As Bel and I drove into Derby we were excited to be back in civilization – sealed roads, Internet, coffee shops…
We checked into the Caravan park, positioned the trailer, unhitched the camper and then moved the car – BANG!
10 months of setups and somehow we forgot to undo one of the safety chains and I pulled the trailer over when moving the car. The Jockey wheel was folded in half and our 2 tonne trailer was now lying on the ground.
After the initial shock we got on with repairs. Bel started googling spare jockey wheels and I got the car jack out. We were both very grateful that it happened in Derby and not on the Gibb. Three hours later and we were back to where we started.
We completed setting up and went for a very late lunch at around 3pm and then went to the pub for a well earned beer. The Spinifex hotel had been rebuilt 4 years ago and was very modern. Most importantly it had a lounge and we headed straight for it – so nice.
The following day we were booked into a Horizontal Falls Seaplane tour. The day started with an 8.15 pickup to the airport where we boarded a 12 seater seaplane. The flight out over Derby showed how vast the surrounding mud flats were.
Derby has the biggest tides in Australia and the second biggest in the world. This was what also created the falls we were going to see. We flew out over King Sound, with turquoise waters surrounding the thousands of islands throughout the Sound.
After about 30 minutes we arrived at Talbot Bay, and flew over the falls. It was just on low tide so they were barely running.
We then landed in Talbot Bay and transferred to a floating marina. Such a beautiful place. We could have just sat and enjoyed the views all day.
After morning tea we went down to the bottom deck to do some shark feeding. The staff at the Marina have about 20 sharks that come to visit them regularly – there’s also crocs so it’s definitely not a place to swim.
Bel even had a pat!
After the feeding it was time to board the 900hp speed boat and check out the falls. The tide had started to really build by this stage and the falls were in full flow as they pushed there way through a narrow gap into a land locked bay.
There were two sets of falls, the first was 20m wide while the second was only 9m wide so it was twice as powerful as the other. Over the next few hours they took us on the jet boats backwards and forwards through the falls only broken by a break for a fresh Barra lunch.
Over that time the drop between the two bays changed from 1.5m to 3m, and can get to 5m. At 3m it was too dangerous for us to go through the narrower falls. The water flow was so powerful. At one stage we sat motionless in the falls – our boat speed was actually 15 knots.
Once we took off on the seaplanes again you really got a sense of the power and size – and also the change since we arrived.
Another amazing experience in the Kimberley.
Saturday morning and we were off to the Rodeo! I haven’t been since I was a boy, and it was Bel’s first. Saturday was the final of the Camp Draft, the Gymkhana and the station challenge.
A great days entertainment watching very talented and tough kids and adults. Such great riding skills.
The station challenge was crazy – 9 teams from various stations in the area competing in different relay style events. At one stage a horse started bucking crazily. The girl rider ejected without a problem and then one of the boys caught it and put it in a headlock. They certainly make them tough up here.
At 3pm we headed over to the fishing club for the mud crab races!
There were 10 races of 9 crabs. You get to buy a crab, name it and enter it into the races. We named ours Jacko after a friend who got nipped by a muddy many years ago. Jacko turned out to be a good runner and qualified for semis!
Unfortunately he didn’t make it any further so he ended up as dinner instead! A fantastic feed – $10 for a BBQ dinner of steak, sausage, salad and half a fresh mud crab – delicious.
Sorry Jacko.
The whole afternoon was great fun. The host was very funny and ran the event really well. Definitely recommended to anyone visiting.
Sunday morning we were off to the Rodeo again. We decided to stay the extra day as we had enjoyed it so much on Saturday.
It was another fun day out, with barrel racing, steer roping, bronco riding, steer wrestling and of course bull rides. Even the girls got into the steer riding. Lots of skill on display along with toughness mixed with a little bit of crazy!!
It was a great way to mingle with the locals and enjoy the local carnival spirit. For the competitors in the rodeo, this was their way of life. They were all from local stations, just doing what they do every day. Of the people that attended 50% were aboriginal, and the same in the competitors, and it felt like an integrated community that was functioning. A big contrast to some of the towns we have visited. It’s a complex problem, but I feel we have had our eyes opened. We really enjoyed our time in Derby.