Derby itself is a very sparse town with basic shops and services not much to do other than the Spinifex Hotel which was fine by me.
Gibb River Road
This was our first but not last encounter with the Gibb River Road , we drove from Derby to Winjanna Gorge and Tunnell Creek.
Windjana Gorge National Park is one of the Kimberley’s most stunning gorges, with water-streaked walls that rise majestically to heights of 100 metres. The Lennard River runs through Windjana Gorge in wet weather, but forms pools surrounded by trees and shrubs during the dry season. The 3.5km long gorge cuts through Napier Range: part of the ancient Devonian limestone reef that can also be seen at Geikie Gorge and Tunnel Creek. Freshwater crocodiles bask in the pools, while fruit bats and corellas roost in the waterside trees.
Tunnel Creek flows through a water worn tunnel in the limestone of the Napier Range, part of the 350 million-year-old Devonian Reef system.
Jandamarra’s hideout
Western Australia’s oldest cave system, in Tunnel Creek National Park, is famous as a hideout used late last century by the Aboriginal leader Jandamarra. He was killed outside its entrance in 1897.
Tunnel through the reef
You can walk through the tunnel to the other side of the Napier Range. The trek runs underground for 750 metres and you have to wade through several permanent pools and return the same way. At least five species of bats live in the cave, including ghost bats and fruit bats, and stalactites descend from the roof in many places. The roof has collapsed through to the top of the range near the centre of the tunnel. Take a torch, wear sneakers and be prepared to get wet and possibly cold.