Pearls, red earth and moonlit dreams: the adventure that started it all

What better way to head into your next chapter than to reflect on what got you where you are?

I'll say this for WA's tourism campaign, my first taste of WA really did feeling like I was walking on a dream.

For those of you who've never been to WA - make a winter trip to Broome the top of your bucket list. My second time out of QLD was like stepping off the plane onto another planet. `

Gantheaume Point, Broome WA

Broome is located at the southern end of a peninsula along the Kimberley coast, about 2,000kms north of Perth. Flying out there felt like flying over no-man's land only to end up in coastal paradise. Well worth making the red-eye flight from Brisbane to Perth, Perth to Broome (and after taking a snooze between flights on a food court tabletop).

Broome airport? Verrrry cutesy compared to the others I've seen.

Upon disembarking, we were practically slapped in the face with a wave of dry heat (30 degrees is a bit of a rude shock after 6 hours in aircon but absolutely balmy once adjusted to).

As soon as we landed, it was off to our first campsite of the trip to set up our tents - that's right we packed a whole campsite into our suitcases - and our first sightseeing venture was Gantheaume Point.

Swimming hole at Gantheaume

The rich tones of the earth juxtaposed against the cool turquoise waters was the perfect way to start off our trip. The Point looks out over the township on one side and into the wild Indian ocean on the other, and has everything from caves, rock pools, shelly coves protected from the elements to even dinosaur footprints frozen in time. We would later come back to this spot after one of our prebooked excursions was cancelled due to the tides, to kayak around the point with the turtles, spotting whales in the distance and taking a dip when we stopped for lunch.

Next stop was weirdly... the Port of Broome. Admittedly there's not really much of... anything.. to do here besides enjoy the view, but come on, have you ever seen a port as pretty as this?

Port of Broome

I like to imagine that whoever planned the building of the port, when asked about the location, was like I guess the only place to put it is this beautiful section of beach that we'll be forced to endure the sight of for hours every day, it really is terrible 🙄

We were only in Broome a couple of nights before we set off to our next destination: Cape Leveque and the alluring shores of Cygnet Bay.

Cygnet Bay, WA

Cygnet Bay is home to the first pearl farm in the world after the Japanese to successfully culture pearls commercially. Dean Brown, the man who started the farm, planted roots in Cygnet Bay in 1946 and discovered the abundance of the pearl oyster pintada maxima, which produces the largest and most lustrous pearls in the world. The Brown family still owns and operates the farm to this day.

The family operates tours from their farm and gives guests the opportunity to observe while a pearl is harvested, graded and then later is offered up for purchase (as long as it's not a record-breaker of course!).

I was lucky enough to be the among the first to hold the pearl after harvesting, and I also took home a very cool souvenir at the end of the day.

The Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm is also the launch point for the Kimberly Day Cruise - a spectacular 8 hour round journey to one of the great wonders of the natural world - the Horizontal Falls/Garaanngaddim.

The cruise was manned by the crew of the catamaran as well as an Indigenous guide from one of the local communities who had grown up living off the land and swimming within the falls themselves. We had free roam of the boat during the trip as we cruised up the archipelago, and were served an mouth watering 8-course degustation course by an on board private chef. Talk about fancy!

Horizontal falls

The Kimberley coast is home to the second largest tides in the Southern Hemisphere, with tides between 10-14m. To those from the East coast: to put it into perspective, our high tides are around 2m! The falls themselves are formed when water is forced between two narrow gaps in the McLarty range, and as the tide changes the level of the water on one side becomes higher than the other side.

When we arrived at the falls, it was the turn or the tide so the falls weren't very dramatic looking. But the strength of the current was fighting our boat, and even with the motor running and throttle engaged, we were struggling against it. You can see the whirls and eddies of the current, these are present all along the archipelago, and you can even do island hopping tours to seek some big whirlpools out.

Cave along the Kimberley coast, notice the high tide mark

Too soon it was time to return to Broome where we would see out the rest of our trip.

There was still so much to see and do with our remaining time, but one of the highlights has to be the Staircase to the Moon markets.

If you don't know what this market is, Town Beach on the Eastern side of Broome plays host to another natural phenomenon when the moon is at it's fullest.

Due to the dramatic tides and the subsequently exposed tidal flats of Roebuck Bay, when the moon rises over the beach something interesting happens. The reflection of the moon's glow is spotlighted over the water and the rolling waves, creating the illusion that a set of stairs lights the way up the horizon to the moon. It truly is a magical experience, and I'm generally not a big fan of crowds but the hush that fell over the easily hundreds of people was pretty amazing in and of itself.

One of our last big-ticket activities in Broome was the sunset camel ride at Cable Beach.

As cliche as I thought it was going to be (like, yeah riding a camel is a bit of fun, but all we're doing is slowly ambling up the beach and it's so tourist-y), it 100% surpassed my expectations. My camel, Spartacus, promenaded up the beach with the spectacular sunset as our backdrop, as the water glassed off and we even had a surprise appearance of dolphins playing in the surf as the cherry on top. I will say though - I was very surprised that Cable Beach seems to be the hotspot for the local naturalists - which is just my snobby way of saying there was a lot of naked people. So head there with an open mind, folks!

All in all, Broome and its surrounds were visually breathtaking, rich in culture and history, and the ultimate destination for those wanting a taste of paradise without the rush of a major tourist trap.

I would visit again in a heartbeat.

Until next time, Broome.