Back in civilisation
It felt like a long time (and it was definitely a long distance) since we’d left Cairns, and we hadn’t had much in the way of towns – so little wee Katherine felt like quite a big city when we got there! We stopped off first at Mataranka for a night especially for a swim in the crystal clear, 34C thermal springs, which was delicious.
On our first morning back in civilisation we met the most wonderful and inspirational couple, Win and Arthur, both in their early eighties and still bush camping in pretty remote areas. Arthur made the camper attachment for their 4WD himself twenty years ago out of aluminium sugar tins from the sugar factory in Mackay where he used to work. They are onto their third Landcruiser ute but the camper bit, with its thousands of rivets, is going strong! It sounds like they’ve had such a long history of camping that they can’t get used to the new, more regulated camping rules, and in Kakadu they had been moved on by rangers a few times. Win and Arthur were heading where we had just been (and vice versa) so we were able to swap tips and maps – lucky for them as their map of the Limmen/Gulf area looked like it was circa 1965! They were so gorgeous, it brings a smile to our faces every time we think of them.
Apart from restocking on food, water, and battery charge, Katherine was all about visiting Nitmiluk (or Katherine Gorge). It had been pretty quiet where we’d been for the last few weeks, so the school holiday/peak period took us a little by surprise, and we had to beg in order to hire a canoe to go up the gorge. But when we finally did get into a canoe it was well worth it, the tiny bit of the gorge system that we saw was beautiful. And we saw quite an impressive looking freshwater crocodile sunning on the bank.
We were in Katherine for Territory Day, which means that fireworks are legal for the night and all the empty shops in town are taken over for a couple of days by fireworks sellers. Tim kept looking longingly at these big packets of fireworks and Nic was having to forcibly drag him away. We went along to the ‘community’ fireworks at the showgrounds, but we were a little late, and saw the last few as we were walking towards the showgrounds. We probably expected them to last a little longer than 10 minutes!
We also spent a night at the northern end of Nitmiluk National Park, at Leilyn (or Edith Falls). In the dry season the waterfall aspect is pretty nonexistent, but there is the most beautiful cold, green pool to swim in, surrounded by sheer rock walls, and a fabulous walk up to the top of the falls to other little rock pools. It is a really beautiful spot.
On our first morning back in civilisation we met the most wonderful and inspirational couple, Win and Arthur, both in their early eighties and still bush camping in pretty remote areas. Arthur made the camper attachment for their 4WD himself twenty years ago out of aluminium sugar tins from the sugar factory in Mackay where he used to work. They are onto their third Landcruiser ute but the camper bit, with its thousands of rivets, is going strong! It sounds like they’ve had such a long history of camping that they can’t get used to the new, more regulated camping rules, and in Kakadu they had been moved on by rangers a few times. Win and Arthur were heading where we had just been (and vice versa) so we were able to swap tips and maps – lucky for them as their map of the Limmen/Gulf area looked like it was circa 1965! They were so gorgeous, it brings a smile to our faces every time we think of them.
Apart from restocking on food, water, and battery charge, Katherine was all about visiting Nitmiluk (or Katherine Gorge). It had been pretty quiet where we’d been for the last few weeks, so the school holiday/peak period took us a little by surprise, and we had to beg in order to hire a canoe to go up the gorge. But when we finally did get into a canoe it was well worth it, the tiny bit of the gorge system that we saw was beautiful. And we saw quite an impressive looking freshwater crocodile sunning on the bank.
We were in Katherine for Territory Day, which means that fireworks are legal for the night and all the empty shops in town are taken over for a couple of days by fireworks sellers. Tim kept looking longingly at these big packets of fireworks and Nic was having to forcibly drag him away. We went along to the ‘community’ fireworks at the showgrounds, but we were a little late, and saw the last few as we were walking towards the showgrounds. We probably expected them to last a little longer than 10 minutes!
We also spent a night at the northern end of Nitmiluk National Park, at Leilyn (or Edith Falls). In the dry season the waterfall aspect is pretty nonexistent, but there is the most beautiful cold, green pool to swim in, surrounded by sheer rock walls, and a fabulous walk up to the top of the falls to other little rock pools. It is a really beautiful spot.
posted by Tim and Nic at
10:53 am
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