This morning was a beautiful sunrise. I felt guilty as I lay in bed watching out the window (but not guilty enough to get up and take photos…). Karen and Kieran were off early for their Horizontal Falls tour. Bob and I got ourselves organised to get into Derby by 830 so we could get all the road and access information from the visitor centre. Unfortunately, the website was incorrect and the centre isn’t open on weekends, so I guess we’ll be winging it.

We spent the next 4 hours checking out the town. I was impressed with the cultural artwork on the tidal flats on the edge of town where cattle were brought to the port in the late 1800’s.

While we were reading the history here we noticed a movie/show production setup for Stan. People in outback clothes were milling around. I’ll need to keep an eye on any upcoming releases for some context. It’s a shame Tani just cancelled the Stan account….

It’s also weird how 2 weeks ago Derby had heaps of rain, and today the soil is as parched as it gets at home after a year of no rain. Everything happens in extremes here.

We spent some time at the jetty. It’s been in use and out of use over the years. It was used for many years for live beef export before that was relocated to Broome. Last use was for zinc and lead and mineral sand exports but it didn’t seem to be in use just now. I used the opportunity to put the drone up and get some shots of the tidal delta system (see photo at top). Just after I landed it, another drone went up (much bigger than my baby one) and was attacked by 3 large birds. It landed safely to fly another day.

We then headed to the Kimberley Art and Photography Prize gallery. Some great ideas for photographing the outback as we continue our travels 🙂 .

Karen and Kieran arrived back this afternoon very impressed with their morning activities (which Bob and I were relieved about as we had recommended the tour). The weather was great for their flight over the islands, cruise in the river and jet boat ride through the falls.

Feeling inspired by the photography gallery this morning, Bob and I headed out for some sunset photography on (you guessed it) boabs. We found a nice stand of them a few km up the road and I proceeded to get eaten by mossies getting the shot. I was happy with it in the end.

An early start tomorrow as we hit the Gibb in earnest.