Paspaley Pearls will give behind-the-scenes access to their world-class harvesting operation for the first time this year. By LEAH MCLENNAN.
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thrilling new tour will give lucky guests rare behind the scenes access to one of the most luxurious jewellery brands in the world. By May, Broome Pearl Farm Tours will offer a tour that will see participants cruising aboard a luxurious 72-foot catamaran, the Karma IV, to the Paspaley Pearl Farm located just three kilometres offshore in Roebuck Bay. Along the way guests will have the opportunity to spot marine life in the crystal clear turquoise waters. Turtles, snubfin dolphins, sea snakes, dugongs, crocodiles and even humpback whales can be spotted in the bay. Mark Posch, the great grandson of Master Pearler Herbert Kennedy and Manager of Paspaley’s Broome farms, has been pearling
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Broome Issue 19 | April ~ July 2018
professionally since he turned 19. The tour has been designed to showcase the farm, which Mark has had a significant hand in developing, building and working over the last 30 years. “The plan is to open up the farm to tourists and make it a place where visitors can learn about Australia’s oldest and largest pearling company,” says Mark. Paspaley Pearls is the only pearling company today that is fully operational meaning the entire process from fishing for shell (drift diving), seeding operations, farm husbandry, harvesting, wholesale and retail sales of their own 100% Australian South Sea Pearls, jewellery design through to the final display in the Boutique - are all completed in-house by Paspaley Pearls. “There wouldn’t be many people even in Broome that have seen the Paspaley farm. “You can’t really discover it unless you are a Pearler – until now that is.” The tour will have a focus on demonstrating to guests the real operations of a working pearl farm up close, including the husbandry methods on the cleaning boats. Guests on the tour will gain first hand insight from experts into the entire process of cultured pearl farming and learn why Paspaley Australian South Sea pearls are so highly prized. As leaders in the industry, Paspaley still hold the record set for the highest price ever
paid for a single strand of cultivated pearls, being US$2.3 million in 1992. Besides offering visitors the opportunity to harvest their own pearl (and to purchase if desired) the tour will also give travellers insight into the hardship and adventure of pearling, which remained almost unchanged from the 1880s through to the 1970s. The tour will include a Luggers Lunch, served with a range of refreshments, and an entrée of pearl meat - a highly regarded delicacy taken from the Pinctada Maxima oyster. From September, Paspaley will offer a second exclusive tour - the VIP Harvest Tour. Limited to very few people at a time, this tour includes a fast ferry to the mothership; the MV Paspaley IV. Onboard the five-storey 168 ft ship - the most advanced pearling vessel in the world - guests will witness the pearl harvest in process. This all-inclusive tour features a lavish lunch served in a handmade bento box, which guests can take home with them as a gift. Generous portions of pearl meat will also be served during the day. After disembarking, guests will discover the inspiration behind Paspaley’s Signature Collections post tour at the Broome Paspaley Boutique, with complimentary refreshments provided. To book a Broome Pearl farm tour, visit visitbroome.com.au visitbroome.com.au