Life is a beach in Bali

Alex and I get into a rhythm of swimming and sun bathing by the beach (I read in the shade!) and then doing laps in the jungle-themed pool. (At least I do, Alex does more sun bathing.) Then we saunter over to the beach for lunch and rest a little after-wards as it is all a bit tiring - this resort life. On Monday we are a bit more energetic and visit a nearby temple, which has an ancient stone pillar with Sanskrit inscriptions. That’s what the guide-book said any way – I could see no Sanskrit anything. After discussions with some of Hugh’s more adventurous students, Alex decides she wants to go and learn how to scuba dive so we find a really nice Danish dive instructor who now lives in Bali who signs us up and I’m even thinking about it myself until I see the DVD which puts me off for life.

But Alex is full of enthusiasm and after an introductory dive in the pool, we are picked up early on Wednesday morning and drive off for an hour past rice paddies overlooked by big mountains to Pandangbai where we set off on our adventure. Unfortunately although it is only a small boat trip to Blue lagoon, it is way too rough for me to snorkel so I just watch anxiously as my baby disappears into the water and I become increasingly seasick as the boat bobs around for hours in the waves. Talk about mother love! Alex is having a great time however and gets up close to a nemo fish which makes me jealous but I recover once back on dry land and we enjoy a wonderful lunch full of eggplant with spicy peanut sauce.

We have a hard week full of swimming up to the pool bar and drinking cocktails on the beach. We also go shopping and buy many t-shirts, scarves and a nice silk dress for Alex. Hugh is working hard at his conference but takes a morning off and we visit the beautiful cliff top temple of Uluwatu and dodge the cheeky monkeys to do a bit of bird watching. This temple is one of nine on Bali, which are known as directional temples and face the sea, the sunset and the mountains. There are also temples of the lake and the forest. There are empty shrine thrones everywhere, which get filled with small offerings of rice, incense and flowers. Religion here is an interesting mixture of Hinduism and the older animist religion.

After a final conference dinner of crazy karaoke, we leave Sanur and drive in bumper to bumper traffic to Ubud, stopping to visit the temple of Goa Gaja, which has a spectacular location near a river and has a spooky cave with a statue of Ganesh, my favourite God. We are staying nearby for 2 nights in a gorgeous villa, which overlooks the river Wos and is tranquil and atmospheric with a sweet outdoor bathroom. Alex and I bravely venture into the chaos of central Ubud and are rewarded with a lovely lunch overlooking the lotus filled pools of the temple of Saraswati. We do more shopping and return home exhausted to find that Hugh has watched a traditional cremation ceremony on the river from our balcony. On our last day we walk to the nearby sacred monkey forest, trying to avoid the scary monkeys and home again in the tropical rain past water-filled rice paddies. Very picture postcard – just how I imagined Bali.

Jostling Yogyakarta

We return to the lovely Hotel Phoenix by minivan and do a bit more lolling by the pool before girding our loins to fight our way past becak drivers, batik salespeople and furious motorbikes and check out Yogyakarta. Despite our best efforts, we are nevertheless kidnapped by a helpful man and dutifully admire some rather nice Batik pictures and return to the hotel a few hours later, exhausted and in need of a soothing cocktail.

The next day we decide to visit the nearby temple complex of Prambanan, a curious mixture of Hindu and Buddhist temples which is quite spectacular despite being damaged in the 2006 earthquake. Hugh is happy and finds some birds at last although he gets a nasty wasp bite on his lip and starts to resemble elephant man. Somewhat alarmed and in need of anti-histamines we try to get back to the hotel but there are no taxis so we have to literally jump onto a moving bus which is quite exciting. We finally get back to the hotel after jumping off the still moving bus and Hugh recovers.

Alex and I decide to continue our self-appointed mission to try all of Indonesia’s transport options and hire a becak to see some more of Yogyakarta. We visit the imposing kraton, as the sultan’s palace is known, where we are again kidnapped by a nice man who shows us around the complex and takes us along alleys to a nearby puppet maker’s shop. It is fascinating to watch how the shadow puppets are made and coloured and we fall in love with Rama and a sea-monster that we have to buy. Then we visit another batik gallery and buy a nice bird batik for Hugh as we don’t want him to feel left out. After roaming the streets we meet up with Hugh and find an excellent restaurant and some cheapish wine.

Today we get an early flight and make our way to Bali. Our resort at Sanur is full of pavilions and pools and fountains and our rooms are gorgeous. We decide that this lifestyle will probably suit us all except Hugh who is fretting about internet access for his obsessive computer game addiction. But Alex and I are pleased to see that there are many lounges to lay on at the beach and a sweet pavilion you can swim out to and we enjoy a late lunch watching the sea. It’s a hard life!

Jaunting around Java

We are spending 2 weeks in Indonesia for partly for a conference and partly for a holiday and we fly first to Bali and have a horrible moment trying to push through crowds of people to buy our visas and then join an enormous crowd to be processed. The lines do not seem to move at all but people keep disappearing strangely behind us. We find out later that someone from the conference waited for 2 hours but we are worried about our connecting flight. After some fruitless fretting we are approached by an official, who spoke of an “express” lane, and then with our first ever bribe we are whisked through immigration. Very dodgy. Rather flustered, we catch a connecting flight to Yogyakarta in Java, a short 1 hour flight and check into the beautiful Hotel Phoenix, which was built in 1918 and has a very Dutch colonial feel. It is a lovely hotel with delightful friendly staff and we begin to relax.

In the morning we catch a taxi to the town of Borobudur, which is home to the UNESCO world heritage listed 8th century Buddhist temple that from the air resembles a huge mandala. After checking in to another beautiful hotel, the Saraswati, where we lolled by the lush pool for a while, we walked to the temple. Luckily it was overcast and not so hot by then as the temple has three terraces which you walk around clockwise in order to leave the world of passion and earthly pleasures behind to reach the summit and experience Nirvana with many stupas containing seated buddhas. I stalked a monk who was doing the real thing as the photograph shows. The views of the surrounding Javanese countryside from the top are breath-taking and we are able to see the huge volcano Mt Merapi in the distance. The funniest thing that happened as you can see is that Hugh became very popular as many people wanted to have their photos taken with him. We couldn’t really understand why! So we joined in the fun and took pictures of his fan club too.

The next day we had a wonderful buffet breakfast with the most delicious coconut pancakes and other yummy Indonesian treats which the manager assured me were vegetarian. Actually the food has been surprisingly good for me with lots of spicy tofu curries, fried tempeh and gado-gado. Hugh and I got up early and walked a few kilometres to the temple of Mendut which was quite tricky as there was not much in the way of footpaths and much in the way of traffic. The temple is small but quite atmospheric and is one of the few temples in Java with its original statue still inside. The monks from the nearby monastery walk from this temple to another even smaller temple we visited, called Candi Pawon and then onto Borobudur. The monastery is very tranquil and peaceful compared to the chaotic traffic outside.

Later, Alex and I decide to hire a horse and cart and explore the surrounding countryside. We left the motorcycle filled bustle of Borobudur and soon it was lovely and quiet and we passed rice paddies and fertile fields and quaint villages. The little kids are so cute and always smile and wave to us. We stoped to see how tofu was made in one village and how clay-pots were made in another. Quite fascinating. We love watching a whole family on a motorbike with one kid at the front, a dad, then another small child either standing or on his father’s shoulders and then a mum. Often with no helmets! Luckily people are very good drivers.

A tale of two (Norwegian) cities

Tondheim was Norway's first capital but the capital was moved to Oslo or Christiana as it was then called in 1308. Norway's history is a bit confusing as for some 200 years it was part of Denmark and then it became part of Sweden and then after a long war it achieved independence in 1720. So yesterday we caught the train east across the mountains to Oslo. It was a very scenic 7 hour train trip, passing many snow-covered lakes, frozen waterfalls and big mountains. Oslo was covered in fog and it was a bit cold and gloomy wandering the streets. We had just enough time to visit the National Gallery where the famous "Scream" painting by Norwegian Edward Munch is located. Whether it was just the effect of the grey light but most of the pictures in the gallery seemed a bit depressing, many picturing young children either dying of consumption or being buried. Even the room of French Impressionists seemed without colour. Very odd.

We walked past the impressive Castle or Slott as it is called here and past the place where the Nobel Peace prize is awarded (the other prizes are awarded in Sweden). After many years of playing the board game Diplomacy it was fun to see Skagerrak, the sea between Norway, Sweden and Denmark, as we were always moving our navies around this spot. But it was too cold to linger outside as you can see from the photos, so we hurried to a cheerful Mexican restaurant to consume spicy food and sadly expensive red wine. But it was medicinal you understand.

Today I fly back home and Hugh continues on to England for another week. While not looking forward to the plane trip I will be glad to be going somewhere warmer. I don't think I am cut out for this cold weather and to make matters worse I have not seen an Aurora borealis as it has been too cloudy and/or we have not been far enough north or far enough away from light pollution. It is all Joanna Lummley's fault as she made it look easy on her documentary. I think you really have to wander around in the arctic circle for weeks in order to see one which is rather a trial by snow and frostbite when you think about it. Next travel blog will be from Indonesia in July where I daresay I will not be seeing snow!

The snow-covered land of the Vikings

Getting to the land of the Vikings was rather traumatic as we had to leave Jerusalem at 2am in oder to get a bus to Tel Aviv and have enough time to get through Israeli security to get our early morning flight to Norway. It was truly awful and by the time we got to Trondheim via Vienna and Oslo we were both fairly tired and in my case rather fragile. I beeped throught the security gate at Oslo which is odd as I hadn't had a peep through the many previous security gates and instead of going through it again, I got the full body frisk by a young security guy. Normally I probably would have been rather amused but with little sleep it rather shocked me I must say and they also confiscated our duty free alcohol so we were pretty grouchy about Norway when we finally got to bed in Trondheim.

However the view of the snow-covered landscape was so quaint in the morning and the hotel buffet so good, that I was soon restored to full strength and was itching to go outside and play in the snow. It was great fun although the layers of coats, hats, scarves and gloves takes a little bit of getting used to. Trondheim is a very pretty town on the mouth of the river Nid and at present looks just like a Christmas card scene but obviously without baby Jesus and the stable. It is famous for having the most northerly cathedral in the world which is also a pilgrims destination due to the matrydom here of St Olav, who tried to introduce Christianity in the 11th century. He had a lot of trouble as most people preferred to continue their drinking and toasts to the God Thor. Who can blame them in this climate?

We are very lucky to have a private organ recital in the beautiful cathedral later that night and a most interesting talk by the female acting Dean of the Cathedral. The organ is one of the earliest Baroque insruments still in use in Europe and it is very moving to hear Bach's famous toccata and fugue for the organ played here. However it is quite terrifying making our way back to the hotel along all the slippery,icy roads and I'm glad my feet are in better working order than they were last year. The conference is full of famous eccologists and it is a treat to meet so many interesting people.

Trondheim has lots of colourful restored buildings and some lovely shops but as everything is precisely twice the price of things at home it is a little depressing. So I use the chance to catch up on my writing and my studies on Ancient Greek and go only to the supermarket for food instead of to expensive cafes. See I can be frugal! Luckily our hotel is a groovy modern building built over the river with a wonderful view of the town from our window so it is quite nice to be all snug and warm, drink hot chocolate and watch the snow falling outside. Rather different from Israel and certainly different from home.

Exploring the Old City of Jerusalem

I am very excited to be dragging my suitcase up the hill towards the Jaffa gate, one of the eight gates into the Old City of Jerusalem, next to the citadel of David. Our guesthouse, which used to be the original British Consulate building, is fortunately located near to this gate, so can leave our luggage there and begin our exploration of the Old City without too much trouble. We decide to go straight onto the ramparts which encircle the city and walk towards the Jewish quarter and the Wailing Wall. The views over the City and surrounding areas are fantastic with the gold and blue Dome of the Rock looking magnificent in the bright sun. We explore the archeological park next to the wailing wall which has revealed a Herodian Jewish street complete with shops and ritual baths that would have led to the Second Temple.

Then we wander through the city, along the original flagstones of the Roman road or Cardo as it is called here and past all the covered souks. My aim is to buy a Roman coin as they are apparently plentiful here, so we visit a few antique shops and jewellry stores much to Hugh's alarm. I decide to return another time alone and then I buy a lovely coral and lapis lazuli necklace with a roman coin that you see pictured. We walk along the Via Dolorosa, believed to be the route taken by Jesus to his execution. There are about fourteen stations of the cross along this route commemorating the gospel events. There are a lot of people who appear out of chapels along the route carrying crosses and singing songs to recreate the cruxifiction. Along with the shop keepers who try and lure you into their stores, it makes for a noisy and crowded spectacle.

Later in the afternoon we visit the Church of the Holy Sepuchre which has a long queue of people who want to kiss the spot where Jesus was allegedly crucified and buried. We are more interested in observing the frosty relations which plague this holiest spot in Christendom as the Church is shared between six Christian communities - the Latins (Roman Catholics), Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Ethiopians and Copts. No-one can agree on anything including repairs which can take up to fifty years to happen, and there is often actual violence between the sects over territory and imagined or real insults. It is rather funny I think. We have a lovely dinner on a roof top terrace overlooking the blue domes of the Church and the City and I have fun lecturing Hugh on the origins of Christianity, my special subject. He is quite a good listener I must say.

On our last day in Jerusalem we walk along the Northern section of the ramparts passing the beautiful Damascus gate and enter the Moslem quarter. We notice a great increase in security in this area and are slightly concerned to see police with riot shields. None of the residents seem terribly alarmed so we press on to the Lion's gate where we exit the Old City to visit the Rockefeller Museum, home to the famous Megiddo ivories and other wonderful archeological finds. Hugh's interest in ancient things is waning but I am ruthless, so we finish by visiting the Tower of David or Citadel which has an excellent display on the history of the City and more wonderful views. We enjoy a meal in the Armenian quarter near our guesthouse tired but, at least in my case, reasonably satisfied with out short visit to the heart of the world.

Floating on the Dead Sea and marching around Massada

Yesterday we spent the morning at Ramat Hanadiv, the memorial gardens dedicated to the memory of Baron Rothschild and the site of Hugh's workshop which is ten minutes drive from Zichron-Ya'acov. At the heart of the gardens lies the crypt of the Baron and his wife and there is a theatre where you are able to watch original footage of the Baron's many visits to Israel in the 1920's. It is quite fascinating. After a spot of bird-watching at a nearby kibbutz's fish farm, we make the much awaited drive to what some people consider to be the heart of the world - Jerusalem. Our hotel is just outside the city walls and we have a fabulous view of the ramparts and the citadel all lit up. We are lucky to have Eric, a knowledgeable member of our group, who points out many of the landmarks to us. But it will be a few days until we are able to explore the holy city ourselves.

As today we are up early for a big drive through the Judean desert to the Dead Sea and the histric fort of Massada. It is unseasonably hot so I am very relieved that the big hike to the top of Ein Gedi nature reserve has been modified. It is very strange to be 400m below sea level yet be surrounded by towering cliffs. The reserve is home to many animals such as the leopard, ibex and a funny guinea pig like creature called the rock hyrax. There are several springs that provide much needed coolness and shade in this harsh environment. The place is packed with many school groups and devout Hassidic Jews dressed in black with distictive head-gear and sidelocks. It is a sacred biblical site as David fled here after felling Golliath with his sling shot. On the way here we pass the caves of Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found.

Finally we reach the Dead Sea, only to be dismayed by learning that the sea is in fact disappearing as not enough water is flowing through the Jordan river (a sadly familiar tale to the Murray river in Australia), which is the source for the Dead Sea. So you have to walk a fair way out now to reach the shore and the area is becoming quite dangerous with the appearance of many sink-holes. We all rush to get into our bathers to get into the water. At first the water feels quite normal but once up above your knees you sink to your back and your feet bob up above the water. It is funny at first but quite disturbing if you try to put your feet down under the water because you can't. After five minutes of fighting the water I decide to swim back and am very relieved when my feet can touch the ground again. You have to wash the water off quite quickly as it can sting and your skin feels rather oily.

The real highlight of the day for me is the visit to the spectacular world heritage listed hill-top fortress of Massada. I should perhaps explain here that I am an obsessive seeker of world heritage sites and I am pleased that this visit to Israel is giving me numerous opportunities to add to my list. The landscape is almost unbelievable with miles of desolate cliffs and wadis as far as the eye can see, not unlike a mini grand canyon but without the cacti. We ride an amazing cable car to the top and spend the next couple of hours wandering around ruined palaces, bath houses and religious buildings. Massada is of course famous for being the stronghold of Jewish rebels who made their last stand against the Romans here in 66-70 AD. It is a really wonderful site and a great end to our day.

Armageddon and the Sea of Galilee

There are so many places that sound so familiar in Israel that a sightseeing frenzy threatens to overtake me and I have to choose to visit only a few sites and save others for another time. So Darryl (a fellow workshop partner) and I borrow a car and bravely go adventuring around biblical and historical sites that are reasonably close to our hotel. Our first stop is the Unesco World Heritage site of Tel Megiddo otherwie known as Armaggeddon. Yes, this is the place mentioned in Revelations 16:14 where the battle at the end of days will take place. It isn't much to look at now but this site has been inhabited since the neolithic period and its location allowed it to control the ancient trade routes. As it also had springs and fertile land it was the scene of many battles between the rival empires of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Canaan. It is a facsinating site and one which I have long wanted to explore.

Then we went further afield passing the towns of Nazareth and Cana before getting a little lost in Tiberias. It was a very hazy day unfortunately so we didn't have a great view of the Sea of Galillee which rather sneaked up on us. We pass Tabga, the place where Jesus allegedly fed the five thousand with bread and fishes. It is such a desolate place with hardly any towns or people around other than tourist buses, that I find it hard to believe that there were ever five thousand people here! Capernaum, an oft mentioned place in the the New Testament, has a pretty good ruined synagogue and as I look over the sea, I try to imagine Jesus walking on the water. It doesn't look that deep. Lots of his best miracles were performed here and there are a lot of devout followers paddling in the holy water. We have a wonderful lunch with yummy hummous and press on across the hills back to the Mediterranean crusader town of Acre or Akko as it is now called.

Again we got a little lost and as we were without a decent map, we wandered rather aimlessly through the Unesco world heritage listed old town which is very atmospheric if a little smelly. Luckily we eventually found the citadel and visited the knight's hall and refectory. This was another strategically important city and the site of many sieges, the most famous being that of Richard the Lion heart in 1191. In 1229 it was placed under the control of the Knights Hospitaller otherwise known as the Order of St John or the Knights of Malta. You could easily spend a whole day wandering around the windy streets and climbing the ramparts and it was a pity we had only a few hours. We were very worried about getting out of the city but followed a tour bus which we hoped was going in the right direction. Luckily it was and we made it back home through the rather dense traffic and congested roads, tired but satisfied.

We had a lovely meal with much red wine in one of the historic hostelries in Zichron-Ya'acov although I am surprised that the food is mostly European rather than middle-eastern here in this part of Israel. Salit organised an interesting local guide to take us on a walk through the village. It is one of the oldest of its kind in Israel and is different from a kibbutz as it is modelled on a European village. The life of the jewish founders was incredibly hard as they battled diseases, starvation and harassment from Turkish officials. They were helped by Baron Rothschild, known here simply as 'the Baron' who funded many different sorts of agricultural ventures. However due to the soil fertility the crops that grew best were the ancient crops of wheat, olives, wine and oil. It has a great view of the surrounding area including the Mediterranean coast. It is a very pleasant place to visit.

Shrines and Caesarea

On Friday Hugh and I left Australia for a few weeks in Europe via Bangkok. As it happens I have never been to Thailand so I was keen to see the city of Bangkok for a day. I wanted to visit the Emerald Buddha temple in the Grand Palace complex so after admiring the elephant shrine surrounded by offerings in the front of our hotel, we jumped into a little tuc intending to go straight there nice and early. Our driver had other ideas though and managed to convince us against our will to go into shops in order to get him fuel coupons before leaving us at the Golden Budha temple. It was a very nice temple but not the one we wanted so we were a little firmer with the next driver who in the end did drop us at the Palace complex although he tried to tell us it was closed until the afternoon. The Lonely Planet guide no doubt warns you about this sort of thing but I foolishly didn't buy one. That will teach me.

Of course it was open and quite crowded by then and although a bit numb from all the noise and exhaust fumes, I went in to see the Emerald Buddha alone as Hugh was wearing shorts and not allowed in. He is not as keen as me on temples anyway and was happy to sit and bird watch. I found quite a small green Buddha housed in an incredibly elaborate structure surrounded by other very ornate and sparkly temples. Quite amazing and over the top. After this, we took a boat cruise along the river and saw the large reclining Buddha temple which was very impressive.

In the afternoon I decided to seek out some more shrines around the hotel by myself as Hugh was over temples by now for some reason and I stumbled across a lovely shrine to Ganesh, my favourite God. Although I'm an atheist, I think there is something very appealing about Ganesh. I bought some incense, a yellow candle and a lovely yellow garland to place on his shrine which was much nicer in my opinion than the neighbouring shrine to Lord Trimuti which is more famous. The shrines, like the nearby four-headed Brahma shrine, are situated in front of very modern buildings and the contrast is very startling.

After enduring another long flight we arrived in Tel Aviv for Hugh's workshop. After settling in, we wandered around the town of Zichron-Ya'acov which was established by Jewish settlers in the late 19th Century and had a lovely lunch of roasted peppers, a yummy sort of rye bread and a wonderful soft cheese called Labane'. Quite delicious. Luckily for my ancient Roman obsession, Salit had organised a wonderful tour of Caesarea, a nearby Roman town. The Romans sure knew where to build, as it is right on the sea and is a very extensive site with a nearby aqueduct, nice mosiacs and an amphitheatre. Hugh and I are pictured having fun on an ancient Roman communal toilet. Just the place to forget about my jet-lag! I am very happy to be back in the Mediterranean, my spiritual homeland. We had a wonderful dinner with lovely Israeli wine and great company. Ah, it's a hard life.

Last day in Broome

Today Hugh is happy as he got a bird list and now he can go off twitching as soon as he has finished saving the Kimberleys (that is why we are in Broome). I’m also happy as I visited the historical museum and picked up a heritage trail booklet. The Museum which is located in the old customs house is fascinating and I learn all about pearl diving and the different cultures and families that lived in Broome. I never knew that Broome was also bombed by the Japanese in 1942 and many refugees from Java died in the attack. Very sad. I also see a dinosaur footprint in sandstone which excites me as Broome is famous for dinosaur footprints that are over 120 million years old which can be found at Gantheaume Point but only at very low tide, so I won’t be able to see them on this trip. Broome apparently has very big tides.

Although soon dripping in the heat, I press on and visit a few architectural gems including the old courthouse and the very sweet Anglican Church of the Annunciation. Luckily for me the church is open and Minister Tim kindly shows me around explaining the symbolism of the unusual Chancel screen donated in memory of pearl divers who lost their lives in the 1908 cyclone. The Church has an extremely beautiful stained glass window depicting the visit of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary, and the colors are incredible. The Church has a lovely atmosphere and I think it is unusual but very Broome-like to see a church constructed of corrugated iron.

I also visit the old pioneer cemetery and have lunch overlooking Roebuck Bay. In my opinion the orange sand is much more interesting than the white sand of Cable Beach. There are plenty of white sandy beaches in the world but not so many orange ones. Although last night we had a lovely dinner watching the sun set over the Indian Ocean at Cable Beach sipping Veuve Clicquot – what a treat! It is so nice to meet such passionate and interesting people at these workshops.

On our last afternoon Hugh and I drive around looking at vast empty plains full of locusts and strange colored termite nests (all white like tombstones) and then go on to Gantheaume point to clamber over the fantastic rock formations which are a mixture of sediment layers and weird windblown shapes. Broome is a fascinating place and I can’t wait to come again to this part of the world and spend more time exploring the Kimberleys.

Broome with a view

So I've decided to keep bloggging whenever I travel. This post is about Broome in North-Western Australia where the heat and humidity hit you immediately you get off the plane and walk across the tarmac. A fine layer of sweat and stickiness quickly forms over my body and I know I am definately in the tropics. The flight from Perth to Broome is only 2 and hours but the landscape is extraordinary. A half an hour or so out of Perth and there is nothing but the Great Sandy Desert, hundreds of kilometers of this strange emptiness. I expected desert to be white or yellow but the colors of this desert are a dim reddish grey with scattered bits of green. Sometimes these strange lines appear going west-east which are the remnants of old dunes apparently. It is like nothing I have every seen.

Then the colors of the town hit you. Bright orange soil, the grey green of the vegetation called Pindan, the darker green of the mangroves, the turquoise blue of the Indian Ocean and the hazy blue sky. Just beautiful. Broome is a small town with real frontier feel. This is the land of the Yawuru people who have lived here on the Dampier Peninsula for 27,000 years. and are still closely connected to country. There is also a strong Asian influence due to the Japanese, Chinese and Javanese people who worked here pearl diving There are dusty orange 4WDs everywhere, and most of the buildings are corrugated iron with verandahs to protect you from the intense sun.

We are staying in a lovely resort south of the town, which has lush tropical gardens full of flowering frangipanis and a very inviting pool. It is great to stay in the air conditioned cool of the apartment but I am not here to be comfortable, I am here for South Sea or Broome pearls naturally! After a quick visit to the tourist information office, where I talk to the lovely Justin who is half Chinese and half aboriginal and used to be a pearl diver, I hit the pearl shops.

There is a whole street of them and every one has a different atmosphere. A few are like walking into a sacred temple, full of soft carpets and displays of orchids. Beautiful young women in elegant black dresses wearing the most incredible pearls stalk towards you and you immediately know that you will not be able to afford anything here and that you do not belong! But I find one shop that feels just right and fall in love with a beautiful pearl bracelet. Regretfully I find out the price and have to let go. It is very hard. But then I find this gorgeous tear shape pearl with an exquisite luster and realize I have found the one. The Shop assistant solemnly assures me that the pearl chooses the owner, not the other way round and instinctively I feel she is right. Dazed with happiness I walk out into the heat of the day feeling on top of the world.

But this trip is not all about Pearls, it is also about following in the footsteps of the Movie Bran Nue Dae which was mostly filmed here in Broome. It is a funny sad movie about an aboriginal boy sent off to boarding school in Perth who misses his girl and his home back in Broome. So I am on a mission to find the places – we literally bumped into the first right next to the café where we were going to have breakfast. Sun Pictures, the world’s oldest operating open-air picture gardens is fantastic – a rickety old corrugated iron building full of movie memorabilia. Very atmospheric. The second location is Matso’s brewery which is in a great location overlooking Roebuck bay and has weird and wonderful beers called Monsoon blonde and mango and chili flavoured beer. I learnt later that this is where the interior pub scenes were filmed. I was very disappointed when seeing the Roebuck Hotel, which although atmospheric, did not resemble the pub in the movie at all except for the hotel sign. Apparently the old cottage pictured was used to recreate how the exterior of the pub looked in the 1960’s. That’s movies for you.