia. Certainly it arrived at a time when the town had no wharf and it had to be carted over the mudflats by Chinese labourers.
Cable Beach is claimed to be one of the most beautiful in the world and there are now a few resorts built by it. Unlike most of the Northern Australian coastline it is safe to swim here. The area is now very popular with overseas tourists.
There are many interesting buildings still standing which are connected with its early days such as the still operating open air picture theatre, believed to be the oldest still in use, and the old Customs House plus several old stores. There is also the natural phenomenon of the Staircase to the Moon which is caused by a full moon reflecting off the exposed mudflats at extremely low tide to create a beautiful optical illusion of a staircase.
The 'golden age' of pearling was during the years before World War 1 when 403 luggers operated out of Broome. It was during this time that Broome gained a reputation aptly described by an old pearler when he wrote: 'Broome in its early days was probably the most unique town in Australia. It was an affluent, sinful and tolerant community, in which the Clergy’s frequent references to Sodom and Gomorrah were regarded as appropriate tributes to civic progress, rather than warnings of future divine retribution.'
Further around is Cable Beach so named because the submarine telegraph cable, which had been connected to Darwin, was rerouted through Broome due to volcanic activity in the Arafura Sea. The Courthouse (previously the Cable House), located on the corner of Hamersley and Frederick streets, was built at this time as an office for the telegraphists. It is a popular story that the building was actually meant for Kimberley in South Africa and somehow ended up in Broome on the edge of the Kimberleys in Australia. Certainly it arrived at a time when the town had no wharf and it had to be carted over the mudflats by Chinese labourers.Cable Beach is claimed to be one of the most beautiful in the world and there are now a few resorts built by it. Unlike most of the Northern Australian coastline it is safe to swim here. The area is now very popular with overseas tourists.
There are many interesting buildings still standing which are connected with its early days such as the still operating open air picture theatre, believed to be the oldest still in use, and the old Customs House plus several old stores. There is also the natural phenomenon of the Staircase to the Moon which is caused by a full moon reflecting off the exposed mudflats at extremely low tide to create a beautiful optical illusion of a staircase.
The 'golden age' of pearling was during the years before World War 1 when 403 luggers operated out of Broome. It was during this time that Broome gained a reputation aptly described by an old pearler when he wrote: 'Broome in its early days was probably the most unique town in Australia. It was an affluent, sinful and tolerant community, in which the Clergy’s frequent references to Sodom and Gomorrah were regarded as appropriate tributes to civic progress, rather than warnings of future divine retribution.' Above. Japenese Cemetery Broome.
Below: Pelicans Roebuck Bay Broome.
The town has had a romantic past and several books have been written about the pearlers such as Ion Idress' books. While the pearling masters lived well and several made (and lost) large fortunes, it wasn't an easy life for the divers and crew. The Japanese Cemetery at Broome (which is the largest Japanese cemetery in Australia) dates back to the very early pearling days and bears witness to the close ties Japan established with Broome in the early twentieth century. The first recorded interment in this cemetery is 1896. Literally hundreds of young Japanese divers died either from the bends (diver’s paralysis) or from drowning. A large stone obelisk in the cemetery recalls those who were drowned at sea in the 1908 cyclone. The cyclones of 1887 and 1935 each caused the deaths of at least 140 men.
To give some idea of the scale of deaths resulting from the bends it is worth noting that the cemetery has the graves of 33 men who died of diver’s paralysis in 1914. There are 707 graves (919 people) with most of them having unusual headstones of coloured beach rocks. The cemetery, which has been immaculately restored, is on Port Drive on the way out to Cable Beach.
The town has had a romantic past and several books have been written about the pearlers such as Ion Idress' books. While the pearling masters lived well and several made (and lost) large fortunes, it wasn't an easy life for the divers and crew. The Japanese Cemetery at Broome (which is the largest Japanese cemetery in Australia) dates back to the very early pearling days and bears witness to the close ties Japan established with Broome in the early twentieth century. The first recorded interment in this cemetery is 1896. Literally hundreds of young Japanese divers died either from the bends (diver’s paralysis) or from drowning. A large stone obelisk in the cemetery recalls those who were drowned at sea in the 1908 cyclone. The cyclones of 1887 and 1935 each caused the deaths of at least 140 men.To give some idea of the scale of deaths resulting from the bends it is worth noting that the cemetery has the graves of 33 men who died of diver’s paralysis in 1914. There are 707 graves (919 people) with most of them having unusual headstones of coloured beach rocks. The cemetery, which has been immaculately restored, is on Port Drive on the way out to Cable Beach.
We also visited the Willie Creek Cultured Pearl farm which is on the nearby Lacepede Channel and about 40 kms down a bumpy gravel road. Their web site is http://www.williecreekpearls.com.au/index2.htm Here the pearl shells are cultured and we watched the technicans inserting the starter into the pearl shells mantle. Generally they will be covered by macre secreted by the pearl shell and after a few years have grown into a lovely pearl.
Cultivating pearl shells at Willie Creek Pearl Farm
Christine with a cage of cultured pearl shells at Willie CreekWindjana National Park and model posing in her sexy green gumboots.
From here we retraced our steps nearly to Derby and by another boab prison tree, we turned onto the Gibbs River Rd to the Windjana National Park. Both this park and the Tunnel Creek NP about 70kms down the road are part of the same mountain range which was part of a coral reef formed during the Devonian age and the rivers have cut gorges through them over the eons. Many fossils, especially shells, are to be found in the limestone. The Windjana gorge is 5 kms long but we only walked the first section. The river was not flowing but there were several large pools in the gorge.
Cave in the limestone at Windjana Gorge.
From here we retraced our steps nearly to Derby and by another boab prison tree, we turned onto the Gibbs River Rd to the Windjana National Park. Both this park and the Tunnel Creek NP about 70kms down the road are part of the same mountain range which was part of a coral reef formed during the Devonian age and the rivers have cut gorges through them over the eons. Many fossils, especially shells, are to be found in the limestone. The Windjana gorge is 5 kms long but we only walked the first section. The river was not flowing but there were several large pools in the gorge.Cave in the limestone at Windjana Gorge.
On the way to the Tunnel Gorge the ruins of the old police station at Lillimilura were passed. It must have been a lonely life for them as they were several days ride from any settlement and it was here that the Aborigine Pigeon murdered his first victim, the local police officer. Pigeon was an aborigine who unsuccessfully tried to drive the Europeans out by waging a war against them. He had a small band of followers but the uprising failed after a few years. 
At Tunnel Creek NP the creek goes through the Napier Range forming a tunnel which can be visited during the Dry season. It is possible to walk and swim through the tunnel but the water is freezing. It was pleasant in the river as against the heat outside. The tunnel is also home to a large number of bats. From here it was another hours drive over the Oscar ranges to the sealed highway and Fitzroy Crossing.
Lunch stop Tunnel Creek car park.
Inside Tunnel Creek under the mountain range.
At Fitzroy Crossing a detour was made to the old causeway and the old Crossing Inn which was first established in the 1890s as a shanty and trade store for the prospectors and drovers. It looks as if it has changed very little since then! A large stony area was littered with the remains of the previous nights drinking by the aborigines. Further down the road by the old police station, now a YHA hostel, were container loads of crushed cans ready to be carted off for recycling.
At Fitzroy Crossing a detour was made to the old causeway and the old Crossing Inn which was first established in the 1890s as a shanty and trade store for the prospectors and drovers. It looks as if it has changed very little since then! A large stony area was littered with the remains of the previous nights drinking by the aborigines. Further down the road by the old police station, now a YHA hostel, were container loads of crushed cans ready to be carted off for recycling. Old water pump at Old Halls Creek. Below lower Washing Daddy's Land Rover Halls Creek wearing Mummy's shoes.
Camp that night was made at Halls Creek. The old Halls Creek had a short gold mining boom but it was in a fairly inhospitable area and when the highway was constructed in the 1950s it was decided to shift the town. It is an important service centre for the pastoralists, tourists and mineral exploration. Near Halls Creek is the China Wall which is a natural wall formed by a quartz vein and is some 15 kms long. Nearby is a small but picturesque waterhole which was a popular spot with the inhabitants of the old town. The Canning stock route starts here and it is the longest stock route in the world, some 2,000 
kms to Wiluna travelling through the Western Desert. Another route is the Tanami track which goes through the Tanami desert to Alice Springs 1050 kms away. It is a 4WD only track and when I first travelled it in 1972 it was only a set of wheel tracks wandering between the sand dunes. Now it is a formed dirt track, reasonably wide and generally in good condition. Vehicles which were towing light trailers had trouble on the road and several were met which had broken axles. The first part of the Track was in reasonably condition and due to the floods experienced in January there was still some water in the creeks.
Camp that night was made at Halls Creek. The old Halls Creek had a short gold mining boom but it was in a fairly inhospitable area and when the highway was constructed in the 1950s it was decided to shift the town. It is an important service centre for the pastoralists, tourists and mineral exploration. Near Halls Creek is the China Wall which is a natural wall formed by a quartz vein and is some 15 kms long. Nearby is a small but picturesque waterhole which was a popular spot with the inhabitants of the old town. The Canning stock route starts here and it is the longest stock route in the world, some 2,000 
kms to Wiluna travelling through the Western Desert. Another route is the Tanami track which goes through the Tanami desert to Alice Springs 1050 kms away. It is a 4WD only track and when I first travelled it in 1972 it was only a set of wheel tracks wandering between the sand dunes. Now it is a formed dirt track, reasonably wide and generally in good condition. Vehicles which were towing light trailers had trouble on the road and several were met which had broken axles. The first part of the Track was in reasonably condition and due to the floods experienced in January there was still some water in the creeks. Left. Old Tree at Caroline's Pool near the Old Halls Creek site.
Climbing down the wall of the meteorite crater, Wolf Creek.
A detour was made into the Wolf Creek meteorite crater where around a million years ago a meteor weighing between 20,000 and 50,000 tons fell to the earth. It is the second largest crater in the world and it is 800 metres wide and still 35 metres high above the surrounding plains. It is situated in a flat grassy plain and it looks more spectacular from the air. From the ground one can only see the rim of the crater and after a reasonably easy climb to the top, one can look into the crater and across to the walls on the other side. View from top of the crater.
The vegetation here, while sparse and hardy was, due to the earlier rains, a mass of colour. For miles the small desert acacias were ablaze with golden yellow blooms and there were large expanses of wildflowers. A little different from what people expect a desert to be though the Simpson and Great Sandy Deserts are more of what a desert is expected to be – sand and more sand. During the summer months the vegetation would die down and the area would revert to sand dunes with sparse vegetation though the tough spiny spinifex grass would survive.
The vegetation here, while sparse and hardy was, due to the earlier rains, a mass of colour. For miles the small desert acacias were ablaze with golden yellow blooms and there were large expanses of wildflowers. A little different from what people expect a desert to be though the Simpson and Great Sandy Deserts are more of what a desert is expected to be – sand and more sand. During the summer months the vegetation would die down and the area would revert to sand dunes with sparse vegetation though the tough spiny spinifex grass would survive. View inside crater Wolf Creek.
Here it is very flat and Len Beadell who during the 1950s surveyed many roads in this area for the establishment of the Woomera rocket range and the detonation by England of several atomic bombs, noted that on one map in 300 miles he only had 2 contour lines. There is one cattle station over by the W A border and about 150 kms off the road. It was called Mongrel Downs (guess why!) but its current owners renamed it as Tanami Downs. The survey maps show one mountain in this area, Mt Frederick which is only 100 metres above the surrounding countryside.
There is only one settlement in this area, Rabbit Flat which is a general store cum petrol station but it is only open a couple of days a week. It was dusk when we reached it’s gate and we camped here for the night. With 3 petrol tanks on the Land Rover I had enough fuel to get me nearly to Alice Springs. During the 1920s two small gold fields were discovered in this area but due to the lack of water and the intense summer heat, the fields had a short life but a high death rate. Now they are being mined as large scale open cuts and the massive overburden dumps from the Granites mine dominated the landscape. Due to the heavy vehicles in the area the road is wider here but it soon dropped back to being a bumpy dirt road.
As we were travelling during the day there was very little animal life visible. The large birds of prey were occasionally seen feeding on a carcass or just hovering overhead looking for some small rodent to make a move. Camels are found throughout this area but they are shy and tend to keep away from humans. There are very few trees, only the desert oaks can survive here and they tend to be found in small stands then there is another 50 kms to the next tree. This area still supports the rare Bilby and Dunnarts and the larger animals are the dingo and the large sand monitors or Perenties, a species of goanna which can reach 4 to 5 feet in length.By the time we reached the Yuendumu the country side had changed from spinifex to the lancewood scrub. A detour was made into Yuendumu to take on some extra petrol. It is a dirty town with most of the aborigines preferring to live in the humpies. There are a few houses but most of them are vandalised. The petrol pump is enclosed in a cage and is securely padlocked to stop petrol sniffers. Most of the town’s people come from the desert tribes and it was during the bad droughts of the 60s that forced the last of the desert dwellers from the western deserts to come to what was then a welfare station for provisions. Several tribes were found in this period who had never had seen Europeans before.
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