Australia

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PRELUDE (a/k/a travel time).... On Saturday, 8 September, we flew from Kiev through London and ultimately spent the evening at The Hilton at Rome's Fiumicino Airport. On Sunday, 9 September, we boarded our Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong.

Monday, 10 September: At 9:00AM we left Hong Kong for Sydney aboard our next Cathay Pacific flight. It was interesting in that our flight began with a breakfast meal (usually lunch is served irrespective of the time) and then a dinner was served just before arrival in Sydney. Again, we watched movies and later in the flight we did enjoy a cocktail, wine and dinner. We arrived at the Sydney Airport at 8:10PM and quickly went through Immigration and Customs. Then, we had to catch the Super Shuttle to our hotel. Thankfully, we didn’t have a long wait or a long transfer so we were at the Formule1 Airport Hotel before 10:00PM and it was time to get some sleep in a real bed!

Tuesday, 11 September: Today we were once again flying – this time to the town of Broome in Western Australia. We specifically picked the hotel Formule1 Airport Hotel because we were able to walk from it to the Domestic Terminal and avoid the $6AUD/person ride via Super Shuttle. After checking-in, we went to the Qantas Lounge and enjoyed a great breakfast there. At 10:25AM we caught our five+ hour flight to Broome. Qantas’ personnel did a great job and we enjoyed a nice lunch along with an Aussie wine.

When we arrived in Broome at 1:40PM (yes, there’s a time change across Oz just like in the US), we took a shared ride to the Broome-Time Lodge. There we had a small apartment with a complete kitchen and all utensils. After settling into our room, we walked 1KM (.6mi) to a nearby mall and did shopping at Woolworth’s (“Woolie’s”) for both food and wine for our five-night stay in Broome. By the time we finished the shopping and walked back to the hotel, it was about 5:00PM. Ed went about stocking the fridge and pantry while Lindy unpacked. Then we enjoyed a delicious dinner and called it a night at about 8:30PM.

Wednesday, 12 September: This was a day to sleep in, catch up on business and generally relax. Our only excursions outside were to return to Woolie’s to pick up some cheese for a pasta dinner and also a bottle of wine.

Thursday, 13 September (Happy 13^th!): We spent our day exploring the town of Broome. We purchased a bus pass for the day ($10AUD each) and caught our first bus immediately opposite the Broome-Time Lodge. From there we rode into town and began our explorations at the Visitors Center. There we learned that Broome is a major player in the pearling industry. We knew from prior reading that Broome had become a city primarily as a result of pearling but we didn’t know it was still in the game. The pearl farms now are farther to the north but Broome is the closet city. As a result, the town is loaded with lots of stores selling Australian cultured pearls (some of the best in the world) and/or mother-of-pearl jewelry.

Next we visited the Town Center and its shopping area. It’s only about two blocks wide and is referred to as “China Town.” While we didn’t come across any Chinese markets, we did find those jewelry stores. One of them, Cygnet Bay Pearls, has on display the world’s largest pearl. It was stunning! The pearl was grown in Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm and it measures 22.24 mm in diameter. In other words, it is a little less than 1” in diameter which, for a pearl, is HUGE! Also it had incredible luster and was almost perfectly spherical. There was also some interesting old dive equipment in the store.

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	Downtown Broome
	The world's largest pearl measuring 22.24mm
	Lindy by an old diver's helmet

After finishing our explorations in this area, we took the bus to the end of the line which wasn’t too far away from downtown. Since we had an all day-pass, we waited on the bus while the driver took a quick break. Then, we re-traced our route back into town and then back to the Broome-Time Lodge. Since the bus runs by every 30 minutes, we jumped off and went to our room to enjoy some air conditioning and an ice-cold Coca Cola. It was 90+ degrees so we needed both given it was now mid-afternoon.

We then went back to the bus stop and caught the bus in the opposite direction. Then we rode to Cable Beach, a beautiful white sands beach with crystal blue waters. Cable Beach is named after the undersea telegraph cable that was installed between Broome and Java in 1889. We took pictures of the beach as well as a Gantheaume Point Lighthouse which is approximate 5KM away on a point.

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A view of the beach with
Gantheaume Point Lighthouse
in the far distance

After spending time at Cable Beach we once again hopped on the bus and continued on the same route through the area adjacent to Cable Beach which is mostly comprised of hotels and/or residential properties. Ultimately, the bus returned back to the one of the main roads we had been on previously and we got off opposite the Broome-Time Lodge.

All and all, we had an excellent tour of Broome thanks to the city bus system. Broome is home to approximately 12,000 residents so it’s not a huge town. However, given the heat and the distances between major centers (i.e., China Town and Cable Beach), the bus is definitely the way to explore.

Friday, 14 September: Today we decided to walk to the nearby Japanese cemetery and Chinese cemetery. During the pearling heyday in Broome, many individuals came from Japan and China to find work. Unfortunately, lives were lost. Interestingly, more were lost during cyclones (what we above the equator call a hurricane) than were lost working in pearl production. That being said, some of these individuals did die from “diving paralysis.” Indeed, especially in the late 1800’s, this was a very dangerous way to make a living.

We first arrived at the Japanese cemetery. It had been restored in 1993 with funding being supplied by Japanese businesses. We couldn’t read most of the headstones as they were carved in Japanese characters. However, some were written in English characters as well. The Chinese cemetery had not been restored but still was in good condition.

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	Entering the Japanese Cemetery
	Carved headstones
	An Italian immigrant also was buried in this cemetery
	Entry to the Chinese Cemetery
	Headstones in the Chinese cemetery
	A beautiful monument/headstone

After wandering through both these cemeteries, we returned back to the Broome-Time Lodge and stayed in for the balance of a very hot afternoon.

Saturday, 15 September: We spent today at the Broome-Time Lodge. The grounds are beautiful and the pool area is very nice so we had no reason to leave. We did take care of some chores, the biggest being taking care of laundry in the lodge’s laundry room. We also took a few minutes to catch-up on business work before being on the road again tomorrow.

Sunday, 16 September: Well, after a relaxing and restful time in Broome, we were once again traveling. We left the Broome-Time Lodge at 10:15AM via taxi and we were at the airport at 10:30AM. Our flight didn’t leave until 1:00PM, so we relaxed in the self-serve Qantas Lounge. You let yourself in/out using a code. It was actually quite nice as there was plenty of beer, wine and snacks (i.e., cheese, crackers, chocolates, etc.). While most lounges don’t allow liquor consumption prior to 12:00 noon, since this was self-serve, many Aussies were well into multiple beverages before we arrived. Anyway, it was a nice way to relax before today’s flights.

Our first flight took us to Perth and we enjoyed a nice meal before arriving at 3:30PM. Since our next flight wasn’t till 5:20PM, we stopped at the Qantas Lounge there and had time to try a Western Australia Pale Ale on tap. It was terrific! We boarded our next flight and again enjoyed another meal as well as some fine Aussie wine. We arrived in Adelaide at 9:40PM. After collecting our luggage, we were able to walk to the nearby Adelaide Airport Motel which is located also immediately outside the airport grounds. We chatted with the hotel clerk for quite a few minutes. Ed smartly caught the hotel restaurant’s waitress prior to its closing and was able to get some ice from her. We eventually made our way upstairs (unfortunately, no lift so Ed had to carry the bags) and found our room as the last one on the floor. After a quick gin & tonic, we made it to bed at 12:00AM. It was a late night (or early morning) but we knew we would be able to catch some rest as we traveled to Hong Kong tomorrow.