I had been told about Broome for many years, but it took me until 1979 to get up there. I went for a day from Perth, though 1,500 miles is rather a long way to go for a day trip, but I immediately fell in love with the place. It was like Somerset Maugham or Conrad.

The streets were red earth, with palm trees and frangipani, and it was more than 100F. The town had a real oriental feel, the houses built on stumps, raised up from the ground. The beach was magnificent - about 15 miles of white sand with the blue sea on one side and the red rocks on the other.

The main industry, pearl fishing, had gone into decline, and the buildings were in a bad state of repair. Back then, Broome had only about 1,500 people and was a wild, free-booting kind of town.

The only road was a dirt track which used to flood and was out of action for about a quarter of the year, so you had to get there by boat.

The following year, I bought an old colonial house, and I got very taken with the idea of restoring the town. Now, about 20,000 people live there, and it is one of the most scenic parts of Australia. The bird watching is fantastic - 8 million migratory birds come in over the coastline every January. It is not unusual in the morning to see a sea eagle catching fish and see whales, turtles, sea snakes or porpoises as well.

• Bagman to Swagman: Tales of Broome, the North-West and Other Australian Adventures, by Alistair McAlpine, is published by Allen & Unwin at £14.99