Prison Boab Tree and the moon in Broome

Today we left Fitzroy Crossing and headed for Broome via Derby in order to see the famous Prison Boab Tree. The story goes that before Derby was established in 1883, Aboriginal people were kidnapped from the West Kimberley and taken to be used as divers and workers in the pearling boats. The kidnappers, known as Blackbirders marched their prisoners in chains to the coast and it is believed some may have been kept in the Prison Boab Tree whilst they waited for a boat. By 1887, the government had built a prison in Derby about 5 km from the prison tree and hundreds of Aboriginal people were held in gaol over a period of time for crimes such as killing and eating livestock. The prisoners that came to the gaol via the Prison Tree came from as far away as Fitzroy Crossing and had to walk 24 – 48 km a day in chains camping overnight at stations, waterholes and wells. Some would have rested at the Boab Tree on the last day according to the information available. I find the Boab trees fascinating because of their amazing bottle-like shape but this story adds another interesting thing about them. They are hollow in the middle and it is very hard to tell how old they are the way it is done with other trees by counting the growth rings. I decided to put the photo of the information about them up rather than retyping it all. It is very interesting reading.
After we saw the Prison Tree we went into Derby Township and had some lunch at what we could see as the only decent cafe in town, Diamonds and Pearls. We had a very nice sandwich and coffee there although there were many yummy things on the menu which was good to see. (Getting closer to civilization all the time!) We filled up with petrol and headed off to Broome which was an amazing drive because so much controlled burning had been going on and as we got closer to Broome we actually drove through a section that was still smouldering. Interestingly, not far away where it must have been still burning there were lots of prey birds circling above waiting to swoop down on any small animal scared out of the undergrowth by the encroaching fire. It made the scenery ugly as you can imagine but it is a necessary means of controlling the outbreak of bushfires when the season is really upon us.
We got to Broome by about 3.30pm and found that it was a cool 28 degrees but seems very humid. We settled in to our unit and after discovering that although we have Vodafone it still won’t connect, bought some time on the wireless internet provided here to upload the last couple of days posts and email Vodafone with our problem. Ho hum! Déjà vu. How annoying!!
We went to a restaurant called Matsos Broome Brewery and had a very nice meal and Fin had one of their fancy beers and we were told that it is the middle night of the three nights of the stairway to the moon occurrence that happens only rarely due to the tides etc. We got the camera from the car and tried to get photos from across the road which seems to be mangroves etc but think we were in the wrong place so tomorrow night we aim to be in the right place. What apparently happens is that the tide being out and the moon being full and very orange in colour appears about 7.30pm and reflects on the mudflats which makes it look like a stairway to the moon. I hope we can see it tomorrow and get some photos to share with you and keep as a fantastic memory of our time in Broome, WA. Stay tuned...