Pronounced ‘Der-bee’ not ‘Dar-bee’ as in the originating English town name, Derby is a small town on the Kimberley coast between Darwin and Broome. Sitting at the edge of an enormous estuary, Derby has the second highest tides in the world reaching as much as 11.8-metres during King tides. And that, unfortunately, is all it really has going for it apart from the sunsets over the Indian Ocean.

Loch Street is lined with Boab trees where the Tourist Information Centre is located. Very helpful staff unless you arrive 15-minutes from closing time when you can expect to be made to feel somewhat unwelcome.

Running parallel on Clarendon Street is Jila cafe where you can enjoy fresh cakes and pastries as well as Italian style meals in the evening as we did. There’s also an interesting collection of books to read while sipping an iced coffee and several Italian motorbikes on display for those with a two-wheel bent.

Sitting on the estuary means mud flats and here in Derby they are enormous, literally as far as you can see to the east, west and north. Our caravan site backed onto the western edge of the flats with very little to see but at least we were mostly sheltered from the wind with some well established trees.

A loading terminal at the jetty just north of Derby town centre can be reached along Jetty Road and is a popular spot to watch the sun set or fish for dinner, as long as the crocodiles don’t beat you to the catch.

Also by the jetty is the Derby Wharf Restaurant serving table meals as well as take-aways such as the local fish & chips. However, we made the mistake of eating here one evening and were served, after a very long wait, with over-cooked fish and chicken dishes. And add to that the elderly ‘entertainer’ who can neither sing or play his guitar too well through his distorted sound system. Normally an evening musician would get a clap or some form of applause after each tune but here you could hear a seagull fart several hundred metres away.

Things to do

Tourist points of interest are the Old Gaol and a little further away the Prison Tree where, supposedly, those not conforming to the rules of the time were held captive in the hollow of the Boab tree trunk. And secondly, not forgetting the longest cattle trough ‘south of the equator’ all 120-metres of it. Those with a pastoral background may find this a little more captivating than us.

One saving grace is the clever art form close to the Kimberley Entrance caravan park. It’s not immediate what it is or what it represents but wait until closer to sunset when people armed with cameras arrive and you’ll soon discover the hidden image. Impressive what can be created with a few discrete pieces of steel.

Pretty much everything else was either closed, closing or closed down. The local swimming pool displayed its open swimming times but the gates were firmly locked and the IGA supermarket gave the impression of a store ransacked in a riot with largely empty shelves.

Derby, it’s a town not just asleep during the busy tourist season, it’s in a coma.