Our last day in Broome we celebrated Jordy’s 12th birthday. In true Jordy fashion he was keen for pizza on
his birthday. So we headed out to Chinatown for pizza!
The next morning we were on the road again, this time
heading to Derby for a couple of nights.
On the way we had lunch with
Chrissy’s Aunty Anne and husband Wayne at a Free Camp about half way to Derby. It was nice to catch up with them and chat
about life on the road and where we both had been.
Derby
Arriving in Derby - it is a pretty town with big wide streets,
lots of green lawns and beautiful boab
trees which are so typical of the local landscape. It is a town of 5000 with
plenty going on. A new regional prison is being built, the mining industry is
evident here as well and there are a whole host of Government Departments. It costs up to $2000 to rent a 4 bedroom house
in Derby, there is a demand to be here, but if you didn't have to you may not choose to be here.
Shortly after arriving Jim headed to the jetty to catch the
high tide for some crabbing, while Chrissy and the boys rode the fantastic
Cycle way through the mudflats to the
jetty. The tide was running hard in the
last hour and I had to put rocks in the pots to get them to the bottom. Crabs were
plentiful but small and the sunset was
beautiful, assisted by some fires over
near the Fitzroy River.
Derby Jetty
Friday saw us catch up in some schoolwork before cycling
around the town and visiting some iconic tourist attractions. The boab prison
tree is enormous and has witnessed some of the darker times of the Kimberley. Many of the Aboriginal ‘prisoners’ kept there were in fact kidnapped from
pastoral stations to be sold to pearling lugger owners to work as divers
against their will. This was in the late
1800s when the Kimberley coast was really without a lot of law inforcement
officers. Later the tree held prisoners
who were often held for killing cattle on the stations. Myall’s bore and trough is also an impressive structure at 125metres
and capable of watering 500 cattle at a time, we need one of those at school!
Myalls bore and trough with ford falcon at the other end needing a drink!
The Prison Tree
Saturday saw us out on the Gibb River Road heading for
Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge National Parks. The road was not that bad after the 80km of
bitumen and the wildlife which included a black headed python, a king brown,
wedge tailed eagles, wallabies and a lot of cattle - was
impressive.
Tunnel Creek
Tunnel Creek is a 750
metre walk through a cave system which has been created over time by running water. You often walk through water up to your knees and the system
is fascinating with high ceilings in places and many interesting features. The boys enjoyed the adventure with Kurt loving
looking for bats and Will loving the butterflies at the end. One great thing about the tunnel was the mild
temperatures compared to outside!
The brave adventurers!
Tree roots looking for water.
A cascading stalagtite.
Halfway opening.
the light at the end of the tunnel.
Windjana
Gorge
We counted 25 freshwater crocodiles in one area alone.
Will and a savage monster, that is asleep!
The day ended with the 145 km drive back to Derby and thankfully the Derby Memorial Pool was open for business. The three morcom boys were last to leave and loved a cool off after a big day out. Derby had a final sting in it's tail with 5 punctures in the bike tyres. The Kimberley Entrance caravan park was big spacious and well attended by the grey nomad brigade.
Off to Fitzroy Crossing.
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