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Published: July 30th 2023
DERBY - HORIZONTAL WATERFALLS
Up Cyclone Creek for a run - this is where everything is stored during wet season and where boats come to shelter in bad storms/cyclonesGot away from Willare Bridge Roadhouse around 10am and limped along to Derby getting in about 10.45 and fortunately our site was vacant so got setup nice and early. We were told along the way that Derby wasn't much but after a few days here and you kind of pick the scab off, its an interesting sort of place, except for the daytime black mozzies who are rampant, are quick, bite lots but we have slathered ourselves once again with the Good Riddance and it keeps them at bay. We found it friendly and quite an historic town perched at the edge of the King Sound near the mouth of the mighty Fitzroy River. The beautiful quirky Boab trees we learn that the seed has floated across the ocean from Madagascar which is very interesting that they are here in the Kimberley also been found around Victoria River in the NT, they are so lovely and have been useful to the indigenous population over the years, string from the bark, stored water inside, their nuts for medicine and used as a goal. Derby has a unique jetty with its horseshoe shape and is a great spot to catch the sunset and
DERBY AIRPORT
Refuelling our plane with Jules our pilot, just been here for 4 months from the Phillipines, a very experienced pilot with seaplanes but looks about 12 watch the incredible tidal variation of up to 12M....the largest tides in the Southern Hemisphere! We loved our night out at the wharf. Sculptures on the Marsh was another gorgeous little art piece done by local artist Mark Norvel who also has an amazing gallery in Derby. We have had no troubles filling in 4 nights here in Derby, the pioneers that came to this part of the country did it tough and have bred wonderful breeds of cattle to feed our population and overseas. Our mate/neighbour Ado in Kingsville had told us a few weeks ago she had mates filming a film in Derby, didn't really give it another thought until we arrived here and it was still going so thats a bit of a koo for the town, they have already been here 12 weeks and don t know for how much longer. During our walk down to the Marsh today to visit some of the sculptures and where the roads were all cut off because of filming we had a chat with a gorgeous young indigenous guy who was on guard to stop traffic coming into the area, he was so proud of himself, he works for
DERBY
12 seater plane out to the falls - of course John is co-pilot Main Roads and this is his first job, 28 years old and just got his license and is now able to save up to buy a car, god love him he was so nice we spent about 20 minutes with him, a lovely young man! We are staying at the Dumbara Burru Caravan Park which is owned and operated by aboriginal people, mind you none working here, very dusty but facilities are spotlessly clean and they seem to not have much trouble here whereas the other caravan in town seems to have a lot of things going on there, like a couple tenting there had their tent slashed open with a knife so it could be raided. So many stories coming out of that place. The absolute HIGHLIGHT OF OUR VISIT HERE though has been the trip out to the Horizontal Waterfalls, totally overpriced but I guess its a bucket list thing, being one of the worlds greatest natural wonders, the ocean phenomenon creates horizontal currents that look like waterfalls turned sideways, totally amazing and we had the best day. David Attenborough named it and described it as "Australia's most unusual natural wonder". The high tides there are between 7
DERBY
The local prison - grounds look pretty good out there better than anywhere in town and 11 metres. We were picked up from our caravan park at 7.45a.m. taken to Derby Airport and met our pilot Jules who has only been here 4 months but piloted seaplanes in the Phillipines, she was amazing looked like she was 12 years old and of course John was co-pilot out to the bay where we landed around 915. The scenery on the way out was picture postcard stuff and the water was truly blue, blue, blue....was so scenic! We had three goes through the waterfalls in their powerful 900 HP boat with about 39 of us on there. Back to the pontoon for morning tea then after that took the boat again up the Cyclone Creek which was very pretty, back for a scrumptious BBQ barramundi lunch with lovely salads then another go on the boat as the tide turned before boarding our seaplane back to Derby. The flight home we did a different route over the archipelago , over the barramundi farms and the different coves and bays....stunning part of the world we will never forget!
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Ernie & Ronnie
non-member comment
Hello from Port Melbourne
Great to hear from you, Gloria and John. You are having the best trip & love hearing of all your adventures. You should be a travel writer Gloria. I loved the sculptures around Derby. All good here just hibernating during the cold days & hopefully now weather improving we’ll hit the track somewhere. You two keep well & enjoying your wonderful adventure.