Freestyle Now squad member Shaun Jarvis has just got back from the north west of Australia and has sent in the low down from part 2 of his trip with Dylan Schmidt and Billy Brooks, read on.
“Hey all, day 6 of our trip up north was the day we headed from Broome to Derby, our final stop. We left Broome late in the morning and arrived in Derby late afternoon. After checking into our accommodation and stocking up on food supplies we had a cruise around town, the port and scoped out the skatepark. Day 7 we took a drive out to Windjana Gorge and trekked around there for about two hours. We were able to get close to fresh water crocodiles, see bats, lizards, fish and heaps of birds. From there we headed to Tunnel creek, a natural tunnel about 1km long with a creek running through it. Walking through in complete darkness with only our small torches to see with was just great. In some parts we had to walk through knee high water, and to see shrimp, catfish and frogs all in abundance was such a fantastic experience. The drive back to Derby was 2 hour night drive in such a remote part of Australia, but we got to see the nocturnal wildlife like owls, wallabies, snakes and lots of Cows. The day was an incredible time in nature. When we returned to our accommodation we could not believe the day we just had.
Clockwise from left – The Derby region is famous for its massive Boab trees – Crocodiles at Windjana Gorge – Billy and Dylan in Tunnel creek – Dylan jumps no foot can can on a low tide at the Derby Port
Windjana Gorge was remarkable
Day 8 in Derby was filled with some exploring the town and hitting up some spots down at the port. Derby is known to have 11 metre tides, the second biggest in the world and on this day it was low tide, so the jetty at the port was really high. There is no swimming at Derby either as there are salt water crocodiles about. We had a fun time as the port and found a few things to hit up. In the afternoon we headed to the skatepark to hit up the coaching session and throw down some trickery. The young dudes at the park were super stoked to see us rip up the park and when Dylan through down a backy over the hip they went nuts. We hung out at the skatepark till 8pm just chillin and mixing up with the locals and getting them super stoked on some new skatepark skills. Derby was a great time.
Billy hitting a small kerb jump at the Derby Port while the low tide is out. At high tide the water is at the top of the jetty in the background.
Clockwise from top left – Shaun carving at the Derby Port – Derby youth at the coaching jam – Dylan throwing down on the rail at the Derby skatepark – Wild Bill, a long stick and a Goanna that doesn’t want to be moved
The next day, Saturday, it was time to leave Derby and start out journey back to Port Hedland, our destination was Eighty Mile Beach. Not long out of Derby I saw what I thought was a crocodile on the road, so we doubled back and it turned out to be a massive goanna just chillin and getting the warmth off the road. We thought it was best to get it off the road but it did not want to budge even with it being nudged with a big stick from Billy. Just when we thought we were beaten a local guy stopped and took him off the road by picking it up by its tail. The drive to Eighty Mile beach was a long one and we arrived at the caravan park later in the afternoon. Checked in and headed to the beach. It was amazing to see so many shells on the beach. To be able to stand at the beach where when you look in either direction and see nothing but beach for as far as you can see, no one around and the most amazing sun set ever, was just epic. That night we went for a late night beach walk to catch the low tide. It was so dark we could not see where we were going without our torches, only the sound of the ocean to walk to. It was about a good 500 metre walk to the water edge, that was on its way back in again, and doing so fast. The abundance of marine life we on the sand was just mind blowing, crabs of many kinds, sea slugs, jelly fish and a sea snail orgy taking place.
Eighty Mile beach sunset, breath taking.
Dylan hits the Port Hedland skatepark one more time before flying back to Perth
Day 10 it was time to get back to our starting point, Port Hedland. Upon arriving at Port headland we had a quick ride at the Port Hedland skatepark, a short swim at Pretty Pools and then head to the airport to pack and board the plane to head home to Perth. The trip was so amazing and it felt like we were away for ages, as we packed so much into every day. The North West of Australia is like nowhere else I’ve seen before and I cant wait till we can return into that part of the county again. Get out and travel, explore and get educated, keep it still, don’t be ill and rock the casbah.”
To look at more photo’s from the trip you can check them out on the Freestyle Now Facebook page here.
