Through a maze of Boab trees (officially THE coolest trees in the world) and those endless yellow road signs (there were ‘FLOODWAY’ signs about every 1 km) we made out way through Fitzroy Crossing to Derby.

We got to hang out at Derby Youth Services all day today. With huge support from the local shire, Derby has an awesome Youth Centre. Before it was built, there was nothing for the young people to do, and no place to go. So the young people used to love wandering the streets. But the local folks weren’t so keen on this… and hence, the Youth Centre.

The place is decked out pretty well, with a pool table, a canteen, a ping-pong table and a well-worn drum kit (apparently it was only two weeks old). The place is frequented mainly by Indigenous locals, which was interesting as Derby is not short of non-Indigenous young people.

It was a busy day, as young people just fly-in and fly-out of there. The greatest thing about the Youth Centre is that lots of the young people liked it so much because it was safe and fun.

That night we went to the Mowanjum Arts Festival with the Youth Services. Mowanjum is a community just out of Derby. It was so random to walk around on this red dust and then suddenly look up to see a giant Ferris Wheel. The guys from the Youth Centre loved it, and seeing their mates from Mowanjum perform to a crowd was a bonus for them.

We interviewed lots of young people for the doco that we’re filming for the youth rep gig. A young lady from Mowanjum, who was deaf, held our microphone. She explained how important her family was to her. You meet the most fascinating people. It was such an awesome night.

After the Festival was over we the bus back to Derby and dropped every young person in the bus back to their home. The whole town was dead (as you would imagine late at night) except one small street we drove down where there were about 100 young men and ladies sitting around having a drink and mingling. Not quite a blue-light disco. So this is what you do when you’re too old for the youth centre… or even if you’re not.