Thursday morning we left Fitzroy Crossing for the 2hr trip to Derby, we stopped for a short break at the Boab rest area that had a very impressive Boab tree. The tree had a very large opening near the base that Bazz was even able to climb into, I did not mistake him for a gnome!
Derby has a population of little over 3,000, with about half being of Aboriginal descent. It is the closest town to the Gibb River Rd and is a popular stop over for off road travellers that have either just completed or about to partake in their adventure along the unpaved 4wd road. Derby is also the ideal location to experience the Horizontal Water Falls in Talbot Bay and The Archipelago as it is only 35 minutes by plane.
Since we have been here we have taken in a couple of the popular sites, the first being the Jetty/Wharf which is a very popular place to view the stunning sunsets over King Sound also for fishing. About 7klm from the town is the Prison Boab tree, it is a huge tree believed to be around 1,500 yrs old and has a girth of 14.7 metres. It was used as staging point for prisoners being walked into Derby in the early days.
Today we had an early start as we were being picked up the caravan park at 8.15am and taken to the local airport for our next bucket list adventure to the Horizontal Falls. Bazz is doing a wonderful job as he has been outside his comfort zone a number of times this trip! It was a 14 seat prop jet seaplane that we boarded for the flight that took us over immense tidal flats & islands of The Archipeago before a very smooth landing on the calm waters of Talbot Bay. Upon arrival at the luxury houseboat pontoon we boarded a the boat with three 300 horse power motors that took us numerous times through the falls. These falls occur because of the extreme tide movements and the large volume of water that builds up because it cannot move quick enough through the small openings. After this exhilarating experience it was back to the pontoon for a swim in the shark cage for one of us, but I must agree with Bazz that you had a better view of the sharks & a very large groper from the pontoon than down in the cage. The groper has very good sight now, as we were speaking with someone from yesterdays trip and a women was bending down and her prescription sunglasses fell in the water and were quickly snaveled up by George the groper. The rest of the day was spent touring around surrounding bays and creeks with a lovely lunch of BBQ Barramundi, and more boat rides through the falls, so that you had the experience of outgoing, slack and incoming tides. All too soon it was time to board the seaplane again, must say there is not a lot of room in these little planes! Airborne once again the return flight was a different route taking in more of the beautiful islands of the Buccaneer Achipelago. If the tour was not so expensive we would do it all over again! Great day, can recommended this one it was really worth the money.
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| Boab tree |
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| Derby Jetty |
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| Sunset Derby Jetty |
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| Prison Boab Tree |
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| 14 seat prop jet seaplane |
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| Tidal flats |
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| Tidal flats |
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Aerial view Horizontal Falls |
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| Pontoon |
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| Horizontal Falls |
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| Cyclone Creek |
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| Buccaneer Archipelago |
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| Barramundi Farm |
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Derby Jetty |
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