Going on a Holiday: How Two Workaholics Finally Discovered Vacation

When Pearl Farmers Take Their First Real Break in 18 Years (Plot Twist: It's Still All About Pearls)

Their last holiday was in 2007

So here's the thing about being completely obsessed with pearl farming: You've spent nearly a quarter-century babysitting molluscs on a remote New Zealand island, persuading them to produce shiny blue treasures while the rest of the world vacations in Bali. Your idea of a wild Friday night is checking on abalone tanks by moonlight. Sound familiar? No? Well, meet Mike and Antonia, professional hermits turned reluctant tourists.

After 18 years of what you might generously call "marine agricultural dedication" (or more accurately, "total workaholic behaviour"), they’re finally doing something completely foreign to them: taking an actual holiday. Sure, they go to Alaska every year for fishing, but that's still work, just with different fish and colder water. And because they apparently can't help themselves, they’re not lounging on a beach sipping margaritas. Oh no, they’re going to another place famous for pearls. It's like a photographer taking their first vacation in decades and somehow ending up at the world's most photogenic waterfalls with three cameras around their neck.

Destination: Broome (Where Even the Tides Have Attitude)

cygnet bay pearl farm 

They’re heading to Broome, Western Australia, where pearl diving is practically a religion and the local oysters have been producing treasures longer than they’ve been ignoring vacation brochures. This is where you'll find characters who've spent more time underwater than a submarine crew, each with enough stories to fill a novel.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. We work with New Zealand's paua abalone to create our blue pearls, a completely different approach from the traditional oyster pearling that Broome is famous for. Both methods have their own unique challenges and rewards. Our paua pearls tend to be more colourful and unpredictable, while Broome's oyster pearls represent generations of refined technique and consistency. It's fascinating how different paths can lead to the same goal: creating something beautiful from the sea.

But here's the thing about pearls, whether they come from paua or oysters: they all require the same three ingredients that apparently we've mastered in farming but forgotten in life, patience, timing, and knowing when to stop micromanaging and let nature do its thing.

Meeting the Pearl Whisperer

The highlight of their trip is meeting James Brown, Managing Director of Pearls of Australia, and trust me, his resume is impressive enough to make anyone want to celebrate.

This guy's resume reads like what happens when David Attenborough meets Richard Branson with a splash of Jacques Cousteau:

• Marine Biologist (BSc, JCU) with a lifelong dedication to ocean science
• Founder of the Kimberley Marine Research Station, pioneering conservation work in remote Australia
• Australian Farmer of the Year 2021, recognised for excellence in sustainable aquaculture
• WA Ambassador for Save The Children, combining business success with community service
• WAFIC Board Member, leading within the pearling industry

James runs pearl operations in both Western Australia and New South Wales, managing the unique challenges and conditions of two very different marine environments.

They first connected through Gina Barreto, who has a talent for bringing together like-minded people in the pearling world. She knew they’d have plenty to talk about, shared passions for marine conservation, sustainable farming practices, and the endless fascination of working with these remarkable creatures.

The Itinerary (Or: How to Pack Maximum Learning into Minimum Relaxation)

Their schedule looks suspiciously like work disguised as fun:

September 24-26th

• 6:00 AM: Waterfall Reef (for those who thought 7 AM was sleeping in)
• 11:30 AM: Giant Tides (because apparently regular tides are for beginners)
• 1:30 PM: Island Explorer (translation: "Let's see how other people farm things in water")
• 4:00 PM: Pearl Farm Tour (shocking, we know)

waterfall reef at cygnet bay

You'll notice they’ve somehow managed to avoid anything that looks like traditional vacation activities. They’re essentially those people who go to Paris and spend the whole time in museums, except instead of admiring Monet, they’re genuinely excited about oyster cultivation techniques. Some people collect postcards; they collect knowledge about marine ecosystems.

Show and Tell (Adult Edition)

They’re not travelling light; their suitcases look like a marine biology professor's field collection kit. They’re bringing:

• Red abalone shells from California
• Nautilus shells from our island shores
• Baby paua to show off
• Jewellery from our farm

It's like bringing a casserole to a potluck, except the casserole took decades to make and occasionally produces gemstones.

Paua Shells and a Red Abalone Shell

The Real Pearl of Wisdom

Here's what makes this trip even more special: it's Mike's 75th birthday and Antonia's 60th. They’ve spent so many years nurturing pearls that they somehow forgot to nurture the simple joy of taking time away together. It's been decades since they’ve done anything like this, and these milestone birthdays feel like the perfect reason to finally step away from the farm.

But here's what years of pearl farming teaches you: the best things in life require patience, perfect timing, and the wisdom to know when something beautiful has finally reached its moment. It turns out that applies to holidays too.

Just as every blue pearl tells a story of time, pressure, and gradual transformation, this trip to Broome represents their own little evolution, from full-time pearl obsessives to part-time tourists who will probably spend their entire vacation talking about...pearls.

Some things never change, and honestly, they wouldn't have it any other way.

Mike and Antonia