Thread: Kununurra or Derby WA

From what perspective?

Derby is only a couple of hours drive from Broome with direct flights to eastern states (or Perth) if getting out regulalry is important

KNX is a regional flight to Darwin (or 7-8 hours drive) although Darwin's a better hub than Broome.

KNX is more central to better outdoors destinations IMHO - the east Kimberly and the top end of the Tanami.

Derby has the west Kimberley and access to Broome if swimming's your thing.

Do you have a boat?

As for towns - KNX is the prettier if that's important.

As you probably know, any town is as good as you make it and the friends. I lived in a small community a couple of hundred clicks east of KNX for a year and had a blast.

My personal preference would be Kununurra, much better surroundings, access to services, access to closer/better 4WDing locations etc. Plenty of fishing, bigger than Derby, good access to Darwin by road.

Derby is located on the coast but when the tide is out say goodbye to water and hello to mudflats, kilometres of 'em......second biggest tidal flow in the world reputedly at around 11-12 metres. Access to Broome if that's your thing (over-rated in my opinion), less facilities if you are a family man with wife/kids to consider.

In those size and type of towns it means you have to be prepared to get off your butt, go out and make your own lifestyle but that's not a hard thing to do and the life can be great in the Kimberly......take into account the wet season which can leave you cut off for periods of time due to flooding etc. You will definitely be town bound.

If you're married with family, consider the very hot temps, mozzies and of course choose your swimming hole wisely, lots of crocs both places. New folks/families can fit in very quickly. What sort of work are you involved with, that can have a bearing in the social side.

kunnunarra would be my choice the only thing derby has is it is the start of the gibb river road i dont know of anyone who likes the place , had a laugh the first time i drove in the goal is on the main street as you go in and it is a big cage like the ones they have at the zoo and it was full of you can guess

Thanks for the replies. The basis of the move is around work (mine-road asset management). My wife is a psych nurse. The family are coming as well. At the moment Kununurra looks the go on the basis that it's not built on the mud flats also, from what I've seen the roads that will be my responsibility wil be a stronger challenge as will the terrain. I'm fairly sure that wherever we go the town will be welcoming as most small towns are. My son is a couple of years off school so my wife will more than likely stay at home with him and do a couple of corro courses. I could be away frequently and my wife is comfortable with that at the moment. If this all comes off it sure will be a great adventure.

Thanks
Rob

Originally Posted by Boxhead63

Thanks for the replies. The basis of the move is around work (mine-road asset management). My wife is a psych nurse...

KNX is much prettier, has good 4WDing, good river fishing, and I'd say a third of the population smoke dope, so there should be plenty of work for a psych nurse. If she was a midwife, then Derby would be the hospital of choice.

Enjoy.

My preference would probably be Kununurra, though I met a lot of good friends in Derby when I was working on Cockatoo Island.

As others have said, Kununurra is the larger and far more attractive of the two towns, with a lot more scenery and 4WDing destinations nearby. Broome is definitely over rated in my opinion too, so wouldn't see the proximity to that place as any advantage.

But either place - it's what you make of it. I'd be happy to live in either for a while. You'll find the weather a bit different though - hope you don't mind humidity and midgies - and plenty of crocs around both.

Housing is very expensive at least in Kununurra at the moment - have a mate here who is a builder - flies in & out of Kununurra from Kalgoorlie working on building projects up there.

I've got to agree with everyone else too.

We recently took a road trip to Darwin, which was also an excuse to visit all the towns of The Kimberly as I could transfer to any of them.

Not sure what it was, apart from the $300 per night to stop in a hotel, but I didn't take to Derby.

Kununurra on the other hand, is a lot bigger, seemed a lot nice and you cant go far wrong being in the Kimberly.

You'll have your work cut out going up there with the roads after the real heavy rain they have had up there.

Hocks

To those who responded, Thank you. The decision however, was made for me. Derby is the winner on the basis the company is supplying the housing and all utilities expenses which up that way is a huge advantage and saving, I feel lucky that one of the roads that i will be responsible for is the Gibb River Rd. This is going to be one hell of an adventure.

Rob