So after a few days in Broome I can say it’s probably my favorite place outside of Fremantle in Western Australia. It has the same sort of Mediterranean / multicultural feel, with great restaurants (including one just 50 feet from my camping spot), great beaches (about as perfect as you can imagine), and lots of things to see and do. It made me feel at home! Broome is also home to the world’s oldest continuously running outdoor movie theater. I saw Shrek 2 last night under the Milky Way while lounging in a deck chair on the grass. Little kids were there snuggled up in sleeping bags and watching below the screen. It was fun to experience. And the movie wasn’t bad either.
There is also lots of history here, dating back over 100 years — although a lot of it is pretty dreadful. Aboriginals were more or less used as slaves by British pearling companies and many of them died from having to make dives without the right equipment. It seems many of the aboriginals here are now wandering the town intoxicated these days, which wasn’t the case at all in Port Hedland (the last town I visited).
Aside from that, Broome’s been a great place to recharge my batteries before heading on to Darwin. The town itself is tiny. The weirdest experience has been standing in the middle of the main central intersection while looking down on the airport runway down the street while big planes screech in low on their final approach as they come in from Australia’s major cities.
I can’t say the camping has been the best. Many of my neighbors are young, long time backpackers looking to escape the winter down south. They’re primarily here to party and can get a bit noisy late at night. It seems some of them even have jobs in town during the day.
I have another four weeks of traveling to do around Australia, so I’m guessing my loose itinerary with take me to Darwin and Kakadu National Park by next weekend followed by Alice Springs the following weekend. Then I will take in Uluru (Ayer’s Rock), possibly Adelaide, and Esperance before returning to Perth for my flight to New Zealand on September 15th. I hear there are no speed limits in the Northern Territory, so my traveling should go faster!
Anyway… now that I’m venturing into The Kimberly, who knows where and when I will be able to blog again!!
