The pale blue ocean stretches as far as the eye can see, and the waves lap over and over again on the white sand shore. The beach is edged by deep red dirt. This is where the desert meets the sea along a coastline as long as forever.

There are mangroves nearby where mud crabs hide in burrows, and barramundi swim at right angles through roots in the saltwater when the high tide brings it in from the deep. Back on land, a wedge-tailed eagle is off to the distance, eyeing the kangaroos as they hop through the spinifex grass. The eucalyptus trees stand nearby, providing shade to the goannas and the snakes as they take a break from the searing sun.

There is not a cloud in the sky, but they will roll through in the late afternoon, bringing light that falls on mangoes so they glisten, ripening in the quiet town, which is brought to life once more when the sun sets into that pale blue ocean and the waves lap over and over again. Before long, the moon will rise on a staircase to the stars and the Milky Way will be the shape of an emu all night long. People will be listening to the owls hoot, mosquitoes will buzz and the low rumbling croak of the green and gold tree frogs will be heard in the corners of verandahs.

The scent of frangipani and jasmine and ginger floats in the gentle breeze, and the pale blue ocean is dark now where the crocodiles are only shadows. The pearls in the oysters remain there, waiting to be found another day, for another time when the divers come and the boats ply their trade all the way up the Cape. And the waves are there, lapping over and over again.

Broome

Broome, a small coastal town in Western Australia, is the kind of place to get away for a while from the dint and rush of big cities like Sydney and Melbourne. It has the look and feel of an untrodden land with quiet expansive beaches, and astonishing sights including dinosaur footprints from 125 million years ago, horizontal waterfalls, a Grand Canyon lookalike, and the fabled “Staircase to the Moon” at Roebuck Bay, where an Instagram moment is the full moon rising over the mudflats at extremely low tide that creates the optical illusion of stairs leading up to the moon.