Dallying in Derby
We were planning to stay in Derby for a while as Dad had already got a block of work at the catholic school. It was stinking hot and humid. While in Derby we saw the Boab Prison Tree, a humongous tree with a split down the middle, Windjana, and the jetty numerous times.
Josh disappeared for a couple of hours, and came back with these lovely sunset photos. he had to walk a bit to take them!! No-one else even knows where this is.
At Derby, Joel and Josh both managed to pick up work at the hardware and Woolworths. Joel got work pretty quickly, helped along by the fact that the store owner at Derby knew the Kununurra owners. He started working 12-5 on weekdays, and 8-12 every 2nd Saturday. Josh just had Tuesday and Thursday night-shift at Woolworths.
Derby has some humongous tides (12m) and some great fishing. Joel went a couple of times in the night and came back one night with a 93cm mulloway taken off the jetty!! The fish managed to feed us for 3 meals. He sadly didn't repeat the catch while we were there.
While in Derby Chloe also had her seventh birthday. Her last birthday was at Dubbo, so she managed to get the two D towns for her birthday!! She received some books, playdough, twin dolls, a rapunzel colouring book and a rapunzel movie, a barbie, Little Miss movie, and some maths workbooks. After unwrapping all her presents, she got stuck straight into the playdough and had some great fun. For dinner we went out to a pizza place and had the usual rounds of family photos. We also made our favourite icecream cake for dessert.
The last day we before we left, we went out to Windjana Gorge National Park with a friend from church. The road there was a corrugated and dusty road, and the Transit rattled and banged us around a bit, but we still made it there and back. I did crack my head once on the door, and from then on just braced! We also hit a few washouts. The gorge itself was a great place to swim, and while you floated you just looked up at the sheer rock walls surrounding you. The main attraction to Windjana Gorge is actually the freshwater crocs, but we saw no trace of them and had a relaxing swim, with only a slight thought to what else could be occupying the water.......
The first time we ever got bogged on our trip (so far) was at Derby. It was a really rainy day and as Mum tried to turn around to pick Dad up from school, she went a little too far off the road and the front wheels sunk in. Even though it was rear wheel drive, the rear wheels just kept on spinning as the ground was too muddy to get a good enough grip. We were officially bogged! We all wished Joel was home as he thrived on these sort of things......... After trying a few things, we had to well and truly admit defeat. Calling on a friend, he drove out with his Patrol and hooked up a snatch strap. Dad was home by now, and he jumped in the car to steer it backwards. Even though I was in the caravan, I could still hear when Dad was free as there was a big rev, a horn beep, and some shouts. I came out to find that Dad had nearly run into a tree when he came flying out of the hole. The car just kept on going. We almost got bogged a second time, but made it firmly onto the road. Thus ended our first (and hopefully final) stuck in the mud experience. Everybody had turned out too to watch, so we were just providing some free entertainment.
Beyond the Boabs
Located 222km North-West of Broome
General Introduction: Derby, located next to King Sound, is a small Kimberley town, with the highest tides in Australia. We stayed in Derby for 6 weeks in the months of February and March. The weather was hot and humid, but being the wet season that was expected. It has a range of shops, and a Woolworths for food needs. We visited two churches while we where there, The Peoples Church and Derby Baptist Church, both of which we enjoyed.
Places to visit: Derby Visitor Centre: 30 Loch St Ph: 08 9191 1426
Prison Boab Tree: Located 7km down the Derby Highway from Derby. The Prison Boab tree was ahumongous Boab!! It's girth was last measured at 14.7 m, and is estimated to be about 1500yrs old. A great sight to witness, it also has a darker side as it was originally used to hold prisoners (often Aboriginal) being walked into Derby from surrounding areas.
Also near the prison boab tree is Myalls Bore and the 120m concrete cattle trough. In between the Derby and the Prison tree was Frosty's Pool, a pool built in 1944 for troops stationed in the area.
Derby Jetty: Located at the end of Jetty RD. One of the fun things to do at Derby Jetty is to admire the difference between the high and low tides. With Derby having the highest tides in all of Australia, there is quite a difference!! Derby Jetty is also a great place for land-based fishers, with Joel managing to pull in a 93cm (just under a metre, can't quite brag about a metrey) Mulloway.
Windjana Gorge- Located 145km out of Derby on Fairfield and Leopold Downs Road. Windjana Gorge was a great place to visit, and we enjoyed swimming around in the water. A bit muddy, but still refreshingly cool. Swimming is not recommended in the gorge, due to the population of freshwater crocodiles that inhabit the area.They are often seen basking in the sun. There is a several walks in the area, one going the full length of the gorge. There is also a camping ground at Windjana Gorge, with generators allowed in one campground, and another quiet one, with no generators allowed.
The road into Windgana Gorge was corrugated and dusty, with a few washouts. Our Transit handled it fine, with a lot of rattling. There was also numerous cattle, some of which liked to dash in front of the car.
Family Eating Out: Jila Gallery Cafe- Located on Clarendon St. The cafe has some seroiously good pizza, along with some other meals. The paintings lining the wall were nice, with the bored kids rating all the photos (family photos tend to bore us a little). The prices were reasonable (Kimberley style) for a large family.