Broome – Horizontal Falls (4 - 11 Jun)
Millie’s adventures with Poppy continued in Broome where we joined her family to see “IF” at the Sun Pictures Theatre (supposedly the world’s oldest picture gardens) where our movie was periodically interrupted by planes taking-off or landing at the airport nearby. Together, we also watched the sunset at Cable Beach and visited the Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Farm now hosted by Malcolm’s nephew. As our travel itineraries would soon diverge, goodbyes with Poppy were hard which were offset by prolonged cuddles and hugs. Broome was also Popo’s last stop where visits to Gantheaume Point and Chinatown brought her trip to a fitting end. After her departure, we sorted out some minor issues with the car and caravan before joining the Horizontal Falls Seaplane Tour.
Horizontal Falls consist of two narrow gaps in the McLarty Range where an ocean phenomenon helps to create a horizontal waterfall. As the tide turns each day, so does the direction of the tide through the gaps. On the day of the tour, we were driven to Derby to board a seaplane to Talbot Bay where we would spend the night on a permanent floating houseboat. Fortunately, I no longer feared flying in small aircrafts after our friend, Warren, took us on his seaplane in Vancouver the previous year. Unfortunately, the novelty factor of going in one had also dissipated.
Shortly after arrival, we were taken by speedboat to the falls and through the larger of the two gaps. However, due to a serious accident in 2022, boats no longer go through the narrower gap. In fact, boat tours through the rock formations are expected to be phased out altogether by 2028 in response to the wishes of the Dambimangari traditional owners. Upon return to the pontoon, Justin jumped into the water to view sharks from within the safety of a cordoned enclosure. Nibbles were served on the deck before we sat down to a meal of locally caught barramundi which seemed to be in abundance in the area.
Retiring for the night, Millie decided to abandon me and migrate to Justin’s room on the other side of the houseboat to escape the noisy generators located outside our room. As my earplugs did nothing to alleviate the noise, I went out to the deck at 5am the next morning only to find other tour members kept awake by the generators. I was amused to learn that Justin had the worst night’s sleep ever with Millie doing her splits and stretches on the shared bed well into the night (I think she must have choreographed an entire floor routine). After breakfast, we were taken out to the falls again before the flight home.
Back in Broome, we found ourselves a few doors down from Adam and Guy again. On our last days there, Millie and I had a girls’ day out to the Willie Creek Pearl Farm where we learnt about the modern farming process of the cultured South Sea pearl. This included collecting Australian Pinctada Maxima oysters from the open water (the number collected each year is controlled by the government); seeding the oyster with a fragment of the Mississippi mussel shell; grafting mantle tissue to stimulate the creation of nacre around the nucleus; and manually rotating the oysters every two weeks for about two years to create the prized rounded pearl.
I also discovered that cultured pearls can be harvested from the same oyster up to three times and that, once a pearl is harvested, a replica nucleus of a similar size to the harvested pearl would be seeded back into the oyster to create an even bigger pearl (i.e. the larger the cultured pearl, the larger its implanted nucleus). At the end of the oyster’s useful production life, its meat is destined for the dinner table. Although we were assured that oysters can’t feel, I can’t help but feel they have a sad life not dissimilar to egg-laying hens undergoing IVF. Then again, I was very excited to see an oyster opened before my eyes to reveal a pearl (which was blackened on one side due to disease). Our Willie Creek experience was complemented by the Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm tour a week later which provided a historical insight into the Australian pearling industry. An oyster was also sacrificed before us to reveal a pearl valued at a princely sum of $73 which, to this day, I regret not letting Millie purchase.