Derby & the Horizontal Waterfalls

Mary's Pool -  a lovely camp spot on the way to Derby

A boab tree used as a prison in the 'good old days'

We felt very welcomed at the Baptist Church in Derby especially by Mary & Tom, the hospitality/caretaker people here. They have this long shed that started out as an Australian Inland Mission medical centre (hospital) and then was converted to be used as a training and live in centre for Aboriginals and now is being converted into a manse on one 1/3rd and a church on the other side with a large breezeway in between. The minister, Paul and his wife are also heavy into training Aborigines but fly into the Aboriginal communities to facilitate the training as they found that this way they were able to train more people by taking the class and teachers to them. This part of their ministry is called Kingdom Aviation.

Sunset over the Derby Wharf

Bob has been changing doorways, basically closing off a doorway in the manse kitchen so that it can be re designed with cupboards later. He also has been lining a room with insulation, both walls and the ceiling. I haven’t done much here though I did clean up after Bob and I pruned a huge tree that had branches way too low. So instead I have made quite a few more of my explosion boxes and I also had a couple of market stall here on Saturday mornings where I was fortunate to sell some of them. The church has fish and chips fellowship on the wharf every Friday night watching the sun set over the sea. I caught a lovely snapshot on the camera. We have met quite a few volunteers here and some missionaries too that are also staying here at the church. All are very friendly and easy to get along with. Joan & Bill Gossman who are the National Directors of Growing Families International, an organizational and education program that teaches and encourages families to take back control of their families and to have a biblically based family values. Joan & Bill know Peter Abetz, who is a WA State Member of Parliament. We knew Peter a long way back from the Reformed Church. Paul, the local minister here, is also a member of the local council, and knows Peter. They speak very highly of him, stating that he is having a great Christian influence on the state government.

Whilst in Derby we took a day off to see the marvellous Horizontal Waterfalls. First we flew there in a float plane and then changed over onto a jet boat for a trip to and through the falls themselves. We also spent time on a floating boat that was anchored for lunch, a swim in the shark free cage and opportunities to feed the lemon sharks, balloon fish, sucker fish and other little fish. We also got an opportunity to walk on a reef and view a lot of the coral up close and it is amazing the colours within the coral. It was a terrific day and well recommended though costly – our big splurge.

Bob walking on the coral reef

Up close and personal with a lemon shark