THE young girl behind me is obviously terrified of heights. Like me, she's propped up 2m on the back of a safari camel waiting to be carried along Broome's famous Cable Beach.
With the pristine surroundings all I want is to feel relaxed but the girl's incessant screaming makes doing so impossible. Her mother tries calming her but only makes the shrieking worse.
"I want to get off! It's too high, I'm scared," the seven-year-old wails, tears streaming down her face.
The safari is a family outing for the girl's sister's fifth birthday.
"We'll be OK. This is fun," the five-year-old says among giggles. She's saddled up with her dad on the next camel back. But her older sister's panic conquers any reason and has obviously disabled her hearing.
The breezeless afternoon is hot and humid, making sitting still uncomfortable.
Broome Camel Safaris operator Alison Bird has worked with camels for more than 25 years and, with a single command, she has the girl and her mother off their camel. They decide to casually explore the white sands and red pindan cliffs on foot while the rest of the group take in Cable Beach's beauty on the hoof.
A trip to Broome wouldn't be complete without a camel ride along the 22km stretch of beach but there is much more to do in the Kimberley's most tourist-friendly town.
To start with, the only resort overlooking Cable Beach is Cable Beach Club Resort and Spa, and it is a prime location from which to enjoy the spectacular beauty of the area. Cocktails at the Sunset Bar and Grill during twilight are a must while you drink in the view as the sun sets over the water.
Exploring Broome
Broome is the pearling capital of the world, but just as an oyster's shell has contrasting features mother of pearl interior and a brown, slimy exterior so too, does this industry's history.
A tour of the Pearl Luggers Museum in Broome's Chinatown reveals this gruesome history involving danger, slavery and bereavement.
More than a century before Broome's exports of cultured pearls reached today's $200 million a year mark, men would go to extraordinary lengths, even risking their lives, to harvest pearls and oyster shells from the ocean floor.
Laura, a vibrant and friendly museum employee, takes our group of 13 tourists to a room full of old diving gear and pearling artefacts where she delves into the details.
My gaze falls on a large, copper helmet resembling an upside-down fish bowl with little viewing windows.
"These hard-hats were actually an English invention in the 1820s and used by firefighters before they were adapted into diving helmets in Broome during the 1870s," Laura tells us.
"This was the beginning of modern pearling in Broome and created a multicultural marine 'gold rush'. People from Japan, Malaya, China and Europe were lured here by the promise of finding their fortunes."
Laura goes on to tell us that pearling during the 1850s and 1880s, before the hard-hat, was done by Aboriginal slaves who were forced to dive naked with no oxygen, snorkel or mask.
This practice was tagged "blackbirding" and we learn with disgust that pregnant Aboriginal women were favourably used as their increased lung capacity meant they could stay under the water for longer.
"So many slaves died during this period and the most common cause of death was drowning because they misjudged the depth and stayed under the water for too long," Laura says.
"When the new equipment was introduced, two helmet divers were able to reach deeper shell beds and double the catch of 57 slaves."
However, there was still significant risk and one in three divers who were predominantly lightweight Japanese men dressed in 130kg to 160kg diving suits didn't survive their first dive.
Many of these divers lie buried within the 707 graves in the beautifully elegant Japanese Cemetery on Port Drive. It's a worthwhile visit and very informative if you go with Broome Sightseeing Tours.
"Eighty-five per cent of the world's supply of mother of pearl came from Broome in the 1800s and the main use was to make buttons," Laura says.
Apparently, the chance of discovering a natural pearl was one in 5000. Today there are many local cultured pearl farms and the variety and quality of pearls in Broome's jewellery stores is remarkable.
Broome's birds
The natural beauty and abundance of wildlife is another remarkable aspect of this town and one great way to appreciate it is by visiting Broome's Bird Observatory.
Along with another traveller, I take a private tour of the RAMSAR-listed site international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of wetlands at the Roebuck Bay shorebird viewing site.
Our guide is shorebird researcher for the Bird Observatory, Chris Hassell, and his passion for his work makes me want to take up birdwatching.
In contrast to humans' migratory history during the past 100 years, Chris tells us that shorebirds have been following migrating paths here for hundreds of thousands of years.
"Birdwatching is fantastic here all year round as all immature birds stay in the bay while most adults will fly 12,000km to lay eggs in the Arctic," he says.
We're standing on a cliff looking over exposed mudflats in the bay with thousands of birds picking in the ground for their food.
"Over a year about 150,000 shorebirds visit the mangroves along the shorelines of Roebuck Bay," Chris says.
"We have recorded 50 different species that come here, which is quite significant considering there are only 214 species of shorebirds in the world."
Chris has a love for the place and confesses to moving here from the UK after a six-week bird-catching program turned into a 15-year lifestyle.
"You don't need to be a birdwatcher to enjoy the bay," he says.
"You have the vibrant red, blue and green colours and stunning scenery."
