The 23rd day of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Torch Relay saw the Olympic head west across the ‘top end’ of Australia.
The torch travelled from Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory to the remote town of Kununurra in Western Australia’s spectacular Kimberley region, and on to the famous pearl fishing town of Broome.
The Olympic Flame began Day 23 at Robertson Barracks in Darwin, carried by 1st Corporal Soloman Holmes. Holmes was nominated as a by Major General Peter Cosgrove, former commander of the Interfet security force in East Timor, to represent all Australian peacekeeping troops.
As the Australian flag was raised, the troops formed a guard of honour for Holmes, who spent 8 months in East Timor as part of the United Nations security operation.
On an uncharacteristically cold and windy day in Darwin – where the maximum daily temperature rarely drops below 30 degrees Celsius – a large crowd turned out to watch the Flame pass through the city.
Actress and celebrity Belinda Emmett was cheered on by big crowds as she run through the Darwin streets.
Despite some complaints, Dr Philip Nitschke also received a warm welcome and his leg of the run passed without incidence. Nitschke – or ‘Doctor Death’ as he was dubbed by the media – is a supporter of euthanasia and performed the world’s first legal euthanasia in 1997, before the federal government overturned the state law that made it legal.
From Darwin the Torch winged its way to Kununurra (Aboriginal for ‘big waters’) where Richard Court, the Premier of Western Australia, welcomed it to Australia’s largest state. Bigger than Texas, Japan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom combined, Western Australia measures 2,400 kilometres from north to south, and is roughly 2.5 million square kilometres in size.
Kununurra sits on the Ord River and is the gateway to the pristine wilderness area, home to the Bungle Bungle mountains and to an abundance of birds and wildlife. South of Kununurra lies the world’s largest diamond mine, the only place in the world to yield pink diamonds.
From Kununurra the torch continued west, to the coastal town of Broome, where it was due to be carried down Cable Beach by Mr Jamali Bintalib on a camel. Broome has a colourful history – in its heyday in the early 1900s it was the pearling capital of the world.
Source: SOCOG Olympics.com