15th August 2008

This morning, we left the awesome Windjana Gorge. Our departure time was reasonably early as we had packed most of our belongings up the previous night.

We left on the gravel road and travelled to the Gibb River Road (GRR). The GRR then took us to Derby by a mixture of extremely good gravel road and tar sealed road. Some of the tar seal was very recent and the road staff was still working on the edges.

It took us about 2 hours to reach Derby. I had stopped and reinflated my tyres to what I run on the tar seal. This had only taken a short time to do.

Once in Derby, we drove to the end of the street and found the Information centre. We picked up some great information about the area. Right next door was a cafe that makes really nice cappuccinos and great homemade sausage rolls and pies. Prue had a garlic flavoured pie and I had a chilli flavoured one.

Then we made our way to the pre-booked Kimberley Entrance caravan Park, which is quite close to the main shopping area. We booked in and then set up the Karavan with awning as we would be here for 3 nights.

Not very long after we set up and had showers, another Kimberley Karavan parked back to back with us. This is a first. The lovely couple, Keith and Sue, are from Pomona which is north of Brisbane. Obviously, we have discussed the pros and cons of the Karavan. Ours is a bit newer and has a few modifications on it.

We did some shopping for red wine supplies at Woolworths. Here we saw, for the first time, bottles of Rum, whiskey, etc., armed with security devices to alert staff of unpaid bottles leaving the area. Just outside were 2 very large and imposing security guards. The major buyers of these bottles are the aborigines. Alcohol is only able to be purchased from 1200 to 1800 each day. There is a massive problem with the aborigines drinking. It is common to see them drunk and collapsed on the street any time. Most do not work at all.

We had lunch at a nice little cafe not far from the caravan park. Really nice coffee and possibly the nicest we have had for quite a while. The price was normal compared to Lennox Head.

Following lunch, we went to IGA to get a few grocery items. While in there, I heard a check out operator order an intoxicated aboriginal out of the shop and was told never to set foot in the shop again. They were in imposing numbers lying around the entrance to IGA. They talk in their local dialect and we have no way of knowing what they are saying.

Later in the afternoon, we went and had a drive around the small town. We drove out onto the Town Jetty which stretches out from the mud flats. Near the entrance to the Jetty is a reputedly nice restaurant. We may try that out while we are here.

The day ended with a few nice reds, again. A chat with our neighbours and then dinner. Another nice day in paradise.