Travelling the Book Road to Broome
June 8th 2008 00:21
It goes without saying that reading and travel blend together for a truly fulfilling life. For reading will encourage us to travel, (who hasn’t dreamt of visiting far off places after reading a novel set in exotica) but travel also encourages reading … as I discovered recently.
Given the surprising Mother’s Day gift of meeting up with my touring son in Broome last month, I was also ecstatic about visiting Western Australia for the first time. It was a long way for a few days, but hey … was I going to say No!? Not on your life, and this beautiful, historic coastal town did not disappoint. Along with an emotional reunion for a doting mother, I became captivated by the vivid colours of the ocean and the soil … and the sunsets! Well, what can I say? Broome literally leaks with the stuff of books. The air is thick with scent, culture and light, and local eyes regard you with a sense of history and place such as I’ve never felt before.
After five days, all I wanted was to read about this place, preferably from someone who had lived it.
So a trip to the Kimberley Book Shop (son’s suggestion – he had already spent a small fortune here) was a must before boarding the plane home. I was presented with an impressive collection of Broome fiction and non-fiction that had me slightly baffled. Did I want something light, something informative, historical, biographical, beautiful? Thankfully I settled on something that gave me all of that. Once in Broome is a childhood memoir enhanced with art and photos by Sally Bin Demin, a local artist of Aboriginal and Asian descent. Her story stretches through the 40’s and 50’s and speaks of the water, the people, the town, the war and the catholic school she attended. Her mother was of the stolen generation and her people were scattered, but the life they found in the cultural melting pot of Broome was, for Sally, a happy one. Her Malay step-father was a pearl diver on one of the luggers and even though the hey-day of the pearl industry was ending, her childhood memories bring alive the romance and wonder of that era.
At times her recollections seem sporadic and she revisits time and space here and there, but it is a wonderfully honest verbal history of growing up in a truly exceptional place. We felt as though we were in a different country at times, and in fact Broome is closer to Indonesia than any Australian city!
Australian fiction writer Di Morrissey has a novel set in Broome, Tears of the Moon which I came close to buying, as I have been meaning to read one of her books for years, but I was doubly pleased when I learnt that my purchase was a Magabala Books publication – a small Aboriginal Publishing company based in Broome. I felt I was leaving with a real Broome treasure, while helping to support the local arts. I shall get to Di one of these days, I’m sure.
So never be content with just visiting … go further still and travel the road of the author and see much more than with your own eyes.
Given the surprising Mother’s Day gift of meeting up with my touring son in Broome last month, I was also ecstatic about visiting Western Australia for the first time. It was a long way for a few days, but hey … was I going to say No!? Not on your life, and this beautiful, historic coastal town did not disappoint. Along with an emotional reunion for a doting mother, I became captivated by the vivid colours of the ocean and the soil … and the sunsets! Well, what can I say? Broome literally leaks with the stuff of books. The air is thick with scent, culture and light, and local eyes regard you with a sense of history and place such as I’ve never felt before.
After five days, all I wanted was to read about this place, preferably from someone who had lived it.
So a trip to the Kimberley Book Shop (son’s suggestion – he had already spent a small fortune here) was a must before boarding the plane home. I was presented with an impressive collection of Broome fiction and non-fiction that had me slightly baffled. Did I want something light, something informative, historical, biographical, beautiful? Thankfully I settled on something that gave me all of that. Once in Broome is a childhood memoir enhanced with art and photos by Sally Bin Demin, a local artist of Aboriginal and Asian descent. Her story stretches through the 40’s and 50’s and speaks of the water, the people, the town, the war and the catholic school she attended. Her mother was of the stolen generation and her people were scattered, but the life they found in the cultural melting pot of Broome was, for Sally, a happy one. Her Malay step-father was a pearl diver on one of the luggers and even though the hey-day of the pearl industry was ending, her childhood memories bring alive the romance and wonder of that era.
At times her recollections seem sporadic and she revisits time and space here and there, but it is a wonderfully honest verbal history of growing up in a truly exceptional place. We felt as though we were in a different country at times, and in fact Broome is closer to Indonesia than any Australian city!
Australian fiction writer Di Morrissey has a novel set in Broome, Tears of the Moon which I came close to buying, as I have been meaning to read one of her books for years, but I was doubly pleased when I learnt that my purchase was a Magabala Books publication – a small Aboriginal Publishing company based in Broome. I felt I was leaving with a real Broome treasure, while helping to support the local arts. I shall get to Di one of these days, I’m sure.
So never be content with just visiting … go further still and travel the road of the author and see much more than with your own eyes.
| 71 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
Comment by AmyHuang
Project Job Search
Travel Debate
Travel String
Love Adventures