The HIGHEST Tide in OZ! Derby, Western Australia

Sunset over King Sound from Derby Jetty, Western Australia

The splendiferous sun sank into the shadowy waters on this balmy OZ winter's evening with a sensational splash of colour.

The superb sunset would make a good stand-alone shot. But a prop or two would turn it into a GREAT one!

Watching the sunset, Derby Jetty, Western Australia

Luckily for me, this July 2012 Derby sunset over stunning King Sound in Australia's North West had three: 

• 

  The Tide comes in over the mangroves, Derby, Western Australia

  a massive jetty;
• lots of people; AND
• street lamps!

My shutter finger itched wildly so I let it have its way.

It wasn't every day I got to photograph a sunset like this behind a jetty like that with people like those under perfectly placed photogenic street lamps! AND all against the swirling waters of Australia's highest tide!

With a range of up to 12 metres (39 feet), the tidal phenomenon is best viewed against the backdrop of Derby Jetty – and its street lamps – while crocodiles and sharks lurk in the muddied waters below.
 

High Tide at Derby Jetty, Western Australia

Influenced by the funnel-shaped coastline, as well as the normal tidal action of sun and moon, the extraordinary volume of water moving into and out of the Sound stirs up the mud deposited there during the wet season.

Even a high tide of only 10.83 metres (35.5 feet) – like the first macro tide we saw at Derby – is a sea of brownish water lapping gently just below the jetty.



The Tide goes out ... Derby Jetty, Western Australia



So imagine how the King Tides that flood the whole car park would look!

But low tide is a whole different story.

Low Tide at Derby Jetty, Western Australia

It's a LONG way down! Derby Jetty at Low Tide!

The signs warning against falling from the wharf don't detail the selection of fates that await – at low tide, there's only the mud many metres below to break your fall.

At high tide, you're MUCH more likely to survive the plunge – but the strong currents are waiting to carry you off to the crocodiles!

It's no surprise the last passenger ship visited in 1973 - berthing a boat in conditions like these must be a logistical nightmare!

But on Derby Jetty as the sun sinks below the crocodile infested waters and a lone council worker with the unenviable task of moving the vehicles off the wharf before lock up starts his lonely rounds, the sky's like a painting above us as the highest tide in Australia roars in and the stars come out.

Sunset, Street Lamps and King Sound, Derby, Western Australia

And the street lamps light up!

Read MORE:

• Derby, Western Australia
• Red visits Tunnel Creek via Derby, Western Australia
• See MORE Street Lamps from round the world at City Daily Photo

Street Lamps ON at Derby Jetty, Western Australia