The Town Bus takes guests from Cable Beach into the town. Once in the town many sites are within easy walking distance. Small shops line the main street enticing tourists to part with their money.
A major attraction is Sun Pictures, an open air picture theatre
operating in Broome since 1916. Some of the seating is under a roof
while the rest is in the open. During the day it is possible to visit
this piece of cinema history.
Broome has long been a multicultural centre with Aborigines, Japanese and Chinese as well as European settlers. Chinatown, with its mixture of the old and the new, is a major shopping area off the main street of Broome. Johnny Chi Lane connects the shops in Carnarvon Street to those in Chinatown.
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| Roebuck Bay at low tide |
Once hundreds of peal luggers moored at Roebuck Bay. They may be gone but there are constant reminders throughout the town of the importance of the pearling industry. A number of shops sell the best quality pearls for those who can afford them. Those who can't afford them can still look and admire them. Pearl Luggers provides sessions explaining the history of the pealing industry in the area. The Broome Historical Museum has information and displays on the pearling industry and other aspects of Broome's history including the bombing of Broome by the Japanese in 1942.
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| Broome Historical Museum |
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History is everywhere in Broome. One afternoon we took a bus tour of the Broome Penisula and visited many sites including the rocks at Gantheaume Point where dinosaur footprints can be seen at low tide, the Japanese Cemetery, an old pearling home (now a gallery) and the site of the Japanese attack on Broome during World War II .
Broome's location on the edge of desert country is ever present as the above picture taken on a cliff above Roebuck Bay shows.
When a very low tide coincides with the rising of the full moon the resulting effect is known as the Staircase to the Moon. One evening we watched this event with a crowd of people from the lawns of the Mangrove Hotel. The reflection of the rising moon on the water and sand provides an illusion of a staircase leading to the moon. Quite a sight. This phenomenon can be viewed for three nights each month from March to October.
Broome is a unique town. The isolation of Broome from other settlements in Australia, its history and multiculturalism have contributed to the development of this special and different community. Life goes at its own pace and if there is a delay visitors are reminded that in this region life operates according to 'Broome time'.
Broome is a must place to visit.
