Blogs from Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 6

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 ... read more

Day 12 – Wednesday July 11th – Katherine Gorge to Kakadu National Park We woke up to find a wallaby eating one of our tourist magazines as it couldn’t find the rubbish bag we had cunningly hidden inside one of our plastic containers. After breakfast we decided we should see the Katherine Gorge while we were there, without paying lots of money for a cruise. So we loaded up with snacks and water and headed off on the Butterfly Gorge walk, which is where we would be able to have a swim. It took 1½ hours of steady walking up and down sandy and rocky tracks, one wipe out from Meg (skin off elbow and bang to head L) before we reached the secluded second gorge. We were all on our own in the ... read more

Day 11 – Tuesday 10th July - Mataranka to Katherine Gorge After packing up we decided to check out the Rainbow Springs in Mataranka to see if they really are not quite as nice as the Bitter Springs. The pool was picturesque but not in the same league as the Bitter Springs. Anna and Luke checked out the water while Hazel and Mark went for a walk in the rainforest. We had arranged to meet Lloyd from the Mataranka Roadhouse at the Katherine Country Club at lunch while waiting for the Nicholls family to arrive from El Questro. Burgers, battered snapper, steak sandwich. Naughty but nice! Mid afternoon the Nichollses rolled into Katherine after a 7 hour drive. The 1½ hour time difference between WA and NT (WA is 1½ hours behind NT) scuppered ... read more

Jeudi matin, on arrive tôt à Katherine, villa assez grosse pour l’outback, 11000 habitants. Un passage obligé au supermarché et au visitor center puis on se dirige vers Nitmiluk National Park (nom aborigène), dit aussi Katherine Gorge National Park. Ce parc est réputé dans la région, il est principalement constitué d’une série de 13 gorges de grès rouges très profondes et au milieu coule Katherine River. Plusieurs moyens de profiter du parc : la rando, le canoë ou la croisière, on choisit les 2 premiers mais plus de place pour aujourd'hui, c’est seulement disponible pour demain aprèm. On déjeune tôt avant midi de façon à partir rapidement en randonnée l'après midi. On décide de faire 2 marches en 1, une jolie boucle avec panorama et une longue qui mène aux pieds des gorges pour se baigner. ... read more

Gorgeous is a word that Australians use to describe food, which is an expression I quite like. However today I'm talking about 'gorges', as in deep canyons. We hiked around Katherine Gorge -breathtaking- and bought Majeed a leather hat, so he totally looks like you imagine a dashingly handsome dark-haired Australian would look. We saw these totally awesome birds called "Great Bowerbird" doing their mating thing. The male birds makes these grassy doorways and throws all kind of materials in the doorways to attract the female. It's quite a show and we were very excited to be able to see it. Then we drove to Mattaranka Falls to find a campground and sleep the night. Tomorrow, Mattaranka natural hot springs. Scroll down for more photos!... read more