Katherine

1st and 2nd August

After a lovely couple of days at Mataranka we are on the move this morning to Katherine, just 100 kilometres up the road. An easy trip and we are all set up in our campsite by lunchtime. After lunch we head into town for some essential groceries then back to camp. Katherine hot springs are just 600 metres away so we don the bathers and head off for a dip.

(P:- Katherine is a service town for local cattle stations, Mango Farms and is close by the Tindal RAAF Base. It has a good amount of service industries and stores. The town looks a little scruffier than Alice Springs or Tennant Creek but it is a busy little place).

There are upper and lower pools here and we are closer to the upper ones so that’s where we start. Thought they might be a turn off for Lilly because the access was down a ladder and into the pool, she did it bravely and floated around for quite a while watching as others climbed over the small wall and slid into the creek on the other side to float down to the lower pools. When we decided to get out she said she would like float down the creek so over the wall her and I went and floated downstream. All was good until we came to a low bridge where she would have had to put her head underwater, and that wasn’t going to happen, so we scaled the bank walked across the bridge and slid back into the water for the remainder of the float. The lower pools were much busier and had quite a strong current but she did a great job and we both enjoyed the experience.

Saturday morning we drive out to Nitmiluk Gorge to do the two gorge cruise. There is about 40 on the cruise boat as we head off up stream passing ancient cliffs, massive boulders and trees towering over us. After about 30 minutes we pull into a dock, climb out of the boat and walk 600 metres across a rocky barrier, passing some rock art high on a cliff face and then down to another boat waiting to take us further upstream. In the first part of the second gorge several movies and tv shows have been filmed. Rogue, (a horror film) about a rogue crocodile terrorising a tour boat, (glad that’s not happening today), Top End Wedding (2019), Jedda was the first filmed here in 1955. Also the well known commercial “you’ll never never know, if you never ever go” featured Darryl Sommers floating downstream on a lilo.

We spent a very pleasant two hours traversing the first two gorges. There are nine gorges all up.

Later in the afternoon we head out to Katherine Outback Experience. Tom Curtain shows his prowess breaking horses and working with cattle dogs. An interesting show but the dinner after was more enjoyable. Outdoors, under the stars and fabulous food. A great night.

Dinner Menu

Sliced Kangaroo Fillet, Prosciutto, Smoked Ham with a selection of Australian and Imported Cheeses served with Damper and Crisp Breads. 

Mains – Slow Roasted Lamb cooked with signature bush spices, served with roasted baby potatoes, NT Barramundi topped with citrus herb sauce served with broccolini & sauteed spinach. Dragonfly Goddess Salad with mixed greens, peppitas, cranberries, feta cheese & signature dressing. Beetroot & Za’atar Salad – roasted beetroot tossed with chickpeas finished with Za’atar dressing. 

Dessert – Mango Cheesecake: Local mangoes whipped with cream cheese topped on a delicious biscuit base. Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta topped with Blueberry Compote and Almond Flour Brownies.

(P:- I need to interject with the Authors comment above! The “Outback Experience” was meant for me! It was a fantastic show, not make believe and glossed up as seen on tv stuff. Tom is a professional Horse and Dog trainer, and has turned his trade into a tourism event as well. In the show he uses unbroken horses and demonstrates how to break them for riding. This evening his Daughter ( probably around 17 ) demonstrated her skills in horse breaking which were very impresssive. The horse, livestock and dog show in the second half was very cleverly presented. Dinner under the stars was delicious and set in the beautiful front garden of Tom’s House. This was Phil’s chosen night out and was a great one)!