Day 22: Katherine Gorge

 This morning we headed off to Katherine Gorge, about 30 km out of Katherine. It is a series of 13 gorges carved out of sandstone by the Katherine River. It is now known by the Aboriginal name, Nitmiluk.

Arriving at the Nitmiluk Visitors Centre, there do not appear to be a lot of cars in the car park, and when we get inside, the information desk is unmanned, with some cryptic message that the staff are undertaking park business. There is a tour desk, so we went there to see if we could get a map of the walks available. Fortunately, that was possible.

Nitmiluk Centre

Boat tours, which are a popular way to explore the first 3 gorges, have been severely curtailed due to flood damage. All that is available at the moment is a tour of the 1st gorge, with the more popular 2 and 3 gorge tours not available. They hope to commence on 21st June, but that is not certain. We decided to the Baruwei Loop walk, about 5 km, which includes lookout views of the first gorge. The only boat tour was not popular.

Little did we know, we did it in reverse, which turned out to be a godsend, because had we gone the other way you ascend to the lookout in 900 m like a mountain goat. The path we took got us to the same altitude over longer more gentle grades.

It was still a lot of uphill to get to the lookout

Signposts along the way provided good information on flora and fauna and the aboriginal history of this area.

I forgot to mention, it is hot, around 33 C, but we are carrying water and staying hydrated whilst taking in the surroundings which are becoming increasingly rugged as we move west. However, it is probably a lot greener than normal following the high rainfalls that have left behind a lot of damage to the tourism industry this year, added to Albo's contribution, you would have to feel sorry for tourism operators.

A sweeping outlook of the river from a distance

The highest part of our walk was not where the lookout is, but before coming down to view the gorge. It was the site of the water treatment plant for the water supply to the Nitmiluk centre and caravan park.

It was downhill from here to reach the first of the lookouts over the Katherine Gorge, and there was a bit of "native" sculpture along the way.

These four birds, the pigeon, the crow, the kookaburra and the Brown Hawk sculptures represent the birds that are part of aboriginal folklore in the story of the formation of the Katherine Gorge.

And then we reached the first lookout giving us stunning views of the first gorge.

On the left shore are the boats that would normally be running services daily, seemingly tied to the shore.

Passing the main lookout we then descend back down the escarpment (which we would otherwise been climbing up). The steepness of the stairs makes us grateful we are going downhill, not uphill had we taken this popular direction.

Eventually we arrived back down at the car park level, on the way going past the boat loading area for the gorge cruises. We only saw one cruise on the duration of our walk and it was sparsely occupied.

Tour boat boarding area

Finally back at the visitors cenre, after another NT walk that seemed to seriously underestimate the distance, it is now after 1 pm, and we are hungry. The cafe at the visitors centre has good food options and we enjoyed lunch before looking at our plans for the rest of the day. Originally we thought we might move on to Edith Falls, but it is a fair drive from here and we have done enough walking in this heat.

On the way back to town we decide to check out the local golf course. It has been a while since we have had a game. To our amazement, the Country club has a course with grass on fairways, and greens. Immediately we head to the pro  shop to book a game. It seems on Monday we are currently the only booking, so it could be a relaxing round.

As a last thought on our way back to the caravan park, we thought we may look at the local thermal springs. They are a fair walk from the car park, so I went down to have a look. They are a bit like Bitter Springs, a waterway fed by the springs with pools that have good stair access to enter, with a current running through. Also like Bitter Springs, the temperature of the water is around 33 C.

Maybe another day

Finally we are home at our van. I need to get a replacement gas bottle, as we have finally emptied one after a year. We still have a spare, but we will be relying on gas much more as we move into more remote areas.

Carole went for a swim in the pool here at the park, whilst I installed a Scangauge 3 in the Everest, to give me a better idea of fuel consumption, and a chance to monitor some towing parameters that are not standard on the Ford Instrumentation.