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| Low tide at Derby jetty |
We couldn’t believe it when we saw the low tide mark and then went back the next day to see the high tide.
I couldn’t even begin to estimate how many million litres of water flow underneath the jetty every time the tide goes in and out, it looks more like a river flowing after a major flood event.
This is the dirtiest sea water we have seen along this coast, possibly as it continually flows over the mud flats as the tide moves in and out. As we move further into the Kimberly region we see more and bigger Boab Trees which are a large deciduous tree occurring on sandy plains, creek beds and stony ridges throughout the Kimberley region.
The distinctive immense trunk varies from bottle-shape to unusual, even, grotesque shapes, sometimes with many stems. During the dry season leaves fall revealing the characteristic bare-branched skeleton. Leaf-fall enhances the boab's drought tolerance.
Boabs are extremely hardy. Examples can be seen of trees completely removed from the soil by wind, floodwater or earthworks, yet they have continued growing and taken root in the new location. This has been exploited and large boabs have been successfully transplanted, examples of which can be found in Derby where boabs have been transplanted and growing successfully in the main street. One Aboriginal story on the appearance of the Boab Tree says it was once beautiful and because of its beauty it became arrogant. The gods punished the tree by inverting it, thus making its roots the branches. To compensate the tree was made immortal. This is why a dead boab tree is rarely seen. A more plausible explanation for it seeming to be immortal is that when the tree falls over, roots sprout from the underside and branches grow from the top of the trunk, if not, the very soft pulpy wood is quickly destroyed by animals, insects and fungus.
The Boab Prison Tree just out of Derby is hollow and large enough to allow six adults to sit comfortably inside. The tree got its name as it was reported to have been used as a prison. There are a number of versions to the story as to how this name came about. In the early days of Derby, the tree was used as a final stop before the police patrol brought native prisoners into town. They were given a wash at the nearby spring and provided with clothing. They were then placed inside the tree until ready to leave OR they were chained in a ring around the tree. The other story goes that one local resident went crazy from the extreme heat and too much alcohol, and wandered off. After searching for two days, the police found him inside the boab tree. On returning to the town he claimed the police had locked him up inside. The Prison Boab Tree could be said to be the largest single trunked tree in Australia. It has a girth of 14.7 metres and is believed to be some 1500 years old! That means that it was a seedling in 439 AD in the time of the Roman Empire.
The longest cattle trough in the southern hemisphere, measuring some 120 metres in Iength is also at Derby. It was designed in 1910 by then the road board clerk John Blain. The story goes that Mr Blain had asked the pastoralists why they were not paying their rates. They indicated that they received very little value from the Road Board and what they really needed was decent watering point for their mobs of cattle when they drove them into town for on shipping from the port. Mr Blain designed the trough and they nearby bore was sunk. The trough and bore were completed in 1911. The bore was drilled to a depth of 322 meters and a windmill was fitted in the 1920's. ln the old days the trough and bore had such a capacity that mobs of around 1000 head of cattle could be watered comfortably at one time.
Heading east, we crossed the Erskine Range and on to Fitzroy Crossing. As the name suggests, this town sits on a crossing of the Fitzroy River which is one of the longest rivers in Australia and the longest river system in the Kimberly, which, together with it’s tributary the Hann, is 733 kilometres long and has a catchment area of 90,000 square kilometres. The Fitzroy River holds one world record and that is that it’s flow to the ocean during the wet season is the highest in the world. Over 30,000 cubic metres of water per second flow into the ocean at the peak of the wet season.
Where there are rivers in this country there are gorges, and Geikie gorge is only half an hours drive from Fitzroy Crossing.
With that much water flowing through the gorge, the erosion has left some deep caves and crevices in the ancient limestone coral. The local aboriginal people together with the Department of Parks and Wildlife run a tour through the gorge in a very unusual 30 metre long aluminium boat that has a capacity to carry 180 people.
The river through the gorge is 40 metres deep in places and during the big floods the river rises by another 26 metres. 2011 was one of their biggest floods where the water level was 2 metres above the gazebo in the picnic grounds above the river.
Geikie gorge is very sacred to the local aborigines who have lived in this area for hundreds of years, so, as the man Geikie who this gorge was named after had never visited this area, the locals are working to have the gorge renamed to Darngku (Dar-noo) Gorge.
Now days the highway crosses the river over a single lane bridge built well above the high flood level, but back when the town was established, the crossing was a lot simpler with quite steep banks into and out of the river which meant that the crossing would have been closed for months at a time during the wet season.
As we traveled further north east on the Great Northern Highway, we came across a wayside stop called Ngumban Cliffs which had a great lookout across the valley that shows the true colours of the Kimberly. Not much further along the road is an overnight free camp at Mary Pool which is on the Margret River.
This would be a great camp spot if there was more water in the river and pools, but after stopping for lunch and a photo of the local camp pig, we headed through to Halls Creek for the night.
Just another 110 kilometres further along the road is Mabel Downs Station who have set up a caravan park right at the entrance to Purnululu National Park, which is home to the Bungle Bungle. After leaving the Bungle Bungle Caravan Park, it is 53 kilometres of gravel road into the visitor centre with 4 water crossings and another 5 or 6 dry creek crossings.
Very simple crossings but it still took 2 hours to get to the visitor centre. From there we visited both the north and south of the range. There are some long walks which are not for everybody but the easy walks from the Piccaninny car park at the south end get you into Cathedral Gorge and around the Beehive Domes.
The orange and grey banding seen on the domes in this area is due to the differences in clay content and porosity of the sandstone layers. The dark grey banding on the domes is from cyanobacteria (formerly known as “blue-green algae”). The orange bands are due to the colour of oxidized iron compounds in the layers which dry out too quickly for the cyanobacteria to grow.
The walk through this area alone is well worth the trip in, and absolutely magnificent to see. We took a thermos and enjoyed a coffee under the shade sail before heading off to the northern end to have a look at Echidna Chasm and Mini Palms Gorge.
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| High tide at Derby jetty |
A truly unique and beautiful place. It is impossible to capture the feel of this place in a photo, you have to be here to feel it.
well Done
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