Shinju Matsuri - Festival of the Pearl

Friday 4th September 2009 is the start of the Shinju Matsuri.

This Festival is a showcase of Broome's cultural diversity and runs

for 10 days until Sunday 13th September.

One of the highlights is Sammy the Dragon. Here is a photo from

BroomeCam when Sammy made an appearance at Cable Beach

in 2003.

The focus of this years festival is "Women of Pearling"

Go to http://www.shinjumatsuri.com.au/ for more info.

Fantastic Moonset

We are use to viewing beautiful sunsets at Cable Beach so it came

as a bit of a surprise when I received an email from

Ed, Yuma Arizona USA, to say he'd witnessed a stunning

moon setting in the west as the sun rose in the east. From the

timelapse I was able to capture some stills of that event.

Thanks Ed.

Birds on BroomeCam

A wide variety of birds can be spotted on BroomeCam.

The most common is the Seagull, such as the one that

is getting upclose and personal with the Webcam.

Other birds that are sometimes seen are the Brown Booby,

Brahminy Kite, Square-tailed Kite, Fork-tailed Swift and Terns.

A trip to the Broome Bird Observatory situated on

Roebuck Bay is a great way to find out about the amazing birdlife

around Broome. wwwbroomebirdobservatory.com

See the vast Kimberley

Beautiful Broome is located on the south west corner

of the vast region called the Kimberley. Many consider

Broome to be the starting point for exploration of this 

timeless land. Here is a picture a tour vehicle that can been

seen around Broome before it heads off to explore 

this amazing landscape. Adventure Wild is a company 

that is fast gaining a reputation for fantastic tours through

out the Kimberley. See their website www.adventurewild.com.au

Everbody should experience at least a few nights under the stars 

in the Kimberley outback.

Spring Tides

Tides are the rising and falling of the Earth's ocean surface caused by the forces of the Moon and the Sun acting on the oceans. Today we have photos from BroomeCam of the Spring Tides as the Moon is in the New Moon phase. Spring Tides also occur when there is a Full Moon. These spring tides make for plenty of room for a game of beach soccer!

Dinosaurs once walked here.

Gantheaume Point to the south of Cable Beach is one of the locations 

around Broome where dinosaur footprints can be seen. These were 

left by three toed Megalosauropus broomensis over 100 million

years ago. For most of the year these prints are under water and only

exposed during the King tides that occur several times during the year. 

There are other footprints on the shore of Roebuck Bay that can be seen

all year round. These were made by the plant eating Sauropods.

Broome Hovercraft does a fantastic tour across the bay to the prints.

These prints are another reminder of the ancient landform that is the 

Kimberley and our need to protect it  from short term destructive 

development such as the proposed Gas Industrial Hub just to the 

north at James Prices Point.

Bugs on BroomeCam

The change of Season from Wet to Dry usually brings a burst of insect

activity. The appearance of Dragonflies is seen by many locals as a sign

that the weather will become cooler and the easterly winds start blowing.