After a 3hr boring drive to Derby I was surprised by it’s size and the well kept main street, including a large Woolworths. We were booked into Birdwood Downs, a station 10km east on the Gibb River road. The web has little detail but it looked good – horse riding, a riding school, camp kitchen, eco-friendly. But that is no longer correct – the paving is broken, buildings are in poor condition, reception was scruffy, dirty, Hans (70?) was no better. I had paid half on booking; he now insisted the rest be paid. I tried to transfer but the net was almost useless so he agreed I would pay cash tomorrow. So I drove 20m; the kitchen is a BBQ and chairs under a roof (new), but no fridges. The 10 2.5m square rooms have lumpy beds, a very small fridge, no fan or aircon, only louver windows on all sides for air flow. Shade by big trees helped to reduce the heat a little. The toilets are old and impossible to fully clean. We unpacked, then sat on the beds to re-consider, called two parks in town and found….
an ok park, well shaded, small pool, shared kitchen, small bed ensuite, a decent fridge. Everything is expensive here. We had a very late lunch and no dinner as a result, but sitting outside in the small garden is pleasant.
An older couple here are on the Horizontal Falls trip Friday, and since we now will not have a horse riding day, I have also booked this expensive trip encouraged by Hilary.
