Derby

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15th to 18th June Derby

Leaving the Dampier Peninsula via a shortcut we had been told about. Although we weren’t certain of the conditions having heard mixed reports we decided to give it a go. The turnoff was just south of The Beagle Bay turnoff, and after missing it the first time we turned back, this time with success. This shortcut turned out to be excellent and saved us a great deal of time and the road was actually better than the more major road going to Broome. There were places where it was just a 2 wheel track but the corrugations were no where near as bad. We believe the track saved us a couple of hours. The track went east then eventually turned south where is joined the main road to Derby with 110km to go.

Checked out the 2 caravan parks in the town. We had been told that the 2nd one was good but the person knew nothing of the 1st. There was no camping at the 1st caravan site, they had powered sites only so off to the 2nd. Called the Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park and run extremely efficiently and with great humour by the manager, Ian. A quiet spot at the back made the stay excellent.

The manager suggested the Windmill Café for dinner. A very good suggestion.

Gordon and I had intended to see the horizontal falls and we were given a very good deal as there were only 2 places left for the following day. A little earlier than expected but who can resist a bargain!

Horizontal Falls

Kimberley Extreme Tours. After being picked up at 8.30am we were taken to the airport where Gordon and I with one other person were put onto a 4 seater plane. This turned out to be great as we had a reasonable view of the coast on the way to Cygnet Bay where we changed to a seaplane. The seaplane took us over the mainland and some islands to land near the horizontal falls at a pontoon which had a houseboat, catamaran, fast boat and a small slow boat tied up.

After morning tea we were shown to our rooms on the catamaran. The bed was up 5 very steep stairs and there was only room for the mattress. There were numerous small cubby holes in every nook and cranny plus a cupboard where is would have been possible to hang something very short. Also each room had an en suite.

Taking the slow boat we went around Talbot bay and into a creek. From this we moved onto the fast boat and a rush through the falls. These seats you sit on like a horse! A fun experience like the white water speed boats in NZ. The skipper, Pedro, gave us plenty of time to take photos. We felt quite safe, Pedro seemed very experienced and didn’t take unnecessary risks.

The Horizontal falls are created by the extreme tides going through a couple of narrow cliffs. Depending on the tide coming in or out there are amazing eddies created on one or other side with huge amounts of water causing a wall of water in the narrower falls, which during a king tide can be over 2 metres high. The narrower falls has some rock ledges sticking out into the falls and Pedro said it was usually too dangerous to go through those falls.

After all these adventures we went back to the houseboat where a lunch of fish and salads was served. We sat around and chatted with the others on the tour. Day trippers came and went throughout the afternoon.

Pedro fed some tawny nurse sharks and a huge groper over 2 metres long. A couple of days earlier, Nathan, the mechanic and repair man of the crew, was feeding the fish when the groper accidentally grabbed his fingers along with the food. Realising that if he tried to pull back he would have lost his fingers he dived in. As soon as the groper realised it had the wrong thing it let go. Nathan was flown to Broome Hospital where he had 8 stitches. With no-one to take his place he went back to work!

We had sunset cruise up Talbot Bay. A very peaceful couple of hours.

Dinner was served. A couple of the other participants were quite upset when they realized there was no dessert, we were given cream biscuits. This seemed to be the one hiccup in the whole time.

Next morning we flew out after we had another surf through the falls. The flight back was supposed to be a scenic flight but as I ended up on the wrong side of the plane I couldn’t really see much at all. I think this part of the tour could be improved.

Back to Derby

Lyle had booked a restaurant for dinner while we gone. It was on the pier and called “The Point” or ‘Son Thai’ we couldn’t work out what the difference was. We drove down to have a look at it and ended up having lunch there. Lyle gave us a town tour.

Lyle had ordered a new slave cylinder to replace the one that had been used in Broome. It was supposed to come in on Friday so will have to stay here until then.

Had a look at the old gaol. This is basically a wire cage with a roof. It was assumed that because of the weather up here that would be sufficient. It does however get very cold at night in winter, it must have been very hard. The prisoners were chained and to get the toilet in one corner they had to climb over everybody else.

Many of the prisoners were aboriginals who were there for killing cattle on properties. This being the late 19th century when the aboriginals were told they couldn’t go onto a certain area, even though they had been going there for generations. Many didn’t understand in the beginning. A law was passed making it legal to shoot anyone illegally on your property. This made it open slather on the aboriginals and many were shot.

Blackbirding was another method of getting people to work on ships, often pearling luggers. Blacks were rounded up and marched in chains to the coast where they were forced to dive for pearls in appalling conditions. When they became too ill to work, they were simply dropped off on a deserted beach, often on an island and left to die. Not a particularly pleasant part of Australia’s past.

After driving around the rest of the town we went to see the boab prison tree. This has a very wide girth but is not as high as many I have seen. Quite squat really.

Had a look at the wetlands which have been created by the runoff (grey water) from the sewerage works. We saw lots of birds through the wire fence on the sewerage ponds but none on the small lake in the wetlands.

Messed about most of the next day waiting to see if the part would arrive, it didn’t. Went down in the late afternoon to take some photos of the curves of the old jetty. It is a semi-circle so that the road trains can drive on, drop off their load and then continue around and not need to reverse or turn around.

Off to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek tomorrow.

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Photos

The track
One section of the shortcut on the way to Derby. The sand was not an issue.

fungi
This fungi grew all down the edge and even onto the surface of the road. It went for many kilometres

Horizontal falls aerial
One of the horizontal falls from the air.

groper
The large groper after being fed.

Wall of water
At a king tide which happens twice a year the wall of water going through the gap can be several metres

whirlpool
There were many whirlpools which came and disappeared very quickly.

Picnic at Derby Pier
People wander up and down the pier, picnic and fish. Drive cars and bicycles around the loop.

Boab goal tree
Here many aborigines were held overnight. They suspect even those captured for Blackbirding

Gaol boab door
The opening to the gaol