Derby & Horizontal Falls, Western Australia

Tuesday saw us travelling the short trip North to Derby. We arrived at the Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park shortly after 10 AM. We got settled into a couple of lovely large, shaded sites near the back of the Park. We had stayed here on our previous trip and enjoyed good service from Ian and Julie. Park was larger than we remembered but quite well laid out with a couple of amenity blocks. The Amenity Blocks were relatively modern and clean but nothing special. Let’s say 3 Stars for them.

Once we got setup we did a bit of a tour around town. This consisted of a trip down to the wharf to see the tide, a trip to an Aboriginal Art Gallery, and a visit to the Tourist Info Centre. All three were interesting to see!

We did a small shop at the local I.G.A. as well before returning the caravan park. Much of the afternoon was spent preparing a Baked BBQ dinner. Roast lamb and roast pork was a lovely way to end off the day!

Wednesday morning Sandra and I were off on our Horizontal Falls trip! The Bus picked us up at the caravan park and delivered us to the airport. The airport was very busy with at least 4 flights to the Falls leaving that morning. We were assigned our plane and 12 of us boarded a float plane and were on our way to the Horizontal Falls. The flight was fairly direct and mainly passed over the mud flats before reaching Talbot Bay.

The pilot flew around the Horizontal Falls below a couple of times in each direction so everyone could get a good look at them. The landing was smooth and we were quickly taxied to the main Horizontal Falls base. Conditions were perfect with lots of blue sky and water!

We were then assigned to a boat crew who would look after us while at the Falls. We lucked out with our boat/crew assignment as we got a smaller boat and the most experienced skipper.

Our first stop was the Barra Shack (house boat) where we deposited our backpacks etc. before our first visit to the Falls themselves. Our skipper, Adrian, took us through both sets of falls to explain what we would be seeing and experiencing later at high tide. Was still very exciting without the full high tide. We enjoyed a number of passes through the falls before returning to Barra Shack for morning tea.

From there we were transported over to the main base to watch a shark feeding. There is a caged area where you can stand in the water while they feed Tawny Nurse Sharks. A number of other fish including Golden Trevally and Bat fish were also present. A total of about 4 sharks showed up; two with names. Tim, was a special shark who liked to lie on his back and sometime floated away in distraction. While they seem quite tame it is important to remember they are dangerous and will bite. One of the handlers got a nasty bite a while ago.

Back on the boat for our main event through the Falls at High Tide. The tide was about 11 Metres which is very good for this time of year. We enjoyed a number of passes through the first wider falls before venturing on the second narrower falls. We were backed into this one expertly and could really see the amount of drop there was in the water and the force with which it was being forced through the gap between the rocks. Another exciting pass through the main falls took us back to the Barra Shack for lunch. BBQ Barramundi and Salad rolls.

After lunch we enjoyed a more leisurely cruise up Cyclone Creek. Beautiful scenery and a bit of a geology lesson from our skipper. Some exciting high speed cruising, twisting through the Mangroves to finish off the trip before returning to the base.

Back on board the float plane for our return to Derby. Took a bit more scenic flight path on the return journey passing over more of the Buchaneer Archipelago. Some lovely water views to finish off our day.

We were dropped off at the caravan park again by bus in the late afternoon. We spent the rest of the day rushing to pack for our next tenting adventure on the Gibb River road. Watched part of Origin Two with the Ransleys before calling an early night.