Bradby Trip - 05 to 07 August 2009 Days 45 to 47 Horizontal Falls Derby

05 to 07 August 2009 Days 45 to 47 – After a leisurely bacon and eggs breakfast we headed off to Derby which is 220 km from Broome on the bitumen to fly out to the Horizontal Falls. It was our anniversary on the 6th so this was a real treat.

On the way to Derdy we stopped at the Boab Prison Tree where prisoners were housed on overnight wlaks to derby.



We arrived at Derby around lunch and after a walk along the jetty where we ran into friends we had met in Port Smith we had burgers for lunch at the Palms Café. The burgers were excellent and devoured quickly. We were picked up from the King Sound Resort (a pub with accommodation and taken to the Derby airport for the sea plane trip to Talbot Bay where the Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures has a 110 foot mother ship, the Lady M, moored for the 6 months from April to October each year.

The seaplane trip was spectacular with stunning coastline scenery. The photos don’t do the scenery justice. Jack got to sit up front with the pilot and had the head set on and was constantly talking with the pilot about the ins and outs of flying the plane. Coming into land on Talbot Bay was awesome, We banked over the surrounding hills and came into the bay all the time being able to see the horizontal falls and the boats scooting through them.



From the seaplane we were transferred onto the Jet boat a 20 foot purpose built boat with twin 250hp motors for our trip through the horizontal falls. The boat is like the ones that do the rapids in New Zealand. The horizontal faals are caused by the tidal movement coming through 2 narrow openings, one 20 metres wide and the other 12 metres. Because of the high tides ranging from metre low tides to 12 metre high tides the water races out the openings at over 25 knots causing drops from one side of the opening to the other of up to 4 metres. It is only safe for the jet boats to travel through the openings when the fall is under 1.5 metres but even that is adrenalin pumping. Jack got the front seat again with Linda and I in second row.

We went through the larger opening several times and got splashed quite a bit – it was great fun. On the second go, Jack moved sideways, so Linda got the full on face full of splash up – he said later that night that part was the highlight of the day. Unfortunately the narrower opening was to dangerous to go through, the drop from one side to the other was approaching 2.5 metres so the skipper erred on the side of caution and decided we’d do it in the morning.

After the falls we went in the boat up one of the creeks for an explore and a bit of fishing. We managed to catch a couple of small red emperor but the current was running too strong and it was very hard to keep our lines on the bottom. So it was back to the Lady M to meet the skipper and crew.




Bill, the skipper, is a retired professional fisherman based in Mandurah who designed and managed the construction of the Lady M named after his lovely wife, Maria ( who I think is really the skipper). The Lady M is 5 star and Bill and Maria and the crew provided us with an unforgettable experience. Right from the first step onboard we were all treated like family with Bill, Maria and the crew taking time to talk to all of us and ensure we had the best time. Jack was handed a fishing rod and asked to catch some bait fish for the next surprise.



After catching a few bait fish Bill turned on the stern underwater lights and there waiting for dinner were 6-8 to 9 foot Lemon sharks slowing circling. Bill hand fed the sharks (they don’t have teeth) and helped Jack feed them too. Linda got some great photos of the action.

We were than invited to the top deck for nibblies and drinks before dinner which was a superb feed of barramundi, salad and fried rice again washed down with a glass or two of white wine. Desert was also great. Sleeping on the large cruiser was very comfortable – there were 12 cabins for guests.



The next morning we had an early morning wake up call at 5.30am to watch the sunrise. This trip had everything covered. After breakfast we jumped back onto the jet boat for another go at the falls including the second narrow one. This time we were able to do this. The photos are amazing as the sun was still low in the morning so lots of reflective shots. The sea plan returned and took us back to Derby the scenic way which took about 45 mins.



A great 2 days which we will all remember for a long time. We drove back to Broome and picked up the camper on Friday the 7th and turned around again back towards Derby and than plan to go onto the Gibb River Road.

Last night we slept at a free camp 1km west of Willare Roadhouse on the Fitzroy River. A nice surprise with river front camping in a shady bush setting.



This blog is being posted from Derby early in the morning, while we are restocking. The first stop today is Windjana Gorge about 145km east.

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