LAT LONG
106 Australian Geographic
Where: 2250km north of Perth
Population: 16,000, but can swell to
60,000 in tourist season
Postcode: 6725
Beach Polo: The only polo event of its
kind in Australia, held annually in May
(next event 21– 22 May 2016). Free to
watch from the sand or buy a ticket to
the Cable Beach Polo VIP Marquee
More information:
http://www.cablebeachpolo.com.auBEAR INGS: BROOME
“Broome isn’t just all about Cable Beach and
beautiful resorts,” says Kira Fong, founder of
Kimberley Girl. “The hidden heart of Broome really
is its cultural side.”
Kira is based at Goolarri Media Enterprises, which
helps to develop Aboriginal communications in
the Kimberley and also supports local musicians.
Kimberley Girl began as a positive representation of
Aboriginal women with the intent of instilling confi-
dence in the local girls, she says.
“They were so beautiful but didn’t seem to be proud
of themselves. We now run five weeks of workshops
over six communities within the Pilbara and Kimberley
region, and cover everything from professional devel-
opment and work-readiness, to how to be a success
and overcome adversities.”
Kira says she is proud to see her girls mingling at
and modelling for the tournament: “If you look around
you have Aboriginal stockmen learning to play polo
and Aboriginal models walking among the crowd.”
Marlikka Perdrisat, one of the models and a young
Nyikina woman, is just as enthusiastic. “It’s the mixed
diversity of Broome that does it for me,” she says. “I
have travelled all around Australia and [nowhere else]
has this unique mix of Asian, Aboriginal and European
people... It’s just a lovely place, and being involved in
the polo has been so much fun.”Out on the sand another important match is about
to be fought and students from Broome Primary
School are scurrying in with gloved hands and brushes
to clear horse dung from the sand. “We’re the official
pooper-scoopers,” schoolteacher Lorelle Giesen says.
“We actually like to call ourselves ‘dung-removal
technicians’. It sounds so much more official.”
Lorelle is overseeing 15 kids from years six and seven
who are fundraising for school camp. “This weekend
I’ve loved watching the kids interacting with the
horses,” she says.
But the highlight is about to come for these kids.
Barry Southgate, a star from the television show The
X Factor, is about to perform, and has asked the kids
to join him on stage.
The music stops as the next polo match gets under-
way, and bikini-clad spectators wander down to line
the safety barriers along the beach. Sam Hopkinson,
one of New Zealand’s top-ranked players, delights the
crowd, along with champion players from Colombia,
and homegrown talent such as Jack Archibald.
And as a giant red sun begins sinking below the
horizon, the sounds of galloping horses mix with yells
of encouragement from the swelling crowd.
“This town is truly unique,” says local Sue Luketina.
“Where else can you sit on the beach in barefoot
elegance watching the glamour of a polo match?
And the thing is, you can sit here in a marquee and
have such a range of people around you. A cruise
boat owner sits next to a jeweller, who might be
sitting next to a judge or someone unemployed. I
really like that.” AGVictory lap. Winners of the Paspaley International Beach Polo
Cup II Final, Paul Webb, left, Ross Ainsley and Sam Hopkinson,
celebrate at dusk on Cable Beach.