Day 56/59. Katherine

After taking the boys to the airport and sending them off at 6am in the morning, we return to Chateau Shambles, pack up our gear, rehook up the van and start our trek South…which looks all downhill on the map! A three hour drive to Katherine and we are back on the caravan park circuit. For all my whinging at Mataranka, it is a good feeling having our stuff, our space and our time back to ourselves again. When we are allocated a normal size vans spot, we are like a house on an acreage with lots of space around us.

We had a couple of activities planned for Katherine. On the first morning we take a boat ride through the first of Katherine’s Gorges, and then did a self-guided kayak ride up Gorge 2 and 3. This trip was all inclusive of being able to drag the kayak over a boats natural enemy – land - separating the two gorges. We like activites that have a bit of activity in them, so this is perfect for us. At times it is a gentle float down the water by yourself, surrounded by nature in all it’s beauty. Some other times it is the nature still being beautiful, but you have to share it with a few others.

We kayak past crocodile breeding grounds which you are not allowed to go onto, and on some beaches you can see where they have dragged themselves into the water. We are assured there are no Salt Water crocodiles, and the fresh water ones are more scared of us, than we are of them. That’s what they say to me about spiders, but they still seem to want to come to my house. Also, they feed on much smaller things than my arm or leg, so as long as you give them space when you see them and have other peoples small children around, you will be fine. Not sure why we have to sign the waivers then. We were lucky enough a few years back to kayak down the Zambezi when in Southern Africa. There, they didn’t even talk about the crocs – even though we could see them - they kept banging the kayaks to scare away the hippo’s as apparently that is when we would be in trouble. I don’t think they even bothered with waivers, if they got you, you wouldn’t be able to sue anyway.

It was nice seeing the scale of the gorge from water level, the little caves and the birds nesting close up. The next day took a turn though, and we checked it out from above in a helicopter. Linda’s mum had generously given this as a present for her birthday. You wonder what these things are actually going to be like when you book them online, and can worry that you might have the dud seat or a crap tour guide. Upon arriving in the middle of a sheep paddock (not quite, but it was a mustering station) the helicopter obviously had no seats without a view. Only 3 seats and one was for the pilot. It also consisted of a great piece of Perspex in front of you, seatbelts and no doors.

The pilot was ex-RAF which gave us some confidence, and we are soon flying, hanging in the air exactly like a piece of metal shouldn’t (apologies to Mr. Adams for the misquote). It wasn’t scary, although the odd dip did leave your tummy behind, and the big turn around to come back did mean we were looking at the ground through the non-existent door. Otherwise, it worked well to get a perspective on what we kayaked through the day before, and an appreciation for the vastness of the land we have been driving through. Tough winds made a 20 minute trip 30 minutes, and that was fine by us. Highly recommend: 5 choppers out of 5.

The surprise attraction in Katherine was Katherine Hot Springs on the edge of town. A small hole, creating a long river which was again perfect temperature to jump into. You could do the floating down the small river on a noodle, however the trip back to the start was on metal grating designed to shave your feet like a cheese grater – so we did that only once. Otherwise, Katherine was about swimming in the caravan park pool and getting ready to hit the outback again where the food is scarce and expensive. A good 4 days to get ourselves back together and ready for the journey home.

We also did the Edith Falls walk, which is only 2.6k but is quite steep and rocky, and added to my flights climbed count on the watch. However, this waterfall is not spring fed and was bloody cold so we only cooled our feet in the pool, much to the delight of the hungry little fish. I hope they survived.

Another surprise was that we bumped into Linda’s friends that we had met at the Mindil Night Markets a week before. Driving up behind them at the petrol station, it was nice to have a quick chat in a slightly different setting. Not as scenic and definitely more aromatic, you never know where you will bump in people you know.