00:00If the Kimberley is Australia's last frontier, then its gateway is Broome.
00:10The first thing that catches your eye here are the vibrant colours.
00:15Down on Cable Beach, the long stretches of golden sands are washed by the azure waters
00:21of the Indian Ocean.
00:27It's here, right on sunset every day, that a ritual is played out, the evening camel
00:32parade.
00:35Some quarter of a million tourists visit Broome every year, and one must for many of them
00:40is to clamber onto the back of a camel, watch the tide go out, and enjoy the magnificent
00:46Broome sunset.
00:49Tethered together like a string of pearls, the camels are marched along the shoreline.
00:57As the sun slips into the sea for yet another day, it's the perfect snapshot for visitors.
01:05Speaking of pearls, Broome is a pearl-lover's mecca.
01:13They sell them here, and they grow them here.
01:17One century ago, in the late 1880s, the luster of the pearl shell lured thousands of immigrants
01:22to Broome, with the population a cosmopolitan mix of Malays, Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos,
01:31Europeans, and Aborigines.
01:34And thus, Chinatown was born, the heart of Broome's pearling industry.
01:38Today, Broome's Chinatown is lined with showrooms displaying collections of fine pearls, but
01:45years ago, it was the home of pearl sheds, opium dens, and gambling houses.
01:51If Broome's history is based on pearls, then it's quite fitting to celebrate it with an
01:56annual festival.
01:58The Shinzō Matsuri Festival, Japanese for Festival of the Pearl, is a springtime festival
02:04crammed with multicultural events and activities.
02:09When the festival was born in 1970, Chinatown was a hive of activity.
02:15Pearl luggers stayed out to sea for six to eight weeks, and when the crew came home,
02:19it was party time.
02:33It's this integration of different characters, customs, languages, and beliefs that makes
02:38Broome so unique.
02:40A sober reminder of the perils of the early pearling day is the large Japanese cemetery
02:46in Broome.
02:48This contains the graves of some 900 Japanese pearl divers who died from the bends, cyclones,
02:55and shark attacks.
02:58These days, the pearling industry is much safer and thriving, and pearl farms are well
03:03worth a visit.
03:06The tidal waters of Willey Creek, about an hour's drive north of Broome, is the ideal
03:11nursery for growing pearls.
03:16The oysters are placed in a metal frame between layers of netting in the seawater.
03:25On shore at Willey Creek is an old shed where the manager, Andrew Grappen, stimulates the
03:30oysters to produce pearls.
03:34Andrew takes a small piece of mantle that was cut from a nearby oyster, and inserts
03:39it into the oyster's nucleus.
03:42This causes irritation, and the oyster will react by secreting nacre around the small
03:47piece of mantle.
03:48Thus, after a year back in the sea, a beautiful, lustrous pearl will be found inside the oyster.
03:56Right next to the harvesting shed is this brightly lit showroom, showcasing the final
04:01product, the beautiful Australian South Sea cultured pearl.
04:23An hour's flight north of Broome takes travellers to one of the most unusual sights of the Kimberley
04:28region.
04:30The horizontal waterfalls at Talbot Bay.
04:34The flight itself reveals the diverse nature of the Kimberley coastline.
04:39At first there's sandy beach after sandy beach.
04:42That gives way to sandstone cliffs, the signature shoreline of the Kimberley.
04:48Inland from the coast, the seaplane crosses the Buccaneer Archipelago.
04:53This is studded with some 1,000 beautifully rugged islands.
04:59Then the first signs of the massive tidal movements up here.
05:02The bay is full of whitecaps as millions of tonnes of water surge across the sandflats.
05:10Landing on the seaplane brings visitors to a houseboat where a barbecue of freshly caught
05:15barramundi greets them.
05:19Then they're transferred to a high-powered jet boat.
05:23At first the trip is scenic and peaceful enough, with the giant sandstone bluffs of the McLarty
05:28Ranges towering above the visitors.
05:32What they're about to pass through are twin gaps where the massive tidal movements have
05:36created a waterfall effect as water banks up against one side of the narrow cliff passage.
05:42Then the first sign of some surging water.
05:48That's banked up in a bay behind the two channels in the incoming tides.
05:55The ride itself is thrilling.
05:59High speed through the narrow gap time and again, certainly an exhilarating way to experience
06:05the king tides of the Kimberley.
06:10Close by is Cape Levique, a beautiful hidden pocket of the Kimberley.
06:15It's known for its pristine beaches and rugged cliffs.
06:19The coastline here features endless deserted coves and beaches backed by the incredible
06:24red cliffs and rock formations that characterize the Kimberley.
06:33One of the traditional owners near here is Eddie James, an indigenous guide who teaches
06:38visitors more about the plants and animals of the peninsula, and how the Aboriginal people
06:43use them on a daily basis.
06:47First Eddie introduces us to his pet sea eagle, he's called Emberley.
06:54Then it's time to go bush.
06:57Eddie takes us to collect some bush honey, while native bees build their hives inside
07:03the bark of trees.
07:05Eddie's trained ear hears the buzzing sound inside the tree and uses his axe to expose
07:11the honeycomb.
07:22Native fruits and berries are both bush tucker and therapeutic.
07:28Some of the fruits are used for medicine, others to wash your hands.
07:32The soft leaves of the acacia bush can be used as soap and if you rub them vigorously
07:37with water they lather up.
07:40Eddie and his nephew Waylon take visitors mud crabbing.
07:45This is where the local people walk in the streams and rivers of the area, using long
07:49spears to catch crabs.
07:52The crabs are about, but it does take a sharp eye to spear one.
08:02Once they catch a few, it's time to change tactics.
08:06Eddie heads into the thickest mangrove roots, where he probes the crabs out of their holes,
08:10ready to catch them.
08:21At the end of the day, as the sun sets across the Indian Ocean, Eddie barbecues his catch
08:26of the day for visitors.
08:30His wilderness homeland around Cape Leveque gives travellers a time to reflect, re-energise
08:36and explore.
08:38From Broome and beyond, the gateway to some of the most ancient land on earth, the Kimberley.
