Friday we just looked around and did a bit of fishing with no luck, although we did get 3 little whiting with the throw net to use for bait. However by mid afternoon they had died so we thought we wouldn't waste them so Rose fried them up and we ate them, very nice too. First day we hadn't driven anywhere and our solar panels had been facing the south so we actually ran out of battery power overnight.
Saturday morning we headed off fairly early, got out the track ok and stopped at Beagle Bay. We visited the famous Catholic Church that is all done out in pearl shells, is very impressive. We've noticed how the stations of the cross in all the Catholic churches are depicted differently, this one with aboriginal connotations.
Then we headed off on the short cut to Derby also known as the Bedunburra track. It's a private and unmaintained track for around 120kms, just a sand track the first part heavily covered in wattle on either side, very pretty. we came to a couple of lakes across the track, fortunately a track had been made around them. It was 30 to 50kph all the way with some first gear crawling. We arrived in Derby around 4.30 and we were lucky to find a squeezy spot in a very full caravan park. We were very much ready for a hot shower as they were cold at Bully's.
Went to an AOG Church this morning mainly aborigines. It was meant to start at 9.30 but had to wait for some to be picked up, finally got underway at 10.30. We had a good chat to the only other white couple who happened to be about our age, he was an ex Rodeo rider from Normanton and she an American Indian from New Mexico, they've been living in a caravan and been traveling Australia for years. They were very interesting, she was Bipolar and had a Life Recovery Bible (NLT version) and had crossed out "alcohol" and replaced it with "depression" and said it had helped her hugely.
Drove out on the jetty/wharf and stopped for lunch, its a long way down to the water and the water is very muddy and swirling due to the tide, it would be the worst place to fall in. But interesting to sit out there and watch a heap of aboriginal ladies fishing.