Derby Population 4,000
Derby is situated at the southern end of King Sound, 2354km (1463 miles)
north of Perth, and is the Gateway to the Kimberley Gorges.
Climate
Average temperatures: January max 33C (91F) min 26C (79F); July
max 29C (84F) min 14C (57F). Number of days per year with temperature
above 30C (86F) 279; number of days per year with temperature
above 40C (104F) 44. Average annual rainfall: 627mm (25 ins);
wettest six months December to May.
Characteristics
Derby is one of the best known towns in the Kimberley region. The narrow
channels between the islands off Derby have strong rips and currents,
as well as an 11.6m (38 ft) variation between high and low tides.
How to Get There By Bus
Greyhound Pioneer have daily services between Derby and all major centres
in WA and the Northern Territory.
By Car
Derby is on the Great Northern Highway, 2354km (1463 miles) north of
Perth, and 1786km (1110 miles) from Darwin.
Tourist Information
The Derby Tourist Bureau is located at 2 Clarendon Street, Derby, (08) 9191
1426. They have a website at www.derbytourism. com and can be emailed
at derbytb@comswest.net.au
Accommodation
Here is a selection of the accommodation available in Derby, with prices
for a double room per night, which should be used as a guide only. &The
telephone area code is 08.
King Sound Resort Hotel, Lock Street, 9193 1044. 82 units (private facilities),
licensed restaurant, swimming pool $126.
Derby Boab Inn, Loch Street, 9191 1044. 35 rooms (private facilities),
licensed restaurant, swimming pool, bbq $90.
Spinifex Hotel, Clarendon Street, 9191 1233. 20 rooms (private facilities),
licensed restaurant $50-80.
Caravan Parks
Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park, Rowan Street, 9193 1055. (Dogs allowed
on leash) - powered sites $21 for two, no on-site vans.
Eating Out
Derby is not the gourmet capital of the world, but the motels have restaurants.
A couple of places you might like to try are:
Lwoy Chinese Restaurant, Lot 269 Loch Street, 9191 1554; and Wharf Restaurant & Take
Away, Main Jetty, 9191 1195.
Points of Interest
Derby is half surrounded by tidal marsh, and boab trees line the main
street. Boab trees are ridiculously shaped trees resembling a bottle,
and one, about 7km south of the town, is hollow with a girth of 14m (46
ft). According to legend, policemen bringing in prisoners used the tree
as an overnight cell before the final trek into Derby.
Nearby is Myalls Bore with one of the largest cattle troughs in the southern
hemisphere. It is 120m (131 yds) long and 1.2m wide.
The Cultural Centre in Derby houses a regional museum, library and art
gallery. It is built of Kimberley colourstone from Mt Jowlaenga, south-west
of Derby.
Other attractions include: the Wharfinger Museum, Derby Library, Botanic
Gardens and King Sound.
Outlying Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek can be seen with Kimberley West
Tours (08) 9193 1442, operating out of Derby. Tours cost $90 per person.
Scenic and charter flights are available over the spectacular Kimberley
coastline, the Napier and Leopold Ranges, and Horizontal Fall. Contact
Scenic Air Tours on 1800 066 132 for bookings. They are located at Hangar
3, Derby Airport.
Festivals
The Country Music Festival is held in July, as is the Boab Festival.
Facilities
Almost all popular Australian sport is played in Derby cricket,
football, golf, tennis, basketball, squash, horse and car racing and
shooting clubs have been organised. Darts, lawn bowls and swimming are
also very popular. The swimming pool is open all year round. The outdoor
cinema screens films on Friday and Saturday nights.
Fishing
The Fitzroy River is the best major barramundi water in the Kimberley.
Barramundi live in both rivers and salt water. Live bait or a slow spinner
is needed to catch them. The town jetty is a popular place for anglers.
A fishing licence is required.
Watch out for the hazards of the Kimberley coast: big tides, stone fish,
sea snakes, sharks and crocodiles. Always wear sandshoes or sneakers when
wading.
Tours
There are many half and full day tours and longer safaris available in
Derby, and the Tourist Bureau has full information. Here we have listed
some, to give an idea of what is available.
West Kimberley Tours, 9193 1442, have a Town Tour. It visits the Prison
Tree, longest trough, crafts, art gallery and the town jetty. They also
have a full day tour to Windjana Gorge/Tunnel Creek National Parks features
include the best exposed fossil reef in the world, Cave of Bats and the
story of the outlaw Pigeon. Their day visit to Cockatoo Island hdeparts
on request daily from May through September, and includes a 35 minute flight
over the Buccaneer Archipelago, luncheon and a short island tour.
Bushtrack Safaris, 9191 4644, hdepart from Mt Elizabeth Station, 360km
(224 miles) from Derby along the Gibb River Road.
Kimberley Getaway Safaris, 9192 7436, offer: a 5 day King Leopold Safari,
featuring tours of the Mornington and Bell Gorges, swimming, fishing and
photography; a 6 day Bungle Bungle Safari, featuring Geikie Gorge cruise,
Wolfe Creek Crater and Bungle Bungle mountain area; a 10 day Mitchell Plateau
Safari, featuring gorges of the Gibb River Road, Mitchell Falls, Windjana
Gorge and Tunnel Creek.
Buccaneer Sea Safaris, 9191 1991, offer: a 4 day Cone Bay/Strickland Bay
Safari; Walcott Inlet/Yampi Sound; Walcott Inlet Sea and Land Safari, with
6 days at sea then travel by 4WD.
Outlying Attractions Broome
Broome is 223km (138 miles) south-west of Derby, on a peninsula bounded
by Roebuck Bay, stunning Cable Beach and the Indian Ocean. It is a colourful
old pearling port, and its cosmopolitan population adds to the atmosphere
of the town. Many of the old pearl divers were Japanese, Malays, Koepangers
and Filipinos, and each year their descendants remember their ancestors
in the Shinju Festival, which is held in August. Broome Tourist Bureau
is on the corner of Bagot Road and Broome Road, and is hopen Easter to
October, Mon-Fri 8am-5pm, Sat 9am-1pm, Sun 9am-5pm, (08) 9192 2222. They
have excellent local brochures, and information on attractions in the town,
such as the Historical Museum, Captain Gregory's House, Streeters Jetty,
the Court House, the half submerged flying boats, and the Japanese Cemetery.
Two popular drawcards are the Broome Crocodile Park, Cable Beach Road,
9192 1489, and the Willie Creek Pearl Farm, 9192 6500.
Broome is not short of natural attractions either, and a must is a visit
to Gantheaume Point to see the dinosaur's footprint, estimated to be 130
million years old. Cable Beach, with its 24km (15 miles) of clean, white
sand, is 6km from Broome, and opposite the beach is the Cable Beach Club,
a multi-million dollar development. Nearby are the Pearl Coast Zoological
Gardens and the Broome Crocodile Farm.
On the web, go to Nebroome. com/tourism or email the Bureau at tourism@broome.wt.com.au
The Gorges
There is a loop road from Derby via Kimberley Downs, Windjana Gorge on
the Lennard River, and Tunnel Creek National Park on Tunnel Creek. The
road then rejoins the great Northern Highway west of Fitzroy Crossing.
The Windjana Gorge, about 140km (87 miles) east of Derby, is also called
Devils Pass. It is about 5km long, and the limestone cliffs vary between
30m and 90m (98 ft and 295 ft) in height. During the wet season the Lennard
River becomes a ranging torrent through the gorge, but it dries out in
the dry season to form a string of picturesque pools in a spectacular setting.
On the north-western cliff face, near the carpark, is Pigeon's Cave, which
was the hideout of the Aboriginal outlaw of the Leopolds who terrorised
police and settlers from 1894 to 1897.
Tunnel Creek is 30km (19 miles) east of Windjana Gorge, and has eroded
a tunnel through the limestone 750m (820 yds) long and up to 12m (39 ft)
high, and 10m (6 yds) wide in places. It is possible to walk right along
the tunnel, but care should be taken and a strong torch should be used.
Don't wear your best shoes as some of the floor is under water. Cave paintings
can be seen near the north entrance to the tunnel, and the black dolorite
and basalt rocks at the other end were used by the aborigines to make stone
axes.
Geikie Gorge was formed by the Fitzroy River cutting through the limestone
formations of the Geike and Oscar Ranges, and is about 19km (12 miles)
north of Fitzroy Crossing. The ranges are part of a fossilised coral reef
which is thought to be one of the best preserved fossil reefs in the world.
There is a 3km walk along the west bank of the river to the west wall of
the gorge.
Most of the park is suitable for experienced bushwalkers only, as the terrain
is rugged and inhospitable. Walkers must contact the Ranger before commencing
their walks, and walking is not permitted on the east bank. The distinctive
change in colour on the rock face of the gorge marks the high water level
during the wet season. hBetween November and April there are twice daily
cruises on the River.
An Inland Fishing Licence is required if you intend to do any fishing,
but you can swim in the rock pools. There are toilets, showers and barbecues
in the gorge, and hotel accommodation at Fitzroy Crossing.
The Gibb River Road to Wyndham passes many of the West Kimberley gorges,
and many are accessible without 4WD.
Garnett Gorge, Galvan's Gorge, Adcock Gorge and Manning Gorge should satisfy
most travellers' desire to hike and explore the rugged rocks. At Mt Barnett
Station you can camp or stay in a caravan, and visit the nearby Manning
Gorge. There are some beautiful waterfalls about 10km (6 miles) upstream.
Lennard Gorge is only accessible by 4WD.
Halls Creek
Situated on the Great Northern Highway, 555km (344 miles) east of Derby,
is near the old town of Halls Creek, the site of Western Australia's first
gold rush. Today it is a cattle centre, but remnants of the old town remain.
Near here an almost vertical quartz vein projects above the surrounding
rocks to form a startling white stone wall, which is known as the Great
Wall of China. A major attraction in the area is 133km (83 miles) north
near Carranya Station, the Wolf Creek Meteorite Crater, which is 835m (913
yds) wide and 50m (164 ft) deep.
The Bungle Bungle National Park is within Halls Creek Shire and scenic
flights can be taken from Halls Creek to view this incredible sight from
the air.
Kununurra
A rich green oasis amid the rugged land of the Kimberleys, Kununurra is
in the centre of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme, about 1057km (657 miles)
east of Broome. As a result of the Ord River Scheme, a wide variety of
crops are now grown, eg rice, sugar cane, peanuts, sorghum, fodder crops,
sunflower and high protein beans, as well as fruit and vegetables.
Lake Argyle, which was formed as a result of damming the Ord River in the
Carr Boyd Ranges, has many tranquil bays, inlets and islands, and the irrigation
canals are a fascinating feature of the district. A panoramic view of the
Ord Valley can be obtained from Kelly's Knob, 2.5km from town.
Hidden Valley, 3km away, has some interesting rock formations and birdlife.
Among unusual rock formations on the way are some Aboriginal rock paintings.
South of Kununurra is the huge Argyle Diamond Mine with a visitors' centre
at the site.
Kununurra has all the facilities you would expect and it is also on the
Perth/Darwin Greyhound Pioneer route.
The Tourist Bureau is in Coolibah Drive, (08) 9168 1177 or email kununurratb@bigpond.com
Wyndham
In the old days, crocodiles were attracted to Wyndham because of the meatworks,
which were kept busy by the thousands of cattle on the vast Kimberley stations.
They scented blood and used to come up to the aptly-named Blood Drain.
Now that a Crocodile Lookout has been built, crocodile-sighting is not
such a blood-curdling exercise.
Wyndham, a port established originally to land hopeful prospectors heading
for the goldfields of Halls Creek, is now used for produce grown in the
irrigated areas around Kununurra. The town stands on Cambridge Gulf, with
its fast running tides, and the best views of both the town and the Gulf
beyond are to be had from the Bastion, which is higher than Uluru.
The Grotto, near Wyndham, is a pleasant pool surrounded by rocks and boulders,
with plenty of trees providing shade.
The Tourist Information Centre is at Kimberley Motors, Great Northern Highway, &08
9161 1281.
NB Many roads in this area become impassible during the wet season (December
to March). Even during the dry season it is best to first check with the
Tourist Information or the Police, about the condition of the roads, before
venturing off on your own.
Also, keep a watchful eye out for salt water crocodiles in the north of
the Kimberley region, and don't forget box jellyfish are prevalent in the
ocean north of the Tropic of Capricorn during the summer months (October
to March).
