Log One Hundred and Thirty Nine – Pearls are Always Appropriate.

6 July 2026

We are now in Broome, WA and have decided to put down roots for a few days to explore this part of the world.

Broome’s history is marked by several notable events. From harvesting and exporting mother-of-pearl at the beginning of the 20th century, being bombed by the Japanese in WWII, the development of cultured pearls in the 1950s and 60s and now tourism. Broome is a town of memorials to pearl divers who died doing their job and to the estimated 100 who died during the WWII bombings.

Tourism of course is primarily servicing climate refugees who are escaping winter in the south and those doing the big lap around Australia.

In this town there are backpackers everywhere. Your pizza is prepared by a young lady from Italy, the guy pouring your beer is probably from the UK and the chap steering the boat on your tour of the pearl farm is from South America. The parks are full of their campers and in the early morning you can smell the coffee they are brewing in their vans. Come the wet season they will all be gone along with the tourists.

Another unique feature of Broome is their playgrounds for little kids. Anywhere else there might be unicorns, giraffes and elephant features in the playgrounds. Up here they have crocodiles!

The other major attraction is the Stairway to the Moon. This is a spectacle that only occurs with the alignment of a full moon rise and a low tide. Hundreds are down by the beach, cameras ready with a glass of wine as you hope the clouds will clear as the moon rises. It’s all over in a few minutes and by that time the wine is finished anyway.

We did a tour of a pearl farm and learned just how labour intensive is this industry. Naturally the pearl farm had a shop and in that shop they had a lovely double string of 90 pearls for the bargain price of $250,000. They also had a single massive pearl that was not for sale but with a notional price also of $250,000. Bargains!

Back in the early days the cultured pearl technicians were universally Japanese and their process for seeding a pearl oyster was hidden from prying eyes behind heavy curtains. Their secrets were managed like Cold War secrets. Now you can get the process fully explained on a tour and the technicians are local men and women. They even have a video of pearl seeding. How things change.

Tonight we off to the oldest outdoor cinema in Australia and maybe the world.