The dawn bird chorus this morning was particularly noticeable, apart from the close birds in the trees around the Karavan, there was a distant chorus of a multitude of wading birds on the vast mudflats next to the caravan park, the breeze must have been drifting in our direction.  A leisurely start & the excitement for the day was a morning visit to Woolworths in the air conditioning to top up our groceries. There is a chemist, a news agent, Woolworths & IGA grocery stores, couple of fuel stations, couple of churches, hardware & camping store, & today we found a King Gee shop.  They have street lamps & a taxi & that is Derby.  It’s really hot here, 34C again today.  We followed up with a drive out to the Derby wharf with a few others & witnessed the great variation in the tide, last night the high tide was lapping at the foundations of the restaurant, this morning the jetty was out of the water on the mudflats, around 10 metres of difference.  The colour of the sea looks like some muddy river water & the current flows very fast.  An absolutely massive amount of water flows in & out of King Sound each day.   We walked along the wharf, chatted to a kid fishing & de-hooked a couple of small fish he caught & tried to stay away from the edge, it’s a long way down.  We kept our eye out for a 4.5 metre salt water crocodile that is supposed to inhabit the area around the wharf, however didn’t spot it.  It’s amazing all of the old fishing line tangled around the rotted pylons of the old wharf & the general rubbish that is visible at low tide around the wharf, such as old pipes, tyres, steel bolts from the old wharf, etc.

During a chat with a fellow camper today we discovered that the Kalumburu Road that we travelled last week & complained bitterly about is in the worst condition it has ever been in, according to a professional truck driver that travels that road every week.  He also said that is the worst road in the Kimberleys, no wonder we struggled on it.

This afternoon was spent on catching up with reality again, Tereza cooking & preparing dinner tonight plus a few extra dinners for our next travels. I had to do something. I spent the time paying bills again, rates, phone, insurance, registration, you know, those things that never go away, so that is up to date again.  We had our fix by talking to Monica, Charles, Jackson, Austin & James.   We turned the air conditioning on in the Karavan so that it was bearable & were relieved that it also withstood the major shaking test that we have given it recently.

Tereza cooked a lovely roast pork dinner tonight with cooked granny smith apple sauce, vegetables & gravy with John & Sue providing the ginger covered in dark chocolate for a touch of decadence washed down by a really good Wolf Blass cabernet sauvignon.