Water, water at last!

Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge

Intrepid canoers at Nitmiluk Gorge (braving the crocodiles)

Jedda Rock, Nitmiluk Gorge

Freshwater crocodile, Nitmiluk Gorge

Wangi Falls, Litchfield National Park

Top of Wangi Falls, part of our morning's walk

Cathedral termite mound, Litchfield

Wangi Falls and swimming hole, through pandanus

Entry to Wangi Falls swimming hole

Self-evident

Daly Waters - not sure whether the owner really can't spell or is just acting dumb!

Daly Waters Pub

Mataranka hot springs

Underwater selfie, Mataranka

Some idiot trying to take a selfie

Termite mound, great prop for it

Bats, Nitmiluk Gorge

No problem, but the designated area had a croc trap set on the other side of the river,
and we saw a freshwater crocodile lurking just upstream!

The next part of our journey started at Tennant Creek, a whistlestop on the way to Mataranka, but with all the requisite facilities such as IGA, butcher (who was also the Baker, but according to Ray and his Dad jokes, not the Candlestickmaker) and the wonderful Katerina’s Café on the main street.  That was a great find – a Greek café run by the beautiful and vivacious Katerina and her husband Nick, who did the cooking.  The  food and coffee were fantastic, so we went back the next morning for breakfast – Katerina recommended Nick's Augozouna which was a plate of grated onion, tomatoes and feta on 3 eggs – delicious. 

Next stop after an overnighter at a free camp at Newcastle Waters, was Mataranka with its beautiful lush fan palms and crystal clear 34 degree Celsius waters of the sandy-bottomed thermal pool, just a short walk from the campground.  The water flows from Rainbow Springs at an amazing 30.5 million litres each day!  

Mataranka is known as the Capital of the Never Never.  This area was home to Aeneas and Jeanie Gunn, who wrote the famous book about Elsey Station, titled “We of the Never Never”, which is now part of Australia’s folklore.  It is claimed that once you visit Mataranka, you’ll Never Never leave!  Mataranka is also the traditional country of the Mangarayi and Yangman Aboriginal people. 

After 2 pleasant nights at Mataranka, we headed into Katherine township to stock up on food before moving on to Nitmiluk National Park (Katherine Gorge), 30 kms from Katherine.  Katherine has possibly the busiest Woolworths in Australia, with literally hundreds of motorhomes, caravans and "others" parked all around town and heading there with their myriad plastic bags.  (NT is another place with a "no bags" policy, and if you forget, it's 15c for one of their own, plastered with advertising).  As usual,Woolworths had only a few checkouts open, with the mandatory self-check queue winding back into the aisles, but we made it back to the van without a divorce, well stocked for the weeks ahead.

The first European to pass through this country was Ludwig Leichhardt in 1844 but it was John McDouall Stuart who, on the 4^th July 1862 named the Katherine River after the second daughter of his patron, James Chambers.  European settlement came with the completion of the Overland Telegraph Line, when the Telegraph Station was established at Knott’s Crossing.

Nitmiluk Gorge winds along 12km of sheer rock cliffs, most more than 70 metres high.  Consisting of 13 separate gorges, Nitmiluk Gorge is a maze of waterways sculpted from the sandstone over millennia by the Katherine River.  The Jawoyn people have Nit Nit (Cicada) Dreaming.

We spent 2 nights there but, unusually, didn’t attempt any of the Gorge walks.  Instead we took the Two Gorges boat trip on the river, changing boats between gorges 1 and 2 and walking about 400 metres to board another boat in the second gorge.  Nitmiluk is owned by the Jawoyn people and our guide for the boat trip was very personable and informative about the local area, including the story of Jedda Rock in the Gorge.  For those of you who haven’t seen the 1960s film Jedda, it’s a Charles Chauvel film and, according to the guide, a true representation of the tribal ethos of the time.  We managed to get a copy of it in Katherine, so it’s available for loan if anyone wants to see it.

Evidently Nitmiluk didn’t have the good rains that the rest of the Territory enjoyed a few months ago and the water level is lower than usual, though during the wet season there is sometimes up to a 13 metre rise in the water level in the gorge.  It was possible to hire canoes to explore the gorges, but as there were signs everywhere warning about crocodiles (and we saw a freshwater crocodile in the so-called “swimming hole”) we decided on the boat trip instead.  Cowardly perhaps, but no-one can give a 100% guarantee that there are no salties in the waterways, and we weren’t willing to chance it.

Next stop was Wangi Falls, Litchfield National Park. Litchfield NP covers approximately 1500 sq km and contains numerous spectacular waterfalls, magnetic termite mounds and rainforests. 

We weren’t able to get into the National Parks campground at first try, so stayed the night at the Safari Park about 4km down the road.  It’s essential at this time of year to cruise the campground first thing in the morning to find a spot which has just been vacated, which we managed on the second day.  Wangi Falls is such a beautiful spot for swimming and walking that we stayed 6 nights.  No internet, secluded campsites and wonderful swimming hole fed by a spectacular waterfall.  We joined a talk the first day by local Aboriginal woman, Joan, about all the local trees, pandanus, food sources and secret women’s business (sorry, I can’t divulge that as at least half of you are male!)

Wangi has been such a peaceful stay after the long hours of straight roads to get here.  It’s finally full summer and we’re really enjoying the sun and the heat after such a long winter in Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia.  It’s only a few days since we stopped the using the diesel heater at night – and already we have both fans going!

We travelled to other parts of the Park, such as Florence Falls (very beautiful, and for swimming, but 135 stairs down (and of course back up in the heat after a cooling swim under the Falls), Buley Rocks, which was a magnificent set of rock pools with water flowing into them, but in danger of being loved to death, and the old abandoned Tin Mine which was opened in 1906, and closed a few years later.  Interesting history though.

Litchfield is certainly a magnificent National Park, but really in danger of being over loved.  I can only think that one day Parks might have to introduce a ballot system for overnight camping, such as applies in a few places in Tasmania.  Luckily we had one of the secluded bush camping sites so could swim morning and evening, when the crowds disappeared back to wherever they came from.  Although at least swimming with lots of people in the middle of the day cut down the chances of crocodile attack - I must say that my morning swim to the Falls had me wondering what was lurking!  During the Wet season, saltwater crocodiles migrate from one pool to another, and before the season starts, the rangers have to capture any stray crocs which may have taken up residence.

So here we are for a second night at Batchelor, which played an important part as the base for General MacArthur's bombing force from December 1941, with thousands of troops stationed here during World War II, and the discovery of uranium in 1949 (remember Rum Jungle?)  It's a well-treed and therefore relatively cool and shady place, with a sign directing you to "Town Centre", and a small sign saying "Town Centre" right outside the general store and Tavern - that's it folks!

Batchelor has been an important stop for us in that we were able to be part of the excitement of grandson Chris and his partner Brittney's first baby, a boy, Sylar, born yesterday afternoon. Thank goodness they waited until we were back in Telstra range! 

Humpty-Doo tomorrow to stock up once again for Kakadu.