Tuesday 18^th August 2020: Yesterday John spotted a coffee shop just down the road from here, so we walk and do that in the morning and then head down to the Port again to check out the tide – it’s low and to our surprise we can see a fuel tanker out on the jetty and there’s quite a hive of activity going on behind the shed when we walk out around the jetty to where it is gated off. Beyond this there is another boat and a fork-lift is ferrying large white bags which a crane is then swinging onboard. This is bit of a mystery to us, but we managed to talk to the fuel truck driver and he says it is fish food, which is going to a barramundi farm at Cone Bay. The fuel tanker is off loading fuel to be taken to Koolan Island. Glad to see something is happening here as yesterday it looked like it was part of the past. 

From here we go to the Mark Norval Art Gallery – and yes it is just as impressive as it was 2 years ago – a very good reason to come to Derby. Mark is so friendly and said he remembered our faces – his story is so impressive I’m going to copy what I wrote 2 years ago. 

“Mark & Mary Norval came to Derby as teachers in1981 and became part of the community. At one stage he ran the segment of Burkes Backyard on TV for the Worst Gardens program. He organised and coached aboriginal football teams and was involved in everything. When he took Long Service Leave he went out to Mowanjum as a TAFE art teacher. It was during this time that many of his former students succumbed to a spate of suicides, and having been their teacher he felt a sense of responsibility and he, himself then fell into deep depression and spent 18 months in Perth at Perth Clinic. On returning to Derby he felt he could no longer teach and opened the Gallery with Mary - it has been his saviour - housing his own paintings, but is open to anyone to come and paint, so it is a working gallery and has given many aboriginal people a sense of purpose in life and displays their work for sale. He has a natural affinity with the indigenous. A very interesting place.” His story is told in a great rolling video. 

Mark tells us that they are planning to open a second gallery closer in to town in their own home which is the old Agriculture building. There are several aboriginals on the verandah painting while we are there. 

There is a Woolworths here and you can probably get most things but it would have to be Broome for clothing I think. Good sporting facilities as do most of the remote towns – they play bowls on a Thursday we are told on a good synthetic green. 

We drive out over the tidal mid flats to the Port a few times today checking on the tides – early afternoon it is 11.5 metres high and all the action on the far side of the jetty has gone. There are ‘pop-eyed mullet’ in little swarms around the rocks – good for bait if you can catch them; they dart around. The fish and chip shop at the end of the jetty where we ate 2 years ago is closed, with a sign saying it was to be upgraded starting last June, but I guess Covid put a stop to that.

Derby itself seems to be surrounded by dry mud-flats and you can see the pale blue of the sea in the distance, but we didn’t find a way to get there. The caravan park is between the edge of town and the mud-flat.

We go back to the port to get photos of the sunset, along with lots of other people. That's Derby done for us we are back to Broome tomorrow.