Fitzroy Crossing via Derby to Kununurra

April 21st. To Fitzroy Crossing via Derby 535 km

From Broome to Fitzroy Crossing via Derby as an extra excursion it was not on the road. A trip of 50 km easy trip extra but well worth the trip.

We stopped and look at the prison Boab tree on the road into Derby. A bottle tree used as a resting place when capturing indigenous people who would either go to jail or be used as slaves for pearl fishing in Broome, in the late 1800s. They were linked with neck chains, just like the slaves in the United States. A terrible handling. They themselves understood nothing.

There is an old prison in Derby too. It was terrible and used until 1975. Mainly for the indigenous population. They were punished for stealing food and possession of meat, which police then assumed was stolen from the farmers nearby. The prison was a concrete slab with rings used to chain prisoners if they became violent. The south wall was corrugated sheet metal and the others were sparse iron bars. There was no place for personal hygiene or no Privy. Just an open space.

The inmates may have a blanket to take over in the winter, no beds or something like it. They had to rest on the concrete. The blankets were not washed.

_{The Boab Prison Tree.
The old prison in Derby.}

Went down to The Jetty and had a lookout over the sea. It was 4.5 hours to high tide. There was no water within sight. and the Seabed was bare as far as we could see. A couple of hours later, we were down and looked again and then the sea ran under the pier at high speed. The depth was several meters. The pier is still used as a shipping port for livestock.

_{The jetty in Derby at 10.47 am.
The Jetty in Derby at 1:05 pm}

Before leaving Derby we stopped at an Art Gallery with Aboriginal art. It was an association of artists and it was led by the couple Narval. We were delighted with some of the paintings we bought. Also got a photo of us and artist Mary-Ann.

We bought each one sandwich before moving on to the Fitzroy crossing. We arrived there at four o'clock. The hotel was in the middle of nowhere. In addition, is extremely expensive. The hotel is built on poles so as not to be flooded. Parking was in the shade below the rooms. It was very hot when we arrived, so we went to the pool directly. Lovely!

Usual Sundowner by the pool. Dinner at the hotel. The restaurant was closed, but you could order in the pub and then we were allowed to sit in the restaurant and eat.

_{Mary Ann Cecilia and Raoul. We did not buy this painting it was to big.}

_{The hotel in Fitzroy.
Parking under the hotel rooms.}

April 22th to Kununurra 662km.

At night we woke up to a car alarm going off. Raoul went out and had a look but couldn't see anything. Then in the morning it turned out that a little pane in the back was smashed on Peter and Jan's car. They didn't even know they had alarm on the car! Nothing was stolen anyway. The thieves were probably scared by the alarm going on. Drove off half an hour late to Kununurra.

Two stops on the road to change drivers for the cars that have two. All refuel and buying water or something else to drink. In the open cars you perspire very much when the sun is shining and it is 37 38 degrees C in the shade. Noel and Helen drank 4 litres until the second stop. It's hot in an Austin Healey. Admire Neil and Dave driving alone. Over 600 km up to 38 degrees. Well large parts of this day were "only" 32 degrees, but that is still hot.

_{Healeys resting in the shadows.
On the highway NE corner of WA.}

We arrived at our Ibis hotel at three o'clock. It was unmanned, so you had to call a phone number and get a code for a box where the key and instructions were located. Unfortunately the pool was turned off for cleaning so we couldn't swim. drove around in Kununurra in the afternoon. Bought chips for Sundowners and looked at the view from a cliff of Kelly's Knob just outside the villas north of town.

We stayed at Ibis Style Kununurra and the others in cottages at Kimberleyland Waterfront Holiday Park, It sounds nicer than it was. In the evening we took the car and drove from the hotel to Kimberleyland. Sundowner with Neil and David by the lake, but first we watched the feeding of 2 freshwater crocodiles down by the dock. What was said was that it was an old crocodile that always came at a certain time, just before sunset. We went in group to a restaurant that was almost closer our hotel than Kimberlyland. Our hotel had a high fence around the site and the gate was closed after sunset. Sunset is basically the same as nightfall at this latitude.

_{The Mirima Rock in sunset light.
"Tame" fresh water crocodile at feeding time.}