Last Day in Broome!

Matt and I went out at 9:30 this morning with a friend/co-researcher of the Boushey Lab group I used to work for. Deb and her husband Greg took us to see Gantheaume Point. That is a place here in Broome where you can see dinosaur footprints! But, only when the tide is VERY low. We arrived around 10:00am and the tide had covered the footprints by then. That was fine by us because the scenery was absolutely breath taking. I could not get over how red the dirt was and how blue the ocean was. It was such a great contrast.

After that, we got to see/ learn first hand about the aboriginal people. In all of Australia they make up about 2% of the population. In Broome they are 1/3 of the population. The trouble with aboriginal people is that they are nomadic. They don't really live in houses. They have all of their stuff in a pile in the middle of people's yards, parks, and side of the roads. When the move to a new location they just leave their stuff. The result is piles of garbage around the town. So the aborigines are thought of as a problem. Greg pointed to a group of aboriginal people and said that they were going emu hunting. He then explained that the cheapest beer in Australia is called Emu Export. The aboriginies will buy it and drink until they pass out.

We picked up some friends of Deb and Greg named Helen and John and took off towards Willie Creek Pearl Farm. We were going to arrive very early so we decided to take a quick trip to the beach near by. We traveled for an hour on a very bumpy road. I took video footage.

You would think that I was having a seizure while taping.

I made the video and then 20 minutes later we got a flat tire. Not just any flat tire, one where the tread came off of the sidewalls.

So we spent about 45 minutes trying to fix that in the 100 degree heat. We did have plenty of water so we were not worried. By the time it was fixed it was time to head back to Willie's. We realized later that we were on the wrong road to the beach. It should have only taken about 20 minutes to get to the beach. The road we were on would have taken us for a 2 hour drive before finally reaching a beach!

We got to Willie's with about 15 minutes to spare. So we decided to go the Willie's cafe and grab lunch. The cafe was out of EVERYTHING except coffee, carrot cake, and ice cream pops. We got a very funny and lively talk about the inner workings of pearl farming; real pearls, fresh water or salt water, are farmed, however, the process for salt water pearls differs greatly from their fresh water counterparts, hence the much higher price tag. First, an oyster is harvested from the ocean and brought to a ship. There, the oyster is convinced to open and a wedge is placed in its mouth to hold it open. Then, the oyster is cut near its glands and a 6mm nucleus (A sphere cut out of a separate oyster shell) is placed inside the incision. This starter pearl is the base for a two-year growth of a pearl. The seeded oyster is placed in a sack and held 3m below the surface for two years. Every two to three weeks, the exteriors are cleaned and inspected. After that, the oyster is removed and coaxed into opening again. The pearl is removed and the process repeats up to three more times. Each seeding produces larger pearls even though a 6mm starter is used every time. 8mm the first, 10mm the second, 12mm the third, and greater than 14mm the fourth. The rejection rate increases with every seeding however. 85% make it the first seeding, 50% the second, 35% the third, and less than 15% the fourth. After the fourth seeding, the oyster is harvested completely. A strange niche market has opened up for the oyster meat of a fourth seed oyster, called pearl meat. The pearl meat sells for $150 per kilogram in AU, and over $700 per kilogram overseas. People that have tried the meat say it is not worth the price tag.

After our tour, we had a much less eventful drive home, but we did get to see a road lined with giant ant hills. I'm standing about 3 feet in fron of this one.

We then went to Deb's hotel for a swim. We decided to also go to Cable Beach for a view of the sunset. Greg brought cheese and wine for a twilight picnic on the beach. It was quite lovely!

We returned to their hotel where we decided to go out for dinner. We traveled back to the wharf where our kayak tour began. It was a nested little seafood place where Matt got oysters and a seafood bowl and Kaylin got a chicken noodle bowl. Yes, Kaylin tried barramundi, a local fish, and one of Matt's oysters. Greg and Deb dropped us back off at the hostel and we took showers and got ready for bed.

Here's to our last night in Broome! If you don't hear from us for a couple of days, do not fret! We are in the outback camping in Darwin. Updates as we get internet!
With love,
Matt & Kaylin