Biding Time At Derby

DERBY WHARF at high tide of just over 10 metres. Derby is north of Broome and on the King Sound which is a massive mudflat, so alas no nice beaches. There are four tides a day to give you an idea of the speed, so it has been interesting to visit the jetty at different times to comprehend the enormity of the variance.

DERBY WHARF at low tide. As you can appreciate it is a very big U shape wharf that you can drive around in. The murky mangrove waters look like an attractive home for crocodiles and we have started to see crocodile warning signs again.

                                                                     

BOAB PRISON TREE believed to be 1500 years old. It was used as a staging point for prisoners being walked into Derby. The area has boab trees of varying shapes and sizes and where we are staying the area tracks flocks of noisy corellas, some that have been frolicking in the mud are bright orange.

These are pretty much the sites of Derby itself, due to the wet weather we will not be able to access gorges off the Gibb River road until the grader has been through, just have to be patient, so a bit of reading is on the agenda.

Wet, Wet, Wet!

WATERFRONT CAMPSITE don't tell management or we might get charged more. Yesterday it cleared in the afternoon and we got in a couple of swims at the beach. We were due to have a big day out today on a tour - 4 wheel drive up to Cape Leveque then fly to the Horizontal falls, boat trip there and then fly back to Broome, so got up at 4.30 am and got a call at 5.30 am that the trip is cancelled due to the Cape Leveque road being closed. No go for tomorrow either so will now visit the Horizontal falls from Derby next week.

Today we have had showers and now a downpour, at least the kids are enjoying it. According to the locals and regulars this is 'unseasonal', no use complaining as overall we have had a really good run of weather.

Not Lost

CABLE BEACH haven't been up to much lately as the weather has been very ordinary, yesterday it rained all day and didn't stop until about 5am this morning. Fortunately the blue sky and sun appeared around lunch time today, have to admit that it has been nice having some r and r. Yesterday was so miserable we never left the van so caught up on some paperwork, read and watched a movie.

CABLE BEACH nice to stretch the legs today and the camels were on the beach for the afternoon rides, a great sight. The wet weather must be a big dent in the tourism $'s with several day tours, flights and camel rides etc cancelled.

Superb Sunset

CABLE BEACH we went down the beach this afternoon about 4.30 pm with fellow Gold Coast campers John and Maureen, as it turned out it was John's birthday, so that was nice. You drive down onto the beach and great being able to set up your table and chairs, drinks and nibbles and take in the changing view for the next hour or so as 3 camel trains set off along the beach.

CAMELS on their way back as the sun sets. As we were driving onto the beach there was a wedding being held at the restaurant overlooking the beach and then they came down to the waters edge  for their wedding photos, what a stunning backdrop.

Changing Coastline

GANTHEAUME POINT has these amazing red sandstone coloured cliffs and the section broken off is very impressive. The colour of the water is beautiful with the white sand that is fine like powder.

DINOSAUR FOOTPRINTS this is a cast of the footprints found at the base of these cliffs at low tide, they are believed to be 120 million years old, makes you feel young.

ENTRANCE POINT around by the boat ramp.

ROEBUCK BAY a really good example of the contrasting colours.

PORT OF BROOME is deep enough for cruise ships to dock.

Holiday Mode

CABLE BEACH, Broome we are now in the holiday mecca of Western Australia. From what we have seen it looks like their version of Queensland's, Port Douglas and we love Port Douglas. As you can appreciate a lot of people head north to here to escape winter, who can blame them.

Last night we went to city beach to watch "stairway to the moon", a phenomena that happens when the moon rises at low tide and creates an illusion of stairs across the water, alas there was a bit too much cloud.

Hopefully the lifeguard doesn't have to do too many rescues or remove too many rogue crocodiles. We left Port Headland on Sunday and had planned on stopping the night at Eighty Mile Beach, we changed our  plans as didn't fancy taking our house on wheels up 10km's of red dirt corrugated road, so drove  7  1/2 hours right through to Roebuck Plains Roadhouse. Yesterday was only a 30 minute drive to here, so a very cruisy day.

More Iron Ore

PORT HEDLAND It takes 30 hours to load one of these ships at a rate of 10,000 tonnes per hour and  and once loaded the red part will be below the water. Around 800 ships per year are loaded here with the four new loading areas to be constructed.

It seems that every third vehicle on the road in the area is a mining one. Any new homes are steel framed and have coloured corrugated iron exteriors and have very large carports so wonder if this is to create a breezeway  if hit by a cyclone. Like the last few places, a lot of red dust.