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Published: June 14th 2013
Graham and I spent the last evening in Kununurra with Sue and Clive, so nice to just spend time talking to them one to one.
Headed out of the caravan park next morning after asking that they put more toilet paper and hand soap into the facilities as two out of three nights they ran out! and btw the sites are too small for modern vans. I did also compliment them on the fact that we were able to wash both the van and the car.
We only planned to go as far as Timber Creek tonight (12th) We stayed here on our way to Kununurra a few weeks ago. At the time there were only 5 vans in the park, what a change it was chockers by the time we went to bed. We went off to see the kite feeding and croc feeding again. They have changed the format and you get to see far more of the kites it was fantastic.
For the first time we managed to set up our vans with out outdoor living areas side by side so that we were able to socialise easily. Issue was we did not get to
bed until after 10pm. Partly this was because when we crossed the WA/NT border our clocks went on one and a half hours. Later sunset later sunrise. Much more of what we are used to.
Up early in the morning and pushed on to Katherine. The country was beautiful, it is no wonder that the land was settled by graziers the plains are vast storage houses of native grasses and a light covering of small trees. One of the small trees is the silky oak currently in full bloom. Amazingly I did not see any which had grown to the large size we see in suburban gardens. I managed to get a shot of a shrub known by the common name Kimberley heather but have no idea of the botanical name. On some of the rock escarpments there was remnant vegetation of the Livingstonia palms. As we neared Katherine a new eucalypt appeared with a trunk almost golden coloured. We are used to the salmon gums but this is quite different.
Shirley and Dave pulled into a roadside camping ground for morning tea (now known as second breakfast) and when we finally caught up with them we went
in as well, we needed a stretch. Shirley and I wandered down to the small creek which ran along side the camp site. Sign posts advised the water was not potable and not to swim, freshies we suspect. Quite pretty surrounded with pandanus palms.
We went grocery shopping in Katherine before heading out to Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) where we had booked and prepaid for our stay and a sunrise/breakfast cruise tomorrow morning. Got into our site with a couple of tries at backing but no broken egos which was nice. Here amazingly the washing machines are free. Shirley and I both plan to wash tomorrow afternoon so that everything is up to date because we are heading into unknown territory from here. Later we will go back into Katherine to have a look around and pick up the few things we did not manage to get today. Fuel up as well I suspect.
As we were sitting have a cool drink after setting up camp some really cheeky birds came and started to try and take some of the food Dave was packing away (he is in charge of supplies in the camper trailer). I did not manage
to get a photo but Shirley sent me a copy of her really good one. It was a blue faced honeyeater which was begging greens. As I was sitting in the van working on the photos to go with this blog one of the Blue faced honeyeaters was collecting the insect bodies in the fly wire of our ceiling fan, they sod has replaced it with leaves and fluffy bits.
A little later a small wallaby came by and headed over to a deserted campsite behind us. It discovered some apples in a string bag under a baby's pusher and has been attempting to remove them from the bag for over half an hour. It has moved the pusher about 2 meters and was still trying to get to the apples.
14th. We were up at some ungodly hour this morning to be able to get to the boat ramp in time to get on board for our sunrise/breakfast cruise. We now know they mean breakfast cruise as sunrise was well past by the time we got away. The young lass who helped us at the information centre yesterday told us to park our cars in the day
use area and walk through the information centre and down the 400 m walk to the boat ramp. Did this and discovered that the way was not illuminated and it was still half light. Steps etc. quite dangerous. When we finally safely made it to the assembly area and light came we discovered there was a car park 20 metres away. It would have been so much easier if we had known about that.
Once going we were served with a croissant, followed by bacon, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms on a bed of baby spinach leaves, baked beans and scrambled eggs. Orange juice and tea or coffee. Whilst consuming this we cruised very gently and quietly up the lower gorge. As we completed our meal we came to the end of the lower gorge and had to walk another 400 metres to the next gorge and board another boat. We cruised up the second gorge to the end then turned around and had to retrace all our steps.
Our skipper was a very laid back definite Aussie full of quite fantastic stories. The best one was about the 1998 flood when he said that boats were moored against the
buildings in town and that when people went in to Woolies to start the clean up they were chased out by a Salt Water Crocodile who had taken up residence in the meat department. Hmmmmm.
What I really enjoyed about this cruise was the quietness of it. Early morning, we could hear the birds but not see them. Didn't see one croc. They advertise that this is the best cruise to see the wildlife. I think they all slept in this morning. The only new bird I added to my book was the Snake Necked Darter. The scenery was great and one thing which surprised me is that the vegetation is still in excellent condition. Generally high tourist areas get badly degenerated but here the native vegetation is great. The lawn areas are at times a little bare however.
On our walk back to the car park we passed some trees laden with bats, thank heavens they did not stink like they do at Mataranka.
One back at camp both Shirley and I rushed to the washing machines and eventually managed to complete our laundry. Going into the unknown we wanted to make sure everything was clean.
We headed into Katherine to pick up the things we forgot yesterday, what a surprise. We even needed to have a Mitre 10 fix. One screw had come out of one of Brutus' tail lights, of course we could only get a pack of 25 and I bet we never lose another.
We cruised up and down trying to find a clock Shirley recalled seeing some years ago which had the flood line drawn on from the 1998 floods we didn't find it but we did cross a bridge over the Katherine River and running parallel to it was a railway bridge which had a measure showing that the rail lines were 19 metres above the river bed. Consider that the flood would have to have been at least 4-5 metres above that. Heavens what a lot of water.
Yes John, it has finally come tomorrow we will be in Roper Bar, but you may not hear about it for some time because we are unsure of telecommunications.
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Carol
non-member comment
Just in case you might like to know ...
...the botanical name for Katherine Heather is Calytrix exstipulata Even if you don't want to know, I had fun finding out :) Thank you for letting me share your journey. I am enjoying it so much and your photos from today's blog are just beautiful. I do hope the little wallaby got some apples. Keep enjoying every moment Carol