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Published: July 19th 2011
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Monday 11th, was the day of our trip into the Nitmiluk National Park and more specifically to what used to be known as Katherine Gorge but is now Nitmiluk Gorge and we would be cruising through three of the thirteen gorges. Nitmiluk means 'place of the cicada dreaming' in the Jawoyn language (the Jawoyn people are the traditional owners of the land). The day had dawned with quite a bit of cloud about and a chill in the air. Undaunted and wrapped up, we set off very early for the Katherine Gorge Visitor Centre which was about 35 kilometers away. I thought we would be far too early but by the time we’d had a look around the centre, checked out the restaurant for later and then walked the 500 meters or so to the boats, booking-in time was rapidly approaching and Graham joined a queue with about 30 people ahead of us. In no time, another 20 or so joined behind him so we knew the boat would be virtually full to capacity. I was lagging behind, as usual, taking photos of some of what must have been thousands of fruit bats hanging from trees that lined the river. Some
of them were very active and noisy and others appeared to be fast asleep. I caught up with Graham just in time and after the “roll call” we boarded the first of three boats which would eventually take us right into the heart of the gorge system. Because of various rock falls in years gone by, the gorges are not negotiable in one continuous journey so there would be two short walks to reach the other boats. The first boat ride was along the widest and a most magnificent part of the gorge with high coloured rock faces and twists and turns that made the journey fascinating. We had anticipated seeing some fresh water crocodiles (the friendly ones!) but the cooler start to the day made them reluctant to appear. They generate energy by “sun bathing” but our guide, Jamie, assured us that they would be there on the return journey.
At the first changeover point we had a walk of about 500 meters and there the walls of the gorge were “decorated” with rock art that was several thousands of years old. Some of it had faded but, with our guide Jamie’s help, it became clear what the
drawings were meant to represent. They were really well done but the most remarkable thing about them was their position – high up on the rocks in almost inaccessible locations. How did they do that? The next part of the boat journey was through even more dramatic parts of the gorge and photo opportunities were in abundance. The link between boat two and boat three was very short, only 20 or so meters, but there was a distinct climb between the second and third stretches of water, like a mini water-fall, that made navigation in a big boat impossible. It is a popular pastime to canoe up through some of the gorges - it requires regular carrying of the canoe and is quite exhausting, which Sarah and Darryl discovered when they did it 18 months ago. But following a great flood recently, the presence of salt water crocodiles (the dangerous ones) could not be ruled out so all canoe trips have been banned for the foreseeable future.
This third boat trip took us to a point where we were invited to climb up over some rocks and walk for a couple of hundred meters until we reached a small
waterfall which cascaded down into a beautiful water hole. We had been advised that it was possible to swim here and we had come prepared but we were warned that the cooler start to the day probably meant that the water would be very chilly so we decided not to go in. The cold water didn’t stop plenty of people, mainly kids, jumping in though and they had a brilliant time. Jamie pointed out some faint rock carvings high up the cliff face in a sheltered spot and we could just about make them out with the binoculars. He prepared a few snacks for us all – cereal bars, cake and mandarin oranges which we all tucked in to and after about half an hour of lounging by the rock pool we started the journey back. The return journey was just as enjoyable and, as Jamie had suggested, with the sun now high in the sky, crocodiles were out in their numbers. It proved to be a really interesting trip and, compared to some trips we have done, very reasonably priced.
We decided not to use the restaurant at the visitor centre as there was nothing exactly to our
taste and, unlike the gorge trip, it was fairly pricey. So, remembering that we would be on another trip later which included a barbecue supper, we went back to the caravan for some home-made sandwiches. After lunch we managed to fit in a dip in the magnificent pool. There were two other adults there and they were just “soaking” rather than swimming so we had a really good swim. We had plenty of time to shower and change for our evening trip which started at the Springvale Homestead just five minutes drive away. We arrived at 6:15pm to join the others – about 15 of us in all – and soon we were on the river boat with the sun just sinking in the sky. We had been issued with torches to enable us to spot crocodiles but for the first ten minutes of darkness all we seemed to see were moths and other fluttering insects. Soon though we began to spot crocs in their numbers, mainly small ones, but occasionally some of two to three meters. The highlight of this trip was to be the barbecue, but not just for the quantity and quality of the food. We were
dropped off a little bit short of the bbq area so we had to walk along a sandy path in the dark (good thing we had torches!), but it wasn’t far and we soon arrived at an area with picnic tables and chairs. Before long a camp fire was roaring away and a barbecue was lit but the highlight was that we were going to have some special guests. The first thing to be spotted, an uninvited guest, on one of the chairs was a huge spider – by far the biggest we’ve seen in the whole of our time in Aus. Because of our experiences with Huntsman spiders, we recognized it immediately but it caused a bit of panic amongst a couple of the party initially before it was “moved on”. I was quite pleased that it wasn’t on the chair I had sat on! Not long after there was some disturbance in the water and two huge, really huge crocodiles appeared. Clearly the barbecue here was a daily (nightly) occurrence and, over time, crocs had been encouraged to appear in return for some fresh meat. We felt slightly (!) uneasy as they came out of the water and
up the bank a couple of feet and made sure we were well out of their way. The crocs were joined by some smaller ones and quite a few turtles and it all made for a very entertaining feeding spree. The two huge crocs clearly saw themselves as rivals as, after all the fresh meat had gone, they squared up to each other and put on an un-scripted fight with much thrashing and charging about. In amongst it all, the turtles calmly sat picking off the scraps that the crocs had missed. Eventually, but not before a good five minute spat, one of the crocs moved away and all became calm again. It gave us time to chat with our fellow tourists, most of whom were from Europe, and to eat our steaks, sausages and salad which was accompanied with copious amounts of wine. We chatted to two girls, one from Japan and one from Switzerland, who were travelling alone and mainly by coach. The Japanese girl really loved reptiles and had been desperate to see crocodiles - she certainly saw them close enough that night! The return journey passed, strangely, without the annoying moths. It was as though they
had all been “switched off”! We spotted plenty more crocs and arrived back at our original departure point at about 9:20pm. It was only a short journey back to the caravan and we were ready to “flop” after what had been a very exciting and varied day – a perfect combination of Australia’s magnificent natural wonders and some of its special wildlife.
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