It's a good place to be, Broome, if you want to watch the world go by and catch up with yourself. It may be the start of autumn, but the days are hot. Nothing happens very quickly here and even though it is the start of the dry season - high season - there aren't many folk about.
It takes a bit to get your head around Broome which is odd when it is only small - small enough that I could walk from the 'international' airport to my motel when I arrived in no time at all. It is also an odd town, for a whole bunch of reasons, all of which add up to make it a fine place to be.
Broome is on the coast but you are hard pressed to get a glimpse of water as there are banks of mangroves which hide the ocean away. When you do get to the beach the sand is red (the pindan) and because the beach is shallow for a long way the water is somewhere between cobalt blue and pale aqua green. No one was in the water at the town beach, which is bayside. After hearing about the jellyfish I was a) not surprised and b) glad I noticed no one was in, wondered why and didn't go in myself.
I hired a bike to get around the town and widen my reach. A scooter might have been better given the temperatures, but at least I got my exercise. Cable Beach, a long white sand beach on the Indian Ocean is only about 5 kms away (I had a good coffee and a massive kiwi fruit muffin at the Old Zoo Cafe there, thanks for the rec. Colin!). There is much much less chance of a jellyfish sting at Cable Beach and lifegaurds to hand which makes a swim a bit less daunting. The life guard sign did note that the last sting was four days before - not unreasonable odds and the crashing surf was too good to miss. I also cycled to Point Gantheaume to see the lighthouse and the red rock formations. It was a long, hot dusty road to get there and I was beginning to despair I would ever get there. The lighthouse was really a beacon on scaffolding, but the beach was incredible. It was shallow as far as the eye could see, the water was clear as could be, the sunlight reflected silver and little fish were darting around my feet.
Broome's an old pearling town and because of that there has always been money for spending. Before the pearls were farmed the best divers came from China and Japan so the town has long had a multi cultural mix. This and it's popularity as a holiday spot mean that I had coffee any Melbourne barista would have been proud to serve, great fresh produce and some amazing food. I meant to go easy after recent weeks of fine dining, but the different places were too temtping. In Azuki I had the best ramen I've had since Japan made with a sweet soy stock, wheat noodles, thick slices of pork loin, pickled vegetables and bean sprouts topped with a dollop of spicy chilli kimchi - SO GOOD!! (see below). And at Noodlefish I had stir fried pork belly with chilli paste, green beans, green pepper corns and basil. I didn't make it to the great sounding italian restaurant and I only tried one beer (the Pindan Ale) at Matso's microbrewery. It was sharp and a bit too bitter for my taste. If I had been so inclined there were plenty more to choose from, including a chilli beer, the famour ginger beer and a chango beer made from chilli and mango. Next time.
About the only thing I knew about Broome in advance was that there was an open air cinema, or rather more quaintly, a picture gardens. I was very excited that it is still there and functioning, the oldest in the world. Really it is a shed with deck chairs and across the lawn a big screen. The outdoor experience is brought to life by frogs croaking in the hedges, small lizards wandering small across the cinema screen and a couple of aeroplanes flying straight over our heads to land behind the screen. Brilliant.
I'm in Exmouth as I finish writing this, I ran out of time at the airport as I am running out of time now. Word to the wise (not me!) - don't travel on Anzac Day - nothing is open! _the lodge staff left a note on the white board with my room number and advice that the keys were in the door).
Broome - good. Exmouth - let's see shall we.
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