Travels of Bob & Sharon: Derby

Derby is a town of 5000 people and is notable for mining of iron ore, diamonds, oil and other minerals.

We were uncertain if we wished to take the side trip to Derby however felt we owed it to ourselves to do so to visit the Boab Prison Tree; Derby's most famous attraction. It has a girth of 14 m and a hollow trunk and is said to be over 1000 years old. It was used as a prison or holding by by blackbirders, settlers who captured and used Aboriginal people to free dive for pearls. It is a stark reminder of the crimes against indigenous people in WA. Forced to walk for miles chained together then held inside the trunk of the tree is one of the saddest stories we've heard and standing in the presence of the tree is quite depressing.

Photo: Boab Prison Tree

Deciding to stay in Derby overnight, we stopped at the Visitor Centre to determine if any tours were available. We were told that there were a couple of flights over the Kimberley region (inaccessible by land); one in a bush plane and the other on the mail plane. We thought the mail run sounded like a lot of fun because it would be landing at 13 stations (farms) in the Kimberley region. We decided against it though because we would have to wait two days and then there was a risk of being bumped, either by freight or residents who live out there who need to be flown in to their stations.

We decided to book the bush flight and arrived at the airport at 3:30 p.m. for our 4 pm flight in a single engine four seater. We met our pilot Sarah, a fantastic young woman (must have something to do with the name "Sarah") who was born in the U.K., raised in New Zealand, took her first flight at 16 (Dad was a pilot) and had her private pilot license at 18. She left N.Z. for Sydney at 21, studied languages at university, worked at Quantas charting flightplans for long distance travel, got her commercial license then came to Derby a year ago to get a job (ok, you can take a breath now...).

Photo's: Our wonderful pilot Sarah; a sampling of the wonderful scenery

Sarah is a consummate professional with great wit and an abundance of information. We were outfitted with life vests in packs around our waists, headsets with voice-activated mikes so we could hear everything and ask questions. Bob was in the back and I was co-pilot ...although asked to give Sarah some warning if I decided to use the controls on my side which apparently happens from time to time when a casual passenger accidentally uses the foot pedals as footrests.

We flew out over Derby, the T-shaped wharf, the mud flats, an old leper colony, along the Thousand Island Coast viewing the open-cut iron ore mines on Koolan and Cockatoo Islands, the Buccaneer Archipelago and the pearl farms in Cone Bay. We circled over Horizontal Waterfalls where the water rushes through a gap in the rocks then reverses.

If you look at the photo below you will see the mine and above it you will see the runway Sarah uses to pick up and drop off mining staff. She said there is little margin of error since at one end there is the open mine and at the other, the ocean.

Along the way we saw deserted islands with pristine beaches where you cannot swim due to the sharks and salt-water crocs that live there.

She told us of an emergency situation recently where a man on a little island was bitten by a death adder and they had to fly in to bring him to hospital in Derby. Fortunately he lived to tell about it.

I cannot tell you what a wonderful trip it was and when we returned to the airport almost 2 hours later we didn't want it to end so we invited Sarah out for dinner. Her favourite restaurant is closed on Monday's so she suggested a rough and ready bar where the casdt of characters is notable and the food terrific. One particular character walked past us and we really didn't take much notice until the manager yelled at him to get out. He turned around right beside us and we saw a huge, freshly caught fish tucked under his arm like a pet. Made me think of something out of a David Cronenberg film. Off he swanned out the door leaving a fin behind on the carpet.

Another lovely Sarah; another great memory and new friend.

We know you are reading this Sarah and we thank you once again for a great day!

One thing I must tell you about was our visit to the wharf earlier in the day. We met several carpenters who were renovating a restaurant and we got involved in a lengthy chat about the region. One of the fellows had gone fishing the night before with a buddy. He got to a flooded area of the unsealed road and stopped his 4WD, turned on his "spotties" (flood lights) and saw the biggest croc he's ever encountered. He figured it was around 5 m long. He and his buddy immediately turned around and hightailed it out of there. Good fishing!!!

Feb 13: Hall's Creek which was a sad little town. Many stores boarded up and an unkempt campground. The best part of the camp was the pool that helped cool us off in the evening.

Photo: Lizard friends

Feb 14: Happy Valentine's! Drove through magnificent landscape that is lush and green, due to the heavy rains they get here. We have obviously just missed the storms because we haven't seen a drop since Perth.

Arrived in the beautiful town of Kununurra and a gorgeous Big 4 Camp. It is lush and tropical with a terrific pool.

Out for a Valentine's dinner at Gulliver's Bistro. Food was out of this world!

Feb 15: Still in Kununurra and up early for a bit of a walk through Mirima National Park with it's mini-Bungle Bungles. Very hot (35C by 5:30 a.m) but beautiful with lime green parrots and other beautiful birds flitting about and huge lizards running around on the ground.