Underwhelming is how I would describe this place with a very small commercial centre consisting of just a couple of Supermarkets and a few other businesses. In saying this there are some aspects that inspire interest and further investigation.
The substantial Wharf located at the end of a long causeway came into being in 1885 when the first 102 foot jetty was built and upgraded to a concrete and steel structure in 1967, is promoted as a viewing point for the huge tides that the area is famous for. Tides here at peak differential between high and low of around 11.8 metres are purported to be the highest in Australia, the second highest in the Southern Hemisphere and the sixth highest recorded in the world.
The Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada, 15 m Bristol (UK) 14.6 m
Mont Saint Michel (France) 12.3 m
Puerto Gallegos (Argentina) 13.2 m
Bhaunagan (India) 12.2 m
Derby WA 11.8 m
The following tide heights have been recorded or are predicted for 2014:
3 February 11.77 m
5 March 12.00 m
12 October 11.70 m
Unfortunately it was low tide at the time of our visit.
The Prison Tree and Myall's Bore and Cattle Trough are two other points of interest situated about 7 kms from the town centre.
The Prison Tree, a large Balboa, believed to be around 1,500 years old has a girth of 14.7 metres is a registered Aboriginal Site. It was used as staging point for prisoners being walked into Derby in the early days. In my opinion it is far less impressive than the giant tree that we saw at the Boab Tree Rest Area, described in my previous post.
Myall's bore, sunk by Alfred Myall in around 1911, is 322 metres deep and supplies a Cattle Trough that is 120 metres long that could service 500 bullocks at a time. Today, water to the trough is supplied by a windmill since flow from the original bore has been reduced.
That's it for Derby. Our next destination will be Broome 220 kms further south along the coast that will be much larger and busier I expect.
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