Derby and the Horizontal Falls - 16th - 20th May 2021
We decided after leaving The Bungle Bungles we would drive right through to Derby as there was not really anything we wanted to look at through this part of the country. It was about a 600km drive so quite a long day. We stayed at the Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park in Derby which is a great place to base yourself for a couple of days. Derby’s claim to fame is having the highest tides of any Australian Port and can be as high as 11m tidal difference. It’s amazing to see these massive tides on the wharf as the water looks like it is constantly whirlpooling around it. We stood for quite a while watching the local indigenous people using hand lines to catch mulloway off the jetty. We even saw a crocodile swimming around the jetty. The sunsets each night are absolutely stunning from the Derby Wharf, although the mozzies were not amazing as there were hundreds of the dam things. There was also some interesting spots to visit around the town – BOAB Jail, Myalls bore and cattle trough which is 120m long and of course it is the start or finish to the Gibb River Road.
Our highlight of Derby was our trip out to the Horizontal Falls – Buccaneer Archipelago. We were picked up by bus from our accomodation and taken out to the Derby Airport where we were taken by Seaplane out to the Horizontal Falls where you land on the water (amazing !!!). On arrival we were given tea/coffee and morning tea before taken by fast boat through the Horizontal falls a number of times – spectacular!!! We were then taken back to the pontoon and allowed to have a swim in the enclosed pool near the pontoon. Whilst we were swimming there is another open pool on the other side which has some sharks that come and visit every day. The guides do a bit of a talk about the local wildlife while feeding the sharks. After this talk we were then taken on a cruise through Cyclone Creek which is quite spectacular. Then it was back to the pontoon for a beautiful Barrumundi lunch. (Yummy!!). After lunch it was back on the fast boat, which this time i made sure we were in the front row and back through the falls quite a few times. Truly spectacular to see the difference in the tides between the morning and afternoon. It was so much fun and wow the scenery and beautiful colours of the water is truly amazing. It was then time unfortunately to get back on the plane (water take off) and fly over the spectacular scenery of the Buccaneer Archipelago – WOW!!! What can I say, words don’t really describe how spectacular and untouched the scenery is through this area – All I can say is that this is another must to put on your bucket list !!!
Next stop Broome………..
