Snubbed in Broome

After driving over 1,372km or 852 miles, stopping overnight at the mining town of Karratha, we finally arrived at Broome only to be snubbed in more ways than one. We planned to spend 2 days here to do some 4wd tours to see Cape Leveque and other parts of the Kimberley. Due to recent rains (which was very unusual for this time of year) the dirt roads were made impassable and were closed for the next couple of days. Even boat tours were iffy about going out due to the weather. Unfortunately, in this part of Australia the only way to really see the Kimberley is to have a 4WD, take an overnight cruise or do a flight tour which are all very very expensive. We were left with visiting a crocodile farm, riding a camel on Cable Beach or touring a pearl farm. Did I mention that Broome is known as the pearl capital of Australia?

We did manage to get on a sunset cruise to see Snubfin dolphins. These dolphins were originally thought to be Irrawaddy dolphins, the same species we saw in Kratie, Cambodia. It wasn’t until 2005, that they were identified as a separate species and are now known as the Snubfin dolphins.

When we arrived at the dock to catch our boat, it started to rain again and we were given the option to continue with the boat tour or go back to our accommodations. About half the people decided to continue with the tour while the rest stayed behind. We went on the boat tour. Although things were touch and go in the beginning, the weather did break for us and we got to see both Snubfin and Bottlenose Dolphins, and a spectacular sunset.

At least these dolphins did not snub us.