Location: Derby, Horizontal Falls

Region: Kimberley’s WA

Dates: Saturday 10 August – Tuesday 13 August 2024

Temperatures: 14 – 34, sunny & hot.

Derby

Saturday 10 August 2024

Temperature: 18 – 34

Hot over night and I’ve used up the last of the ice in my foot. I’m awake at dawn and Rob not long after. Today will be a slow day for me but I’m hoping we can make the famous Derby Mud Crab races this afternoon.

Rob attends to washing and a few groceries while I keep my foot elevated and watch the black cockatoos eating seeds in a nearby tree. Their raucous but gentle cries to each other sounds like they are chatting about the taste of the seeds.

Rob returns from the washing line about 200m away and shows me a picture of two Frogmouths asleep in a nearby tree. I’m determined to get there soon to see for myself but I’m still adapting to the crutches.

The mud crab races, held at the Mary Island Fishing Club start at 3pm. We are a bit late due to my slowness and unfortunately all the crabs are taken. We don’t mind and find chairs to watch the heats. There are 10 races, 2 semi’s and a grand final. The host Darren does a spectacular job and is hilariously funny. Punters who were lucky to buy a crab had to name the crab and give their names and where they were from. Darren introduces each crab and the “trainers” and where they are from and asks why they named the crab as they did. You would be surprised how many people named their crabs after their dogs! Darren then calls the race and along with his helpers nudges the crabs to get racing! It’s a lot of good fun.

We are able to buy drinks and dinner tickets for $20. Dinner is a bbq burger, sausage, salad and a taste of mud crab!

All losers go in for a warm bath!

Rob and I had a great time. We enjoyed the jolly fun of the races, caught up with a few fellow traveler’s we met along the Gibb and dinner was good too. I gave Rob my muddy as he had done extra work all day looking after me.

Sunday 11 August 2024

Temperature: 15 – 33, hot

Another morning of resting and icing my ankle, which is starting to colour up today and quite swollen.

We plan two small outings today, both to the same place at different times to see the low and hide tides, as the tide goes out a long way.

I tried to catch the same image in three locations from the jetty to show how much the tide changes things.

At low tide we saw a lot of these odd looking fish. Maybe a type of mullet?

We also took in the sculptures around Derby after seeing the low tide and waited for the sunset after the high tide.

Monday 12 August, 2024

Temperature: 16 – 33, hot & sunny.

Today is our overnight trip to Horizontal falls, something both Rob and I have been very much looking forward to ever since Rob booked it 9 months ago!

We are being picked up at 12:45 so I take an early walk down to the Frogmouths without the crutches as I don’t want to take them. I figure it’ll be easier to manage all the steps on and off planes and boats without them if I can manage it. It goes slowly but I think I’ll be ok.

We are flying in a seaplane which is exciting and a first for both of us. The flight out is directly North to Talbot Bay and the return journey tomorrow flies North West over the archipelago before turning South West back to Derby.

Turns out to be a long walk out to the plane. Oh well!

We are lucky to be travelling with new friends Tony & Amanda, whom me we met at Manning Gorge – they have a Traxx Series 3.0 and an Isuzu tow vehicle same colour as ours and another group of four, two couples we met at Ellenbrae, from Alice Springs.

The landing is smooth and the water is the most gorgeous aqua blue and the surrounding environment beautifully pristine.

We are quickly disembarked, drop our overnight bags, geared up with life vest and then straight onto a jet boat. In all this I leave the bag with my camera behind so these next shots are Rob’s and the tour guides!

The jet boat ride is exhilarating with lots of fast turns and figure eights on both sides so that we can see every angle of the coastline leading up to the Horizontal Falls.

Created by the huge tidal movements in the area moving through the gaps in the McLarty Range, which has two ridges running parallel and approximately 300 metres apart.

The first and most seaward gap is about 20 metres wide and the second gap is about 7.5 metres wide.

Our tour guide Jack does a really good job of explaining the age and geological features of the area and promotes a healthy respect for the cultural significance of these lands for our indigenous people.

After passing in front of the first gap several times we eventually motor through which is exhilarating and then circle back and pass through again and again. The tidal fall at present is only about 1 metre but can be significantly higher we are told.

We then cross the water to view the second gap which is much narrower and are told that for cultural reasons we won’t pass through or proceed further. Instead we hover close to the gap and do figure 8’s in front of the much smaller gap.

This area is a true wonder of nature to behold and according to Jack our guide, described as the “8th wonder of the world by Sir David Attenborough. I mt’s so beautiful I totally agree.

We head back through the falls again and back out into Talbot Bay where the pontoon is moored and then further on and past then turn left up Cyclone Creek. The geological features of the ranges on either side are amazing, they are so old!

I’m sure these photos won’t do it justice but they are amazing to see!

The whole area is pristine and very beautiful. I swear I can feel the weight of time passed here and I feel very grateful to be visiting this spectacularly special place.

As the sun begins its trek towards the horizon we head back to the pontoon.

Next up we have swimming with sharks! Rob’s keen of course!

Just kidding, he actually swims next to them with a barrier. I’m surprised at how graceful and beautiful they are and I’m totally mesmerized, my fear forgotten. We have several smaller dusky sharks, one beaten up grey nurse, affectionately known as “agro” and a big lemon shark visiting.

One little dusky has learnt a party trick to get attention for the barra that Jack is throwing to the sharks. He swims on his back!

Sunset is a beauty and we enjoy pre dinner snacks and a drink. Dinner is freshly wild caught barramundi pan seared with some lovely salads and grilled potatoes, followed by an apple crumble.

Dinner is all but over by 7:30pm and the staff say goodnight. We linger over coffee and tea chatting to our dinner companions Tony and Amanda and another couple Natalie and Ray from Victoria. My foot is up with an ice pack kindly provided by staff which is sweet relief and it’s lovely to relax before we head to our cabin around 9pm.

Tuesday 13 August 2024

Temperature: 16 – 32 hot & sunny.

It’s an early start with breakfast at 6am and our overnight bag packed ready to leave. I’ve been awake since before 5am so I’m ready by 5:45am so take some early photos of the coming sunrise from the pontoon deck.

After a cooked and continental breakfast we are back on the boat for another trip to the falls to see the reverse tide.

Talbot bay is like glass and the sun hitting the ranges seems to make them glow. It’s cool and apart from the boat very quiet as we motor to the falls.

Someone asks if you can swim through the falls. Our guide Jack answers with a story of Pearl Fisherman who were curious about this so threw a 44 gallon drum in. It disappeared and didn’t come up. The next day they found drum, flattened like a coke can. He further explained that the tides wash through all the way to the bottom of the gaps and that there are rocks at the bottom. I can see the whirlpools created so I’m thinking the answer is a firm no!

I managed to get a video snippet that shows the tidal pace on the corner. About 25km/hr! Fascinating!

We spend about half an hour slowly touring through the first fall and viewing the second before returning to the pontoon. Within minutes we see several seaplanes heading in with new guests and soon it’s time for us to leave.

From the air you can clearly see the two ridge lines of the McLarty Range that have created the phenomenon of the Horizontal Falls.

As we fly back we pass over the Archipelago which seems endless from the air, we pass the Graveyard, an area where many pearl divers have lost their lives before turning South West towards Cone and Cascade Bays. We then fly over a Barramundi Farm.

We arrive back in Derby in seemingly no time. My foot is painful today after all the steps, stairs and ramps so when we get back to the van I rest up for a while.

We finish our last day in Derby with a roadtrip out to Birdwood Station to stock up on meat. Funnily enough the lady who serves us was at the hospital same day as me with a sprained ankle also so we chat.

On the way back to town we stop at the Boab Prison tree.

Wow! Derby has been amazing. So much more here than we expected!

We are off to Broome tomorrow.

Stay safe and look after one another.

Cheers, Maryann & Rob xx