city / town
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For other places and usages, see Broome. Broome is a pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, 2200 km north of Perth. The year round population is approximately 14,000, growing to around 30,000 during the tourist season. Broome International Airport provides transport to several regional and domestic towns and cities. (...) more....
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Perth New Year's Eve celebrations are fun and crazy (even without the Opera House fireworks display). Most of the family fun is centered...
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broome western australia music steve angoorly [03:52]
A Serious Undertaking [05:04]
Broome The Gem of the North West [01:41]
History
Broome was established on the shore of Roebuck Bay in the 1890s as a telegraph cable station and a base for pearl shell merchants and their divers. During the boom years before the First World War, Broome supplied 80% of the world’s pearl shell, mostly used for buttons. The first pearl divers were Aboriginal, then later Malaysian, Indonesian, Chinese or Japanese. Consequently the people of Broome are an unusual mix of Aboriginal, Asian and European heritage. When plastic buttons were invented in the 1950s Broome was in trouble, but the pearling industry learnt to produce cultured pearls with the help of the Japanese and has prospered since on the profits of the world’s largest and most lustrous pearls, and more recently by tourism.Introduction
The shark’s tooth of the Dampier Peninsula marks the start of WA’s Kimberley region and the northerly tip of the west coast before it breaks into a maze of inlets and archipelagos. Fringed by intermittent mangrove estuaries and low, deep-red sandstone cliffs, the interior is a plain of low scrub and sparse woodland, usually dry but occasionally soaked by passing cyclones. A sealed highway connects Broome at its southwest corner with Derby in its southeast, and a rough unsealed track heads up through the middle connecting isolated Aboriginal communities. Broome is home to a unique blend of European, Asian and Aboriginal people, with an architecture, culture and history like nowhere else in Australia. Slipping into ‘Broometime’ can be a seductive experience.Getting around
Buses ply the route from the centre of town to Cable Beach.Ins and outs
Getting there
Broome is well connected with frequent flights from Perth, Alice Springs, Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Darwin and good bus links too.
Broome
Air
Qantas has a daily service to Perth. Air North fly daily to Kununurra and Darwin. Skywest, T1300 660 088, fly to Perth Mon-Sat.
Bicycle/scooter
Hire from Broome Cycles, 2 Hamersley St, T9192 1871. Bikes from $24 day. Open Mon-Fri 0830-1700, Sat 0830-1400 and during May-Oct Sun 1000-1400. Broome Broome, Hamersley St, T9192 2210, hires out a range of scooters from $35 a day. Another option is Topless Rentals, 25 Hunter St, T9193 5017, http://www.toplessrentals.com.au.
Bus
Local Town Bus Service, T9193 6585, http://www.broomebus.com.au, operates its single winding route between the Vacation Village, the town centre and Cable Beach, and back, daily, every hour. Departure times vary depending on season. Day passes are available for $10, one-way fare $3.50, children $1.50.
Long distance
Many 4WD tours heading east are one-way trips that will get you to Kununurra or Darwin but if money or time is tight there is a daily McCafferty’s/ Greyhound service to Derby, Kununurra (14 hrs) and Darwin (26 hrs) departing Broome at 1930. Backpacker buses Easyrider, T9226 0307, http://www.easyridertours.com.au, has several ticket options west, including Exmouth and Perth. Travelabout, T9244 1200, http://www.travelabout.au.com, runs several trips, some 4WD, to Darwin and Perth.
Car
Broome Broome, T0417 949727 and T9192 2210, has a good range from 3-door hatchbacks to Landcruisers from $58 to $148 per day. If you’re going to do a bit of distance check out Just Broome, T9192 6636, who have more free km and cheaper per km excess than most (hire from $36 a day). Willie Creek, T9192 3311, www.willie creekpearls. com.au, is good for small 4WDs.
Car servicing from Minishull, Guy St, opposite Shell House, T9192 1168. Cheap fuel at Woody’s, Dampier Terr.
Taxi
Call T9192 1133.Banks
The major bank branches are in Chinatown, on Canarvon St.
Internet
Broome Telecentre, 40 Dampier Terr. Internet Café, Hamersley St, T9192 5897, cheap internet access ($4.50 per hr), also wireless hotspots.
Laundry
Broome Laundromat, Paspaley Shopping Centre, daily 0700-2100, and Pearl Sea Laundromat, Broome Boulevard Shopping Centre.
Medical services
Chemists: Chinatown Pharmacy, Paspaley Shopping Centre, Canarvon St, T9192 1399, Mon-Fri 0830-1730, Sat to 1400, Sun 0900-1300. Hospital: Broome District, Robinson St, T9192 9222.
Police
Hamersley St, T9192 0200.
Post
Canarvon St, T9192 1020, Mon-Fri 0900-1700.
Useful contacts
DEC, West Kimberley HQ, 111 Herbert St, T9192 1036. Cyclone Information, T1300 659 210. Road Conditions, T138138 and T9191 3456, http://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au. Sea Search and Rescue, T9192 8202.Are you a business owner? Click Here to promote your business on tripwolf!
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