'Gorgeous' Katherine

We drove on to Katherine with just one stop to take in the view across the plains to the ranges beyond. Our main aim here was to go shopping. Bill needed batteries for the flash and had been unable to get them at the smaller towns. We had been told all the way along that the Gorge was still closed because of the rain so had given up on the idea of seeing anything here. On arrival we dropped in to the Visitor's centre to see what else there was to do while here and were thrilled to hear that the gorge was open and tours were on. We booked a morning cruise there and then and once the shopping was done headed out to find a home for the night. Shady Lane C'van Park was our choice about 7kms out of Katherine along the Gorge Rd. It was a lovely park and we had a quiet afternoon here catching up on the washing and the swimming. And the bathrooms were sheer luxury after Leaping Lizard's last night. The cane toads must have thought so too as there were dozens of them here. We took a walk down to the river here in the afternoon but stayed well clear of the banks as it was just mud. Water water everywhere.

A very early start the next morning for the first cruise of the day saw us leaving the park just after sunrise. The Gorges are open for tourists but at the moment only the first one. It was just wonderful, spectacular scenery and peaceful waters. Looks can be deceiving though as the waters may look peaceful but with all the rain that had fallen they were really anything but. Also the crocodile traps along the edge left us in doubt as to what was lurking in the depths. We cruised up the river for about an hour before getting out to see the Aboriginal Rock Art. There were 3 sights here and they were all very good. The hand prints on the rocks made me think of all the kids first hand prints at pre-school. Perhaps this is the ancient equivalent. We spent some time at these sites hearing the ancient stories from our Jawoyn guide and seeing the wonderful views of the area beyond the rapids where our boat could not go. Wandering along beside the towering rock walls made us feel very small and insignificant in this magnificent area. The trip back downriver provided some highlights with a beautiful white bellied sea eagle just sitting watching us go by, a rather large crocodile taking a look as we sailed by and a colony of Red Flying foxes making an awful lot of noise. A great morning and well worth the early start. On our drive back out we stopped a number of times looking at the many Dollarbirds on the wires. They are named because of a circle of colour on the underside of their wings the size of a dollar. They are the most beautiful colours and are just happy to sit there while you snap away.

Our next stop was at Edith Falls. Again we were greeted with the now familiar 'closed for swimming' signs but never mind, the falls were beautiful. With the water rushing over the rocks, one from a great height it was a spectacular sight & sound. Coming from a state that has been in drought for so long the volumes of water we were seeing was just awesome. We had lunch here in the park before leaving Katherine and heading back to Pine Creek for the night.

Not ready to take on Leaping Lizard's bathrooms again we stayed at the other park in town and while still not quite like home they were much better. Again we were greeted by Great Bower birds, could not find their bower though. Still lots of Lorikeets, Galahs, Cockatoos and beautiful Red Winged parrots but the Hooded parrots remained elusive. That night it rained so heavy that the walk to the shower was in ankle deep water. Isn't camping fun! Bill's singing and dancing in the rain did not amuse me when I discovered that he had splashed mud all over his clean pants. Still I had to smile when I heard him serenading me from outside - don't tell him though. Luckily we were the only campers there that night or they might have thought he was mad.

The morning dawned fine & sunny and so after another walk through the water gardens to see the beautiful waterlilies and one last Mango smoothie from Mayses we were on our way at last to Kakadu. We stopped for a look at the Mary River roadhouse and then made our way straight on to Cooinda where we were staying for the night. In the dry this could take days but during the wet most areas are closed due to roads being impassable. We had been here a few years ago in the dry so were always only looking to go to Cooinda this time.

and so we drove..........