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Published: October 3rd 2012
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Heading into the gorge.
Joan is navigator in front of the double canoe; Greg is the power in back. We arrived at Nitmiluk National Park in time to set up and have a late lunch. It was very hot, 40 degrees yet again. We chose a site next to the swimming pool so kept cool with frequent visits to it. We knew Ali would be arriving sometime after 6:30pm. Between visits to the pool we kept an eye out for her as we had no mobile coverage to communicate with her and the office was closed. She finally arrived around 7:30. We had a hilarious night catching up which was punctuated with jokes and wild laughter. We probably had few people rolling their eyes, if they could hear us over their air-cons.
Saturday we canoed the Kathrine Gorge. It was awesome and really the only way to truly appreciate its unique beauty and features. It is made up of a number of gorges, Ali who lived in Katherine some years ago, told us there are 13 in total. We canoed the first 3, each having their own characteristics. Between the first two you changed canoes but from there on you had to drag your canoe over rocks to get to the next gorge. This was hard work over slippery
rocks.
We had taken a packed lunch, It was hard to find a location to dine that met our criteria of sandy base, shade and flat rocks to sit on. Many of these were crocodile nesting sites which had signs to ‘Keep off’.
By the time we got back to camp we were in need of a rest and a cold drink.
Sitting outside after dinner we noticed a few flashes of either lightening or camera flashes – opinion was divided. After we had tucked in, Ali outside in her swag, it started to rain heavily. Rain was coming in the window behind our heads and we realised Ali was under the edge of the awning where the water was falling. There was a mad scramble to close windows facing the rain and move Ali under the shelter of the awning. By Adelaide standards this was a long heavy rain shower.
Next morning Ali and Joan dried out things while Greg wrote his weekly Technical Analysis note.
In the afternoon we visited the Cutta Cutta caves just in time for the final tour of the day. This was an excellent example of a ‘dry’ cave,
our photos really do not do it justice. Greg enjoyed this drive (in Ali’s car) as he finally got to drive at 130 kph.
Later that evening as we sat around we were approached by a group of three foreign teenage boys who had been sent to look for ice at reception. One said that he had been bitten on the foot and was in great pain. We had a nasty feeling as we remembered the story of Bruce and Yvonne in Alice Springs. Greg took a close look with a bright light and to his horror saw two clear puncture marks about 20mm apart! At this stage the boy was in considerable pain and starting to panic. Greg took the boys back to their camp, found their responsible adult, and STRONGLY suggested that a constriction bandage be applied before taking the victim to the Katherine hospital 30 km away. Meanwhile about a hundred other teenagers were running around in the dark in thongs. At this stage we were glad that we were not the responsible adult. We found out in the morning that the boy had been kept in hospital overnight. It was obvious they appreciated our assistance.
So in the tropical heat wear closed shoes as you walk around at night!
Monday morning Ali headed back to Darwin and work, while we set off for our next destination Kakadu.
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glenda krollig
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the holiday
Still loving the blog don't leave off,as you may have seen on news snow yesterday very unusual for this time of year. I love walking in garden, things just booming. Glad I left off tomato planting until this weekend. Keep safe and enjoy. Love Glenda