Day 26 - Sunday 29 July - On to the home of the Boab

Day 26

Sunday

29 July

Barn Hill Station - Derby

Another day and another destination. I was up at what I thought was 7.20am, only to see my phone telling me it was actually 6.40am and with that info promptly returned to bed until the real 7.15am came along and we both clambered out of bed. 

Dressed, breakfast and the van ready, we loaded the car onto the slightly demented trailer and began the 9km trek out of the station. 30min it took us, what with 3 gates, the first of which we thought we were going to bog the van in the soft sand and then all the damn corrugations to follow. We were lucky to do more than 20km/ph. The third gate was a godsend, as the highway was only 100m away and we were so glad to be on a flat surface and in one piece. 

Heading north once again, our destination of Derby only 275km up the road. I used the time to go through the photos. The scene outside was much of a muchness; green scrub for a fair bit, open plains were cattle were roaming in the thousands, a couple of brolgas and even some water. Lush compared to Paul’s last visit. 

At 9.45am, we reached the T-junction; left 30km to Broome and right, 180km to Derby. There was a BP at the intersection, so we fuelled up the van, seeing the guy who had helped us with the trailer back at Nanutarra. Then we made the right, straight into a sign posted rough road patch. Judging by the pot holes and the moist looking dirt by the side of the road, there had been plenty of rain through. 

Unfortunately, there were plenty more rough road signs to come and even when there was no sign, the roads weren’t the best. We could be back in Queensland. We crossed over a couple of 1 lane bridges, Willare and Minnie. There was quiet a bitter of water about in Cockatoo Creek and the Fitzroy River.

We eventually reached the Savannah Way, a road stretching from Broome to Cairns, much of it we had travelled last year. We passed the Gibb River Road turn off and then sailed into Derby, arriving at the Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park just before 12. I signed in and then joined Paul, who had a hell of a job with the car. It had moved significantly in our travels, no doubt during the first 9km and the strap was tangled. I eventually had to drive it off bit by bit, as Paul pulled the strap free. Once that was done we were able to find our spot and set up camp for the next 4 nights. 

I made lunch and we took 5, before we wrote up a shopping list and drove the couple of K’s to the Woollies and picked up some needed supplies. We brought our shopping home, before embarking on a tour of the town site. I was awe struck by the boab trees and wanted to stop and each one, Paul could tell it was going to be a long outing. 

We found the Dinner tree, where we would return for sunset and then made our way to the jetty to see what was biting, as usual not much. We walked as far as we were allowed looking out over the murky water. There were plenty of whistling kites about and the place reminded me of Karumba in QLD. 

We checked out the rotunda and the mosaic flooring before continuing along the water’s edge to see what the locals were catching, again not much. I was more interested in the kites that were roosting on the electrical wires. 

We drove to the centre of town, boabs line the centre median strip and make quite a statement. We wandered over to the tourist info, but it was closed. We took some photos of a giant boab tree that I just hug to hug and then we made our way back to the caravan park for another rest and a nice warm shower. 

We sat about in the van watching new arrivals enter by the dozens, red and dusty and fresh off the Gibb River Road. We then went for a walk outside of the park to a boab tree that had been struck by lightning and was hollowed out. It was very cool and great to take interesting photos. 

We did a wander around the park, coming across an old International bus just like our old one, we couldn’t help but check it out. We continued the loop, saying hello to the other residents. I found more boabs to photograph and then for something different white peacocks.

We were back at the van for 5pm and into the car so that we could get to the Dinner Tree for sunset. We had the place to ourselves, except for the locals in cars who were heading out on the tidal flats and stirring up the dust. We hung around for 30min, watching the sun slowly set as I took the shots I wanted. We then returned home for dinner. 

I got to working on the photos that were taken and eating pancakes at the same time. Paul made his way to bed for just after 8pm and once I had finished up, I joined him, ready for a good rest.