CAMPSITE # 130 - Derby, WA

When  you find yourself at such a nice campsite that you don’t need to rush out of by 10am, it is very easy to just take your time and enjoy everything the morning has to offer. We began the day as per usual- the to-die-for smell & taste of a decent peculated coffee, two slices of jam on toast for Tom and a bowl of porridge with cinnamon sugar dusted on top for me.

Once we had breakfast out of the way, we were able to enjoy a lazy morning by the seaside. At which point, we were seriously glad we had chosen to camp underneath such a shady tree as the temperature had exceeded 30 degree before 10am.

We finally set off from our campsite at lunchtime on route to Derby, the town at the start of the Gibb River Road. We ducked into the Willie Creek Pearl Farm for a quick look around, had a look at the pearl jewellery that was definitely out of the budget and then took a stroll down to the jetty in search of their resident saltwater crocodile. The staff had said they hadn’t seen him for over a month and we were desperate to be the first to lay our eyes on the beast. Which, to no great surprise, we didn’t. We had to save our Saltie viewings for somewhere a little further north.

By the time we had reached the final 100km leg of the drive to Derby, the sun had well and truly disappeared. If we were to stop the car and turn off all of the lights, you wouldn’t have been able to see a single thing, it was absolutely pitch black out there. It didn’t help that there were a gazillion stray cattle out on the road, and if we weren’t careful there was bound to be one just waiting for our bulbar to meet its forehead. At times like these, we were eternally thankful for, what we like to refer to as, “The Daylight Switch”. One Broadbeam Narva Spotlight, one pencilbeam Narva Spotlight and two Hella floodlights combined with (what seems to pale in significance) the light of the Troopie’s highbeam means when all lights are shining away... the road is lit up as if it is daytime. You think hitting a roo would be bad? Try slamming into a cow at 90km/hr, not a very nice thought. But we made it in the end, extremely thankful that the last hour and a half was behind us.

Site : Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park
Rating : 6 / 20
Facilities : Very big caravan park which would have been very close to completely full the night we were there. Close to town. Clean & tidy amenities. $32 for an unpowered site.