Horizontal Waterfalls & Derby

Lunch at Willare Bridge Roadhouse.

Leaving Broome, we headed a little further north east to The Kimberley township of Derby. Carolyn & I were here last year, but we have returned, this time with Jill, to fulfill another of our dreams, a visit to the Horizontal Waterfalls. The Kimberley is just fantastic. There are so many things to see and do. It is no wonder so many people come back to the region year after year. There are a number of ways to tour the amazing natural phenomenon known as The Horizontal Waterfalls, but our research has led us back to Derby, as the jump off point for our amazing experience. More on that later.

Derby from the air.

Derby Wharf from the air.

It isn't a long drive to Derby, just under 3 hours, but we did manage a lunch stop at Willare Bridge Roadhouse. Carolyn's kitchen beat the local fare hands down, so we picnicked out the front, under the shade of the boab trees. Arriving at Derby, we dropped Jill off at her accommodation, the recently renovated Spinifex Hotel, and headed a short distance up the road to The Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park. The manager, Ian, is such a friendly and welcoming guy, and we are soon set up among the shady trees. The caravan park is very full, as Derby is also the start point for the famous Gibb River Road, and this is a big weekend, with the Derby Cup race meeting, and a Bush Poets get together.

Mr Whippy made a surprise visit
to the caravan Park!

Jill at the Prison Boab Tree.

We showed Jill the sights of Derby, which doesn't take long. There is a large Aboriginal population in town, and unfortunately town is dirty, dusty, and littered with rubbish. It is a bit of an eye opener for Jill. We did the famous prison boab true with its gruesome history, then the world's longest water trough (talk about highlights!), took in the Mowanjum Aboriginal Gallery, and the tour was about done!! Derby is most famous for its huge tides. In fact, the tidal movement here, is the fourth largest ever recorded on the planet. High tides peak above 11 metres, whilst low tides can be less that a metre. The best place to see this, is down at the wharf. This structure, which you can drive around, is a popular place to fish

Low tide at the wharf.

High Tide at the wharf.

and view the sunset. The Wharf Cafe is also popular for fish and chips, and we joined the crowd to check it out for lunch. It was pretty good. The downside for Derby, is the fact that the water is always muddy, as all that tidal movement takes place across huge mud flats. After the beautiful blue waters of Broome, it is a real come down. Not sure we'd like to eat too many fish from these waters.

Barra fishing on the Fitzroy River.

Launching the boat.

Friday, John headed out on a barramundi fishing trip. I spied a notice board advertising a spot available in a small boat, when we checked in at the caravan park. Turned out to be a young guy called Adam, who comes up for the season, and does small boat tours. The girls were going to do the shops of Derby. What a treat! I think I'll go fishing! We headed 70 kms south along the highway, then up a dirt track, through a cattle property, to the banks of the mighty Fitzroy River, where young Adam launched the boat. My

Landing Henry's barra.

Big crocodile waiting for dinner.

fishing buddy for the day, Henry, and I jumped in the boat, but were soon out again, helping push the boat across a sand bank! We trolled around a big section of river, using lures, in search of the elusive barra, to no avail. Adam announced it was time to get some live bait, so we ran the boat up on a sand bank, Adam produced a throw net, and we proceeded to walk along the waters edge, with Adam doing his best Steve Irwin impression, racing into the shallow water and hurling the net to catch little mullet. Henry and I followed along with the bucket,

Heading for home.

Henry's catch.

and after about and hour we had enough bait. Adam kept telling us not to worry about the crocodiles as the water was too shallow, but I can tell you, that Henry and I were all eyes! Some of the crocs we saw sunning themselves on the banks,  were huge! We fished that waterhole for hours. We each hooked three barramundi, but only Henry got one into the boat. It is incredibly patient fishing. You cast the bait and then sit and watch the tip of the rod waiting for a tap tap tap on the line, as the barramundi plays with the bait, sometimes for 5 to 10 minutes. Then if he runs with the bait, you flip the drag switch, and grab the rod and wind away, hoping the fish doesn't spit the bait and hook. I got a big fish close to the boat, but in one last jump out of the water, he spat the bait and was gone. My elusive barramundi is still out there. By the time I catch him, he will have cost me about $400.00 per kilo!!! I got back home exhausted, as we had to push that bloody boat back over the sandbank, this time upstream, to load it on the trailer. To make things worse, I got tipped into the shallow water. Still, I did a great JC impression getting to shore! Feet didn't touch the surface!! Wet arse and no fish!!

A day at Derby Races.

Racing among the boabs.

Saturday, was Derby Cup Race Day, so the girls put on their finest and we headed out to the race course. Unfortunately, it was a little windy, so the dust got blown around, but it was warm and there was a big crowd in attendance. Everyone was made an honorary member of the race club for the day, which was just another con job so they could charge us $20.00 a head, and they had this crazy ticket system for buying drinks. You had to go to a ticket booth and buy $2.00 tickets, then go to the bar and hand over a stream of tickets to pay for a drink! There were people walking around with

The Derby Cup winner.

Fashions on the Filed.

yellow streamers hanging out of pockets and hand bags. Thank God the bookies took money!! There were 6 races, with small fields ranging from 3 to 6 runners. We all backed a winner or two, and the Cup went to the same horse who won last year. He's probably back pulling the plough as I write! The Prize Ceremony was a crack up! The trainer, who is also the stable hand and everything else, dressed in dirty jeans and a polo shirt, accepted on

A variety of fashions at the bar!

Champagne at the races.

behalf of the owners. The whole thing was over faster than it took to put up the table on the track! Fashions on the Field was a pretty grand event. It seems country folk like to dress up, but it appears that in some cases, not a lot is known about how to wear fashion! "Does my arse look big in this!" Girls used to riding boots don't handle high heels well. There sure were some sights, and those big high heals just don't work in all that red sand! More shoes were being carried than worn! Still it was a great day, and when we left, it looked like it was going to be a long night, with the queue for drink tickets growing ever longer! That night, we joined a lot of well oiled racegoers at the Spinifex Hotel for dinner. It was a long night, as the dining room couldn't handle the number of people who invaded the place! Sensibly, the pub was closing at 10.00pm, the same time the do ended at the racecourse.

Heading out to the Horizontal Falls.

On Sunday Jill checked out of the Spinifex Hotel, and joined us

Derby's mud flats.

at the caravan park. Our adventure to the Horizontal Waterfalls started today, and we were all pretty excited. Based on a lot of research and recommendations, we had chosen to do the overnight tour, staying at the floating Horizontal Hotel. All we needed was a toothbrush, a change of undies and some sunset drinks. We got an allowance of 5 kgs each, and as the pilot stowed our luggage, all you could hear was the clinking of bottles! He was right, the clothes got sacrificed! We departed Derby airport around 2.30pm on a 14 seat plane, that can land on either tarmac or water. We flew out over Derby and all the mud flats, across the King Leopold Ranges and out to the Buccaneer Archipelago. It is here among the islands and bays that some of the most

Checking in at the Horizontal Hotel.

Our first sight of the falls.

awesome tidal water movement on earth takes place. We had planned our trip to coincide with a big tide. On this day, the difference between low and high tide was a whopping 9 metres. We glided in to land near our floating home for a night. There are a number of pontoons lashed together with walkways and floating swimming cages. It is all very modern and surprisingly spacious, with lots of friendly and attentive staff. We got shown to our small, but very 

Carolyn pats Timmy the shark.

Sharks come to feed.

modern rooms, then briefed about our itinerary. Our tour starts with a shark feeding. The sharks know what is happening as they are already swimming around the pontoons! The sharks are called a Lemon Nurse shark. Not overly aggressive, they would only give you a slow mauling if they got the chance! They grow to about 2.5 metres. There are also a few bull sharks, which are very nasty characters, but thankfully they didn't join in the feeding. It

Our floating hotel from the air.

Gordie the giant cod.

was quite a show, and even Gordie, the giant cod turned up for a feed. When Gordie's giant mouth snapped around the fish bits thrown his way, the front rows were splattered with cod spit! We learned all about the sea life in the area, and Carolyn even got to pat Timmy the shark. Timmy was the favourite of the crew. Now, Timmy wasn't the sharpest shark in the school, as when they got him to bend back to take a fish treat, he got stuck on his back, and floated upside down, seemingly unable to right himself! Quite a sight! Some people got into the water in the enclosure beside the sharks for a closer look. We declined the offer to get that close! Timmy got righted eventually!

Beautiful reflections.

A water landing in the remote
Kimberley.

It was now time to head out onto the water. Firstly, we headed up into Cyclone Creek, the safe anchorage where all the pontoons and boats are moored during the wet season form October to April. Very deep water, surrounded by high mountains makes it safe from both the large swells and high winds generated by cyclones. As we potter about, the enormous tidal movement is evident, and we marvel at the amazing rock formations of the Kimberley region. You can almost see the water level falling, and as we head

Amazing water movement.

Hurtling through the falls.

through a narrow opening into another bay, there are whirlpools everywhere. It is now time to head out to the waterfalls, which are very close to the floating hotel. The unbelievable high speed boats, with their 3 x 300hp outboards, zoom us to the larger waterfall. Remember, these are horizontal falls, where massive volumes of water is squeezed through a narrow opening, as one large body of water empties into another, at rates of 200,000 gallons a

A morning run though the falls.

You can see the tide marks.

second! With the tide well and truly heading towards its low point, the water movement is incredible. Because the water can't escape through the gap fast enough, it creates a wall of water up to 6 metres high. After watching the water movement for a while, the boat accelerates into the opening and up the waterfall to the other side. It is a huge adrenaline rush! We go back and forth through the opening a number of times, doing steep banked turns

Too much water for the boat.

Helicopter through the falls.

at high speeds. If your heart rate isn't up for this, then you are dead!!!  We headed across to the smaller falls. Here the water movement was too high for the boat to go through, so we just had to marvel at the sight from our boat, pointed into the water flow with the motors roaring and the boat just sitting still! If your heart isn't beating fast enough, the air is filled with the sound of thunder, as the resident helicopter pilot roars close overhead and through the opening, doing

Here we go again!

Hovering over the falls.

a steep turn and hovering on the other side in the opening. It is the best sales pitch I have ever seen. Who could resist a ride! I looked at Carolyn and we both said it at the same time "it's only money!!" When we got back to the pontoon, we were the first two signed up for a look at the falls from the sky. We took off and flew up Cyclone Creek, then up over the mountains and down both sides of the falls. The doors were off the chopper, and we were just in awe of the 

What an unbelievable sight!

Away we go!

sights we were seeing as the pilot took us up and around this amazing place. The whole flight took only 10 minutes, but it was hard to take in all the sights. Our only disappointment was that the light was fading fast, and our cameras couldn't adjust to the low light at the speed we were going. Still the memories will be etched in our minds forever. It is hard to describe how our bodies were just shaking with the sheer excitement of the moment. 

Sunrise in the Kimberley.

Morning run through the falls.

We were back on board the pontoon, and the atmosphere was electric. Everyone was abuzz with excitement. The drinks were flowing, and a lovely meal of barramundi and salads was served. We sat up talking and laughing with new friends made, and finally crashed into bed as we were due up for breakfast at 6.00am. Jill got to see her first ever sunrise!! She really isn't a morning person! But she was soon wide awake, as we were back in the boat for another run through the 

All that water!

Off we go again.

falls before our flight back to Derby. It was even better in the morning with the warm light of sunrise lighting up the rock walls. We were on the next falling tide, and it was a bit later, so the water movement was even faster than the night before. We sadly headed back to the pontoon to catch our flight back to Derby. The float planes zoomed in across the water, bringing in the first of the day trippers. Our bags were loaded aboard, now much lighter than when we

The barramundi farm.

Time to go.

arrived! We climbed out of the bay in a sea of spray, taking one last look over the falls, and set course for Derby. The whole operation was a credit to the staff. Everything was so smooth. It is without doubt, one of the best run tour operations we have ever encountered. It was a longer, lower level flight back to Derby, with Ben the pilot, looking like he wasn't old enough to shave let alone fly a plane, taking the scenic route along the coast, over the barramundi farm

The islands of King Sound.

,

The patterns of the mud flats.

and some breathtaking scenery. The vastness of this wonderful country never ceases to amaze us, and this little section of Australia has it all. The colours of the water, the mud flats, the rugged mountains, it was all just wonderful. We passed over a remote Aboriginal community, so remote that they must surely be living in their traditional ways. There was no sign of a road or track. All too soon we were approaching Derby, and our amazing adventure was 

What a load!

On final approach to Derby.

coming to an end. There is no doubt we have had some great times on our travels, but this was one of those special treats. It was lovely that Jill was with us, to share in the experience. She has seen some sights of Australia on this holiday she will never forget. Back on land, we headed back to the caravan park to hitch up and head back to Broome, for one last night with Jill, before she heads back home to chilly Sydney. We were in need of coffee before our drive, so headed off to our favourite Derby cafe, loaded up with caffeine, and hit the road. As we headed out of Derby, we came across one of those huge

Cable Beach Camel Ride.

One last Cable Beach sunset.

loads of mining machinery. This one forced us completely off the road! Back in Broome, we checked back in at our respective accommodations. At our caravan park, we had to spend one night on one site, before moving to another site for the duration of our stay! We have been observing this amazing game of musical chairs as people are moved around the park from site to site. Now we are part of the game! The whole thing is crazy! We took Jill back to Cable Beach for one last sunset with the camels, and next morning the girls headed out for last minute shopping, while I settled us into our new site. We waved goodbye to Jill after lunch, and is usually the case went back to our caravan a little flat after so much company and excitement.