Wow another hot day upto 36 today. We headed to Katherine Gorge, 30kms east of Katherine. Katherine Gorge is part of the Nitmiluk National Park. The gorge winds along 12 kms with 13 separate sandstone gorges with sheer rockfaces more than 70m high in parts. Nitmiluk has been handed to its the traditional owners the Jawoyn community and they manage the park. No fee to enter the park surprisingly. The only way to really see the gorge as a whole is by a helicopter flight, canoeing but can only get as far as gorge 8 or boat cruises which only go as far as gorge 3. To cross from one gorge to another involves walking over rocks or sandy beaches with each gorge access becoming more difficult and varying lengths. Means carrying the kayaks in some cases 1.2kms! We did consider doing a boat cruise but they are quite expensive and from what we have read the furthest gorges are the most spectacular and the cruises don’t go that far. We did also consider launching the kayaks, $5.50/person/day but to get to the second gorge is 3.2kms of hard paddling against a current, into the wind on a hot day so again changed our mind. We aren’t that ardent kayakers. To be honest the first gorge is nice but nothing spectacular and to really see the speccie stuff involves a two day or more overnight canoe trip which we aren’t able to do. So we opted to do a 1.8km walk to the lookout and take some pictures. There is a really nice designated swimming spot near the boat ramp which had we had our bathers on we would have dived straight in. It was only opened recently after being closed most of the season due to a saltie being in the gorge. The swimming spot is opposite a croc cage – not sure if that is unsettling or comforting particularly that it is empty! The interpretative centre at the gorge is very interesting. The critters up here have a tough life with drought, floods, fire and severe weather being annual seasonal events. Cicadas for instance live underneath dry leaves on the ground and at the end of the dry season they emerge, drop their dry casing and merrily chirp away on trees. Now I know why there are so many jumping up from the ground when we walk through the trees to get to the river. We have got to know a 77 year old chap, Jim, from Denmark, WA who is travelling alone with his border collie dog Lindy. They have been on the road for 5 months escaping winter. They are staying here in the park in an unpowered site in a pop out camper trailer on the edge of the billabong. Nice chap tad lonely we think so we have been chatting to him and had a drink with him tonight. He has been here longer than expected due to some health issues but had the all clear today from the GP so is leaving tomorrow to head to Darwin.
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