How one man's search for Mecca brought camels to Broome's Cable Beach
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A conversion to Islam, a dodgy business venture and a search for Mecca are some of the extraordinary tales behind Broome's most bucket-listed tourist activity.
Sunset camel rides on Cable Beach is an iconic activity in the Kimberley, but how did the tours become a highlight of the remote Australian holiday destination?
It all started in the 1970s with one man and plan to ride a camel 12,000 km from Adelaide to Mecca.
'Camels turned my life around'
Abdul Latif Casley — born as Hilton John — grew up in Geelong in the 1940s.
After a stint in the navy, six months in a Malaysian prison for drug possession and struggles with substance abuse in his 20s, Mr Casley settled in Adelaide with a new wife.
In the late '70s, inspired by a TV show, he travelled to Alice Springs for a promising business venture involving camels.
"We were going to get the camels from Todd River Downs Station, take them into Alice and get $500 each for them," he said.
"But when we got into Alice we were told it was all a myth — there's no $500, it was just something we saw on the TV."
Mr Casley had never worked with the animals, but when he first laid eyes on the "desert ships" he fell in love.
"Until I met camels I was a bum," he said.
"They turned my life around."
'Broome was my Mecca'
Inspired by Robyn Davis's 1980 book Tracks, and her journey across Australia with camels, Mr Casley began working on his unique pilgrimage.
But first he converted to Islam, changing his name from Hilton to Abdul Latif.
"I went to the Mosque on Little Gilbert Street [in Adelaide] and said 'I want to become a Muslim'," he said.
Then 37, Mr Casley's trip was to be sponsored by his cousin, Leonard Casley, who founded the micronation Hutt River Province — a sovereign state north of Perth founded in 1970.
Leonard Casley proclaimed to have a "stone of light" at his principality and suggested to Abdul take it to Mecca, where there is the "Black Stone".
But the grand trek to Mecca collapsed, leaving Mr Casley to travel to Katherine with his wife Linda with plans to work on a movie set.
But the film company folded shortly after they arrived.
"So there were two options, walk back to Alice or walk to Broome," Mr Casley said.
"Alice was cold, and I don't like the bloody cold, so we walked to Broome.
"So in the end Broome was my Mecca."
A desert adventure
Mr Casley and his family walked the 1500 km from Katherine to Broome — the equivalent of walking across Victoria — in 1981.
Eight camels pulled a wooden cart that held their dried food, water and camping gear.
"We left Katherine in June and got to Broome in November," Mr Casley said.
"It was really fun."
One of the greatest challenges was when the camels were spooked by road trains on the highway.
"When they bolted we were just hanging on," he said.
They lost two camels on the way after they ate a toxic morning glory plant.
"They were stoned … they were off their head," he said.
The first camel tours
Arriving in Broome with his remaining six camels, Mr Casley began advertising camel tours at a caravan park near Cable Beach.
"It was day trips then — all day, lunch provided, fifteen bucks," he said.
In 1987 the first the sunset tour took place after a hotel manager asked Mr Casley to provide the experience for their guests.
"Two hours we use to do," he said.
A tourism legacy
Now the tours are one of Broome's most celebrated tourist activities.
"Having that camel imagery with the sunset it really is iconic and something you don't want to miss when you come to Australia," Tourism WA marketing director Louise Scott said.
"It is a key asset we use when talking about the region."
For a decade Mr Casley was the only camel tour guide in town, but slowly other operators began moving into the market.
The local Shire began issuing licenses in 2006 leaving Mr Casley decrying "nasty small town politics".
"On the first of July in 2007, I drove my Hilux out of town," he said.
"And that was me."
Mr Casley now lives in Thailand but, occasionally returns to Broome to visit old friends.
He still yearns for the old days of the camel tours.
"I don't think there is any soul left in it."
Topics: tourism, travel-and-tourism, history, human-interest, rural-tourism, broome-6725, adelaide-5000, katherine-0850, alice-springs-0870, geelong-3220, perth-6000
