Derby, Western Australia - May 2021

We had booked a Horizontal Falls overnight trip for the 17th May, and had 10 days to do short daily trips, plenty of time. Pulling up at a beautiful off road campsite and just finished lunch, we got a phone call 'up grading' us to two cabins the week earlier, on the 10th, so we now had 3 nights to travel 650km from Purnlulu National Park to Derby. We decided that two days were needed at Halls Creek to explore the area and to visit Wolf Creek. That gave us one overnight before arriving at Derby.

After leaving Halls Creek, we travelled to Mt Hardman, just past Fitzroy Crossing, 381kms - a long day, stopping at Mary Pools - a beautiful free camp - for lunch - that we had planned on staying at for a few days ...

... and then at Fitzroy to get milk and bread. Mt Hardman was on three different levels. We started on the top level and moved to the middle level when a tour bus left after having afternoon tea.

From Mt Hardman it was 170km to Derby. We stopped for lunch at a huge tree (maybe a boab tree?) at Nyikina & Mangala, home of the Yimardoowarra people.

The caravan park, Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park is huge and most of the sites are big. We liked the different murals painted on the buildings around the park, and the white peacock/peahen that visited each afternoon. The park was good, except for the high price - that's why we opt for low cost camping.

We arrived, un-hitched and had a drive around town. Derby is very spread out and there is a lot of history there.

Located on an ancient sand dune on King Sound, Derby has the highest tides of any Australian State.  It has a beautiful curved jetty that is best seen at sunset. 

After the high tides, come the low tides and the mudflats that one drives past for minutes before getting to the jetty. We were fortunate to see locals net fishing in the receding tide.

Before European settlement the Worrorra and Nylkina Aboriginal people inhabited the area. Derby was the first town established in the Kimberleys in 1883 and was named after Lord Derby, Edward Henry Stanley, the Secretary of State for the Colony. When gold was discovered in the Halls Creek area in 1885/6, thousands of prospectors arrived at Derby by ship. The first jetty was a short wooden t-shaped jetty built in 1885 and at low tide the prospectors had to walk through the mud to get one of the 5 hotels. The jetty was upgraded and extended in 1893s and a horse drawn tramway was built to cross the mudflats with passengers and goods. The oldest building is the wool shed at the edge of town and it is the only remaining part of the old port. The current jetty was built in 1964 of concrete and steel and some of the tram tracks can still be seen in parts. Passenger ships ceased in 1973, and the port closed in 1983, only to be reopened again in 1997.

At the beginning of the jetty is a beautiful Community Mosaic Tile Floor housed in an open gazebo. The first time we saw it there was a couple sitting in the middle watching a movie on their tablet. Never seen that before. We went to the jetty a total of three times while we were there, just to see the different colours and water. Luckily the last time we went the mosaic was clear so we were able to take photos. The floor is 28 square metres of tiles - over 28,000 tiles - that took 370 people 800 hours. It consists of 8 themes: the land, the sea, wet season, dry season, pre-settlement, pioneering, people, and industry. The original design concept was evolved by Mark Norval and Pam Masters. The names of the creators are listed on an information board inside the gazebo.

Just 7km south of Derby is Australia's longest cattle water trough. The original well was sunk in the early 1890's by Alfred Duckworth Myall and was fed by natural bore water until the windmill pump was built. In 1910/11 the bore was extended to over 300ft deep with a trough of about 15-18ft. It was originally built to water the cattle while the drovers stopped for the night before going into Derby the next day. In 1916/17 a concrete trough was built 120m long and could feed up to 500 bullocks at a time. Not long after that, as the water flow lessened, a windmill was constructed to pump the water. The bore water is mineral rich and was said to have therapeutic properties, so a bath house was built nearby.

A short walk away is the Boab Prison Tree, known as Kunumudj. With a girth of 14.7m, it is believed to be around 1,500 years old. It is registered as an Aboriginal site and is culturally significant to the local Nyikina people. It is also important in the early history of Derby township and was used as a staging point for prisoners being walked into Derby gaol. It is on the WA State Heritage Register.

Leaving the long trough, and the prison boab tree, we came across Frosty's Pool so stopped to have a look. It was built in 1944 as a bathing pool for troops stationed in the area. It was built by the 3rd General Transport Co. and was nicknamed Frosty's Pool after Charles L.V. Frost. It would have been filled with the mineral waters from the trough, and was one of many in the area at the time.

Located on the main street that leads to the jetty (hard to know what is actually the main street in Derby), is the old gaol. Built in 1906 by prisoners, behind the police station that was built in 1896, the old gaol is all that remains of the old police area.

Built of a concrete floor and an iron frame with one side of corrugates iron and a thick mesh and iron ceiling, the structure is safe from termites, and weathering, but was in danger of decaying over time until in 1988 the National Trust classified Old Derby Gaol.

The gaol was intended for temporary accommodation only, but some prisoners were held up to 6 months or more. The treatment and conditions were horrendous and it is hard to believe people could do this to other people.

Derby is also the end of the Gibb River Road. There is an interesting self guided driving tour called the Pigeon Heritage based on the life of 19th century Aboriginal tracker known as Pigeon, that takes in Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek, but both were closed while we were there.

The next day we were heading to Horizontal Falls. The caravan park had no discount for the van being stored there, not using any power or water, and the airport didn't have facilities for storing a van, so we had to pay for three nights van park accommodation, even though we only really stayed two nights, and stored the van for one and at $58 per night, it was disappointing. After the day and night at Horizontal Falls, and a late night and early morning we were back in the van, had a nap, and just relaxed with other happy campers. One meets so many lovely people while travelling. We left the next morning heading for Broome.