the old Derby jail
Fletcher: Today we had a big sleep in, dad went to get the car serviced. First we went to the old Derby jail where aboriginal people were held. They were locked up by chains that were screwed to the floor, luckily they ended up building them a shower and toilet. Then we went to a huge boab tree that used to be a prison, like the old Derby jail. The man working there said put your head in there and feel the change in temperature, it was cold. Then we went to the van and had nachos then we had a play. We had dinner which was kebabs it was great. We saw an air conditioner in a tent.
the boab tree prison
Today we had to get the car serviced! Over 10,000kms already. We had it serviced on the Tuesday, we left on the Sunday and 40 days in we have done 10,000. There was a few places in town but most weren't interested in doing it, the guy behind us was getting his done at 7am so Dan rang at 7.30 and was on their doorstep a few minutes later. The guy behind us Mark, also works on the wharf but in Gladstone. So the kids and I got to stay in bed, the kids keep saying they had a big sleep in - 7.30am, not a sleep in in my eyes but they were happy. Dan was back by 9, all refreshed after some blokey time in a workshop. We mostly visited jails today. First stop was the old Derby jail, this was sad and shocking to see. It was built in 1906 and was still in use in 1975 under the same conditions, the only addition in the latter years was a toilet. This was truly an old corrugated shed on 2 sides and jail bars on the other 2. There were large o bolts in the concrete floor and the prisoners were chained around the neck and to the floor. They slept on the concrete floor, again kindness in the latter years they were given a blanket! There was a shower head in the cell. There were 2 cells about the size of a large master bedroom or lounge in a home today, built for 30 prisoners - these 2 cells housed up to 109 prisoners at times, men and women, some doing 2-5 years for stealing food to feed their families. We then went to the Boab Tree Prison, this was the biggest boab I have ever seen. This was used to house prisoners too. These prisoners were kidnapped to help work on the land. They were putting a new fence around the tree so the man said we could go over to it and put our heads in to see the change in temperature. It was so much colder in there it was amazing, I would have liked to have stayed there all day. We then went to the new jail they have built in Derby, it is such a contrast to the other 2, apart from the obvious high fences and wire you would think it was a new shire building or information centre, it is a nice looking building!? Out with the boab prison was the Myal bore & cattle trough, the bore is 322mts deep into the ground & the cattle trough is 120mts long, it was built around 1917 and could handle 500 bullocks at one time. The town has a real community feel about it with adverts up all around the place for different upcoming events and there was even a carnival in town .
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