Derby

This is from a couple of weeks ago now:

Yesterday I spent a few hours poking around Derby

First impressions: It is an outwardly nicer town than popular opinion would have me believe, with an excellent boulevard of trees lining the road into town.

The main attraction would have to be the wharf; which operates solely to export Nickel and Lead from two mines near Fitzroy crossing. There is a nice little café/resturant down there too. The tides in Derby are impressive. They rise and fall by as much as 11 vertical metres and over kilometres of mud flats and mangroves. Tides are generally high in the Kimberley, but derbys are higher due to the funnelling effect of King Sound. As all the water rushes towards the Fitzroy mouth the sound gets narrower and narrower, and the momentum of the water pushes the tide up higher as it is squeezed in.

The Derby jail is another highlight. Not the current one, the old one. Built in 1906, it received several minor modifications from then until it closed in 1975! It was built to contain 30 people in 2 large cells, but frequently held 60 aboriginal prisoners. They were restrained by neck chains fixed through handcuffs to large metal rings that can still be seem in the floor. The amentities - a bucket walled off by a blanket, or an adjoining dunny that looks like a very modern addition.

The prison tree and Myalls Bore is another interesting attraction. The large prison tree boab is reputed to have been used for holding prisoners overnight, and was known to be used as a storage area for stockman camped nearby at times. The tree is said to be roughly 1,500 years old, but everyone is guessing as boabs don't have tree rings.


Myalls bore is right next to the tree. It was sunk to provide water for cattle brought in from stations that camped here for a few days before being loaded onto boats. Initially it provided artesian water at an incredible rate such that there was a 1.5 km long billabong. Later it had to be pumped; into a 120m long concrete trough that could water 500 bullocks, and is thought to be the longest cattle trough in the southern hemisphere (you have to make some claim to fame!).

During WW2 soldiers were stationed here, and one smart bloke built a concrete pool for everyones enjoyment. More like a bath, it is called Frosty's pool.