After getting up at 4:30am, catching a flight to Melbourne and then direct to Broome we landed at 11:30am, so had an afternoon and a morning to explore Broome before my friend Deb and I were picked up to begin our 15 day tour of the Kimberly area in north west WA with Outback Spirit. We were able to get into our hotel room early which was good, then went out for a bit of an explore. We walked into the town centre and had a bit of a wander. It was pretty quiet in town, the tourist season was coming to a close.
While we waited for our room we enjoyed a cold drink overlooking Roebuck Bay at the Mangrove Hotel where we are staying the night. The colour of the ocean is stunning.
We had time in the morning to wander back into town and enjoyed breakfast at the Green Mango Cafe
After breakfast we wandered the still quiet streets of Broome. Most of the shops are made of corrugated iron. It turns out this is due to the heritage rules, meeting strict cyclone building regulations. Also it was an affordable and cheap material to transport in the early days. Red, green and cream were the heritage colours from the early days.
It was a pretty town and well cared for
We were first to be picked up by our guide Jason, and boarded our bus, known as Wahoo. It was a very comfortable 4 wheel drive bus, seating 24 passengers, turns out we had a group of 18. We got to see a bit more of Broome as we drove around to pick everyone up. We enjoyed a picnic in Town Beach Park, where we got to meet our fellow travellers, learn the lie of the land before departing for Derby where we are spending our first night on tour.
Willare Bridge Road House- where we see red dirt, which we will see a lot of in the next two weeks
Just outside of Derby is the Boab Prison Tree, believed to be 1500 to 2000 years old. It has a 14 metre diameter! Boab trees are endemic to the Kimberly, they became a very familiar sight.
Before heading into Derby we turned onto the Gibb River Road to get a photo. Tomorrow we head down the notorious Gibb River Road, it is about 760km long, the first hour is sealed then it is dirt road and corrugations the rest of the way.
We drove out to the Derby Jetty. Derby is known for some of the highest tides in Australia, up to 12 metres in difference from high tide to low tide. The mudflats extend for 2 to 3km inland.
View of the Boab tree lined street of Derby
We quickly checked into our hotel for the night and then headed out to watch the sunset over the Sculptures in the Marsh ( mudflats) and get some photos as the sun was setting.
And that was the end of our first day on tour!
