"Through the early hours of this morning, we continued to steam in a South Westerly before turning to the South and setting our approach courses for Broome. Once we were off Gantheaume Point, we turned to port into Roebuck Deep and embarked our local pilot. Under pilotage, we then proceeded up the deep before rounding Entrance Point and entering Broome Harbour. Broome Harbour experiences a high tidal range, 7.9 metres this causes very strong currents and also means that the gangways will be changed between deck 5 and deck 7 during our call. They will sometimes be at a steep incline."
In his public address this morning, our Captain asked us to observe one minute of silence for the lives lost in New-Zealand. Despite what he described as a ferocious current, Broome has been presented to us as "worth all the difficulties". We did have quite a strong wind that required the services of a tug to push us along the pier on arrival. Passengers were advised they will not be authorized to walk on the dockside. Therefore, a numbered disembarkation ticket system in groups of 40 was organized to avoid people queuing for the free shuttle by 36 degrees at noon. School buses joined forces to help us reach the town as fast as possible, as disembarking nearly 2,000 passengers can take a few hours.
Everyone was smiling and very helpful in Broome. I first stop to have my first beer at the Roey. Thank you for the excellent music that made me feel alive again! The Roebuck Bay Hotel was established in 1890 and still "has your entertainment covered"!
I chose not to go to the famous Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park, but we all had a thought for him and his family. I went for a little walk through Chinatown and enjoyed the pictures/prints from Yane Sotiroski (www.yane.com.au). The shell house had the most amazing display of full size reef fishes reproduction covering all the rear wall of the shop. Sad they are not used by a scuba diving school for the fish identification classes! A mind-blowing collection of plastic fishes! I had although a quick look in a few jewelleries and the Pearl Lugger Museum, but felt guilty enough to never buy pearls again when acknowledging the number of divers who lost their lives in these waters.
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| The shell house |
I then headed to the famous 22km of pristine white sand and tropical water: Cable Beach. After waiting 15 minutes for a crowded public bus, I was glad to enjoy a refreshing beer at Zanders.
