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Published: July 13th 2023
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Katherine lies at the crossroads of the Savannah Way that runs east–west from Cairns to Broome and the Explorers Way that runs north–south from Darwin to Adelaide through Alice Springs. The town is thus a magnet for Grey Nomads from the southern states, seeking to flee from winter.
Our first adventure was to drive out to Nitmiluk National Park (formerly Katherine Gorge) to do a short hike and to enquire about boat tours of the gorge. The first available boat tour was the day after we were scheduled to leave Katherine, and so we booked the tour and then negotiated with Discovery Caravan Park to extend our stay by one day. After booking the tour, we hiked up a series of very steep steps up the side of the gorge, to Baruwei Lookout, which overlooks Katherine Gorge. A great view up and down the Katherine River. There were bats aplenty in the trees along the Katherine River, fanning their wings out to cool off in the heat. This is supposed to be the cool dry season, however, it was 31 degrees and sunny, and so we called in at the Visitor Information Centre Café when we completed our hike, to
cool off in the air conditioning and enjoy a water ice block.
The caravan park had a pool which provided welcome relief from the hot weather, and I cooled off in the pool each day. We also called in to Top Didj, an indigenous art centre located just near our caravan park. We unfortunately missed the cultural session with Manuel, but viewing the art work was still good.
The next day we saw a sign providing directions to Katherine Hot Springs, and thought we would at least have a look at the springs. We were surprised how inviting they looked, with a spring bubbling up near the Katherine River, and flowing along a palm lined creek, requiring us to cross over three rock waterfalls, dive under a bridge, and emerge at a series of steps, only to walk back up the creek and float down again. At least as good as Mataranka Hot Springs. The water temperature was around 28 degrees and was really refreshing. The creek was far less crowded than Mataranka, and was a little more natural. I had to try the rope swing into the deep pool, only just clearing the rocks, with a guy
shortly after I used the swing cutting his head open quite badly when he failed to clear the rocks. Kim insisted I not have another go on the rope swing.
On our final day, we drove out to Nitmiluk National Park to do our Two Gorge Boat Tour, which we really enjoyed. Our Indigenous Guide was very informative and provided a detailed commentary as we wound our way up both gorges. We viewed some ancient rock paintings and saw a number of freshwater crocodiles sunning themselves on the banks of the gorge.
That night we watched the State of Origin which saw NSW salvage some pride (thanks to some South Sydney genius) and win the final game of the series.
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