Australian Destinations
When planning your holiday to Broome ensure that you include a trip to visit Willie Creek Pearl Farm. As soon as I arrived in Broome, Western Australia, I booked the four hour conducted tour to Willie Creek Pearl Farm, in order to obtain as much visual information on the subject of the pearling industry. June, which is the month I visited Broome, is one of the busiest holiday periods for this remote coastal town situated in the Kimberleys. In fact the permanent population of only 8,000 or so, triples in the months of June to August each year. If you dont book well ahead you will miss out.
The day prior to taking our trip to visit Willie Creek Pearl Farm we had spent the day from early morning to 11 pm that night, bouncing along in a four wheel drive coach, to enjoy a boat trip through Gieke Gorge, some 400 kilometres to the east of Broome. Talk about numb bottoms. In the event you do decide to take the day coach trip to visit Gieke Gorge, via Fitzroy Crossing, I strongly suggest you take a soft pillow to avoid a very sore rear end! The 900 k round trip in one day was a bit too far.
The coach trip to Willie Creek Pearl Farm proved much more comfortable, as Willie Creek Pearl Farm is only around 38 k north of Broome.
For a cost of only $65 per adult the tour proved excellent value and included the following:
· Hotel pick up/drop off
· Transfer to Willie Creek Pearl Farm
· Coach Driver commentary
· Willie Creek Pearl Farm tour
· Willie Creek boat cruise
· Morning tea
· Jewellery showroom time
· Souvenir guide
I had collected a hire car on arrival at Broome Airport. My first thoughts were that I could drivemyself to Willie Creek Pearl Farm. Luckily for me the very helpful people at the front desk at the Seashells Resort, where we were staying, put me right on thatidea. The drive to Willie creek Pearl Farm is only about 38 K drive each way, north along Cape Leveque Road from Broome. However around 10 K of that trip is on unsealed red ochre coloured track, and also over tidal flats. I am sure rental car people would have been most unimpressed with anyone taking a normal sedan on that shocker of a track. For folk who own four wheel drive vehicles go for it!
On the dot of 8.30 am the coach collected us from the Seashells Resort. Our fellow passengers were then collected from various other hotel. We then drove north east along Broome Road for around 10 K's, then turned north onto Cape Leveque Road. The weather was perfect. Warm & balmy. The sky was blue. Not a cloud in sight. We were all in a happy frame of mind following a good night's sleep after our previous day's bottome numbingtrip to Gieke Gorge.
We were very fortunate in that our Coach driver turned out to be an excellent source of information & also had an excellent sense of humour. A good laugh is most helpful to make everyone relax. The driver provided us with a full run down about the history of Willie Creek, pearling, luggers, how to buy pearls, and interesting facts about the cultured pearl industry.
Exciting & Fascinating Willie Creek Pearl Farm - Broome - Western Australia
By Ross H St Quintin
When the coach left the bitumen I was delighted I had taken the Hotel desk's advice seriously. The bitumen road suddenly deteriorated into a track consisting of red dust. The cloud of red dust the coach left behind blotted out all vision for any vehicle travelling behind us for a few K's. Following around ten minutes of a world turned red the scenery suddenly changed to tidal flats. If you conduct this trip under your own steam you really need to take care travelling here if this is your first visit.
Forty five minutes from Broome the coach pulled up at the Willie Creek Pearl Farm. Willie Creek Pearl Farm is an elaborate setup of attractive buildings consisting of a large show room, an outdoor area for dining and a separate area under a pergola structure for the pearl processing demonstration. Our guide ushered us direct to the pergola where a friendly couple of young girls gave an excellent presentation of how a pearl is extracted from the shell, as well as how each shell is seeded prior to being placed back into the sea water. (See photo above). We were provided with ample time to handle the pearl extracted from a shell, as well as given plenty of information about the pearl farm, cultured pearls & freshwater pearls, & variants such as Tahitian & Mabe pearls.
After the demo we took a short walk to where the Tour Boat was moored. From there we were taken on a very pleasant boat trip to view the oyster beds. Our tour guide, who turned out to be the driver of our coach, then took us for a spin around Willie Creek, which is really a very large bay. Before heading back to the jetty our guide, assisted by a few others, gave us a demo of how the pearl shells are inserted into grids and then hung back into the water. The boat trip was excellent & very informative.
When we arrival back at the main buildings we were treated to an excellent morning tea, including a very delicious home cooked damper, with a selection of jams and cream. Very yummy. The environment & scenery were tops, the company great and the morning tea superb!
Following morning tea we were shepherded into the showroom. Everyone, mostly the ladies, drooled over the gorgeous arrays of Willie Creek Cultured Pearls. The displays also featured selections of freshwater pearls, Tahitian pearls and Mabe pearls. After ample shopping time our Coach Driver collected. We enjoyed a pleasant, relaxed drive back to our resort at Cable Beach.
I would add that Willie Creek Pearls have a helicopter available for those who wish to take a quick flight around the region while visiting. (At that time $50 per person based on three passengers...but please check the current price before booking)
The 4 hour tour was perfect. Four hours was sufficient and left plenty of time to enjoy the afternoon on Cable Beach soaking up some tropical sunshine. Don't miss a trip to Willie Creek pearl Farm. Most educational, good fun & a well organised tour.
Ross St Quintin resides in Perth, Western Australia. He delights in travelling throughout the huge state of Western Australia & enjoys writing about his recent travel experiences. Make sure you read all Ross's articles to make sure you include these fascinating & exciting destinations when planning your holiday to Western Australia. Ross maintains a regularly updated travel blog http://facts4you.net/TravelWesternAustralia
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Image sources: Willie Creek Pearls
