Susan and I have stayed with friends at Derby. Sharon and Tony Gavranich have lived here for 30 years. Tony is a well known Kimberley Walker and leads a couple of groups walking the wilderness every year. Susan did a 10 day walk with Tony around 1993. Sharon is a Community Health Nurse and started at Derby many years ago as a Flight Nurse with the Royal Flying Doctor Service. We're having our evening meal on the Derby Wharf. Derby has some of the highest tides in Australia. Sunset on King Sound as seen from the Derby wharf. The tub boat on the right handles a mineral barge which loads zinc and lead.
While we were staying Tony took a group of 15 walkers on a 12 day walk. They were a mixed group with 3 women doing the walk. Here we see Tony about to board the vehicle taking them about 250 kilometres north to the Millie Windie track.
Ready to roll on their walking adventure, the group settle in to the bus. Several members have done a walk each year for up to 19 years. Tony often does wilderness walks on his own. Many of his photographs of the wilderness are stunning.

How's this for a nice Barra caught on a fizzer lure? I caught him/her in the fresh water on the Fitzroy River. Beautiful river the Fitzroy. Bag Limit of only 1 fish "in possession at any time", that means catch one - eat one. Fish must be released over 800mm, (Queensland could learn a lesson here) smallest allowable "keeper" 550 mm. This is a 91 cm caught on video by Susan. He put up a great fight, very spectacular, but he was no match for the Old Master. I released him straight after the photo. I was blown away by a big one here 2 days before this. Very good action on the river just as the sun sets. Earlier in the day Susan and I went to the Yeeda River, about 55 klms north east of the Willare road house where we were camped in our swags. This is a saltwater Barra, (88 cms) caught on a Nilsmaster Invincible after I raised him on a Fizzer.
Susan and I having a picnic lunch at a barrage across the Fitzroy. 20 crocs were counted. Only 2 saltwater ones that we could see. You can bet there were a few more about. This barrage was built by private enterprise in the mid 60's to irrigate rice. Pests beat them but the station still takes irrigation water from here.
There are a lot more snags in the river than on show here, but the shot shows the general size of the river.

Halls Creek provided an opportunity to catch up with my uncles and stay for two days. We had a good look around with plenty to see. We stayed at the "Old Township" which is 16 kilometres east of the current town. It was the site of the first gold strike in Western Australia. The country is very mineralised with many quartz reefs coming to the surface. The shot below is a tourist attraction called the "China Wall". The quartz comes up vertically for over 2 metres and is said to extend for a couple of kilometres. Susan is standing on the wall at the bottom. This gives some idea of the height of the wall. Palm Springs is a beautiful picnic area about 50 klms out from Hall's creek.
Saw Tooth Gorge is a further 5 klms away. The gorge is very short in length as the range is like the blade of a knife.
As Old Hall's Creek is a historical site, this mud brick building has been preserved from erosion by the construction of a shed over the site. This was the Post Office. If I remember correctly,the town dates back to around 1885. A further bout of rainfall later in the day did nothing to help open the various dirt highways. So we moved on to the Fitzroy crossing after parting company with my uncles group. We thoroughly enjoyed their company over the two days.

You never tire of looking at Boab trees in the Kimberleys. They are plentiful throughout the region. This one was not far from the turn off to the Argyle Diamond mine. We left Kununurra during an unseasonal wet period. Instead of travelling to Derby via the Gibb River road we had to stay on the bitumen as all dirt roads were closed.

The Carr Boyd Ranges are visible from the road on the way to Hall's Creek. They are quite spectacular. These ranges are to the North of the Bungle Bungles. We did not get to see them due to the road closures. Maybe when we retrace our steps after returning to Kununurra.
This photo is out of sequence in the trip. It shows part of a long limestone range which extends from the north west to south east of the Kimberleys. The limestone was formed by an Devonian underwater reef 350 million years ago. This shot is taken adjacent to the Geikie Gorge. Geikie Gorge is the result of the Fitzroy river cutting through the reef. Lime stone produces very interesting formations as it weathers away. Quite distinct from sandstone.
One of the reasons for setting off during the wet weather was the possibility of catching up with two of my uncles who were coming across on the Tanami track. Although the Tanami was closed they managed to get through and we met their party at Hall's Creek. They had a pretty uneventful trip apart from below zero temperatures. They did strike some mild wet weather to make matters more miserable. My uncles are the two gentlemen second and third from the left hand side. Laurie and Pat Pointing. All of these men have an affinity with horses and cattle and do one of these trips each year. They left us to travel on to Wyndham and then to Victoria River Station for a few days.