Advertisement
Day 6 - Katherine / Kakadu
Well today was an exciting day to say the least. We did a cave tour, went to see a waterfall and swam in water with crocodiles. I also had a close encounter with a snake.
Ok let me start. We had booked a tour of the local Cutta Cutta caves. The cave was 250 metres long and in most places was quite expansive. It had the normal stalagnite and stalactite formations. It also is home to over 5,000 bats. Let me just say I am happy we did not see any bats. They freak me out. In the wet season this cave is under water and is closed to the public. In the highest places the cave would have to be about 18 metres below the soil level above. I was getting a little claustrophobic so I was glad when we returned to the surface. The humidity was a little much.
Lunch was back at the camp and by mid afternoon we headed off to Edith Falls which was a 60km drive away. Now 60km could take you a while in Melbourne but here in the NT the speed limit
on the open highway is 130km per hour. We enjoyed the extra speed we could drive in. Xavier was in heaven.
Now when we got to Edith Falls we found quite a few tourists and a number were swimming. There were crocodile warning signs right next to the sign that said the local freshwater crocs won’t bite you even though they were there. Everyone swam in the cold water except Xavier and I. But I think I might have been better off if I swam. While I was on the bank watching the others swim in dangerous croc infested waters (that’s my story) I had an altercation with a snake. This snake decided to cross the path I was standing on slither onto my feet, wrap around my ankles and then frighten the crap out of me, then slither off the path into the shrubs. Now I want to say this was a dangerous brown or tiger snake and my life was in danger and I think that would be a great story but the truth is this was a harmless Golden Tree Snake. It was about a metre in length and had the thickness of my index finger.
Let me just not repeat what I was saying or thinking when this snake was wrapping around my ankles. Ok let me now talk about the croc infested waters. All crocodiles are to be treated with respect and there is a big difference between freshwater and salt water crocodiles. The salt water crocodiles are aggressive and will eat you given the chance but the freshwater species do not NORMALLY feed during the day which is why swimming is not allowed between 7pm and 7am. Anyhow anything brushing your feet while swimming in the deep lake does not engender any confidence. Watching Tracey screem when something brushed by her was enough to freak me out. Those of you who know me well know I am risk averse and therefore there was no way I was going to swim in this water although it was ok for the grandchildren or my wife to swim. Everyone got home unscathed and we learned all about Golden Tree snakes in the process.
To end the day on a high we went to the local Katherine river, right near our camp and tried our hand at fishing for Barramundi. No luck I am afraid and
we went home minus two lures. Mind you the scenery was spectacular especially on a 30 degree non humid day.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.081s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0446s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb