Cable Beach, WA

Broome

When the rich pearling grounds were discovered in 1883 Broome was founded. In the early 1900's, the area experienced a true heyday, with over 3000 men working on around 400 pearl luggers, supplying 80% of the world's mother of pearl (mainly used for buttons). The advent of the plastic button spelt the demise of the pearling industry as did the world wars. Many of the divers were from Asia (and some were "co-opted" Aboriginals) and the industry became very dangerous as they overfished the shallower waters and needed to dive further using breathing apparatus. World War I caused the pearling industry to halt and it's recovery was slow. The advent of World War II caused the Japanese divers to be interned and the industry again lost many of it's divers. Broome was bombed in 1942 which also impacted the pearling industry. When it resumed at the end of the war- the emphasis altered towards cultured pearls and today there are only a few ships operating within a handful of pearl farms. The ships harvest immature oyster shells which are then taken to pearl farms and implanted with a nucleus to eventually create a pearl.

The Broome Shell Museum was well worth a look and Amelia spent her pocket money on a clam shell, a starfish and a trochus shell. We were disappointed that we missed out on visiting 80 mile beach (a great shell spot) due to the bad weather. The road down was closed (and I believe the fine for using a closed road can be $2000) so we missed that instead leaving Port Headland and driving all the way to Broome in one big long day. 

Cable Beach

Close enough to Broome to be considered a suburb, Cable Beach is a tourist mecca full of resorts and campgrounds. It's also a great spot for a walk and shell collecting missions. The camel rides also looked fun (and not a bit out of place in Australia). We thoroughly enjoyed our beach walk and were glad to finally have a chance to enjoy some lovely weather.

 

Not sure which little creatures created these interesting marks burrowing under the sand, but they were everywhere, perhaps a small crab?

 Making a dolphin in the sand

 Dead coral

 

Cars and camels on sand- are we back in Abu Dhabi?

Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park, Broome, WA

Crocodiles- saltwater and freshwater

There are two major types of crocodiles in Australia, both hanging out in the north, in parts of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. The two types differ considerably in the area in which they inhabit, their temperament and their physical characteristics. As their names indicate, Saltwater (Estuarine) crocodiles live in coastal areas, open seas, tidal rivers, estuaries and floodplains, especially in the Kimberley region. Confusingly though- they are sometimes found in freshwater pools inland also. These guys are larger than the freshwater crocodiles, and can grow to 7 metres. They are dangerous predators and they live on a diet of fish, waterbirds and sometimes land based mammals such as wallabies. They can be easily identified by their lareg size, broad snout and the absence of an occipital pattern on their heads. Freshwater crocodiles inhabit freshwater creeks, rivers, artificial lakes and sometimes tidal areas. They feed mainly on insects, small aquatic animals and fish and are more passive around humans. Not considered aggressive, they will observe human activity but not go out of their way to attack. Yet, if provoked they can do great harm. They are smaller than the "Salties", with a narrower snout and they have an occipital pattern (four oval scales) on their head. 

We have seen both types in our travels, the salties being mostly in the Crocodile Park in Broome and the freshies being in both Geikie and Windjana Gorges and Tunnel Creek. Here are some photos... from those in captivity.

 

Feeding time! They were a bit reluctant to feed (they're fed daily at 3.30pm for the tourists) as it's winter time and their bodies are cooler and therefore cannot easily process food. So, they don't eat much during wintertime as they cannot adequately digest (and the food can go rotten in their tummies and kill them). But from the feeding it was obvious which were salties and which freshies as the former really attacked the food, launching out of the water, whereas the latter needed the food to be thrown into the water towards them

A brave little explorer holding a freshie.

In the wild at Windjana Gorge the freshies looked more like this... there were almost 100 in the midday sun.

 Cruising around

 They were so much more active in the high heat.

In Geikie Gorge National Park- on the Fitzroy River... the freshies were smaller and most placid.

Hard to see, but in the foreground is a croc just metres away from a pelican- neither was moving!

 Enjoying the sunshine

We didn't actually see the crocodiles in Tunnel Creek, as it was very dark, but eyes shone in the torchlight!