South to Katherine on our way to Mt Isa

4 - 5 August

Back to Katherine for a bit of a look

First stop was a crocodile feeding cruise on the Adelaide river about an hour south of Darwin. This place was at the end of a 4km dirt road and was right on the river in the middle of nowhere. The guys running the place were brothers who spend 6 months in the dry season on the river and the rest of the year on a boat in Lakes Entrance in Victoria drinking beer and have been doing so for the last 30 years. We hopped on a flat bottom tinny that seated 20 people and headed off down the river.  

 

 

First croc was a little one and let's just say not very energetic and we were a little worried that the cruise may not be as good as we had heard. But it wasn't long before we came across a 3 metre croc who was quite happy to jump a metre or so out of the water to try and get the buffalo meat that Harry had dangling from the end of a stick.

 

We saw a number of others but the best by far was Brutus. He was over 5m long. he had one leg missing but this didn't prevent him climbing up out of the water right beside the boat. This was amazing. We were sitting in a relatively small boat, not much longer than this croc and he was literally only 30 cms from my face as he tried to chomp on a slab of buffalo the size of a small baby. Okay maybe the meat wasn't quite that big but his jaws were huge and TJ and I are having a good laugh as I write this for you.

The kids all got a drive.

 

Anyway what a great cruise.

 

 Then we stopped for another big thing this one was the boxing crocodile.

Then we were off south past Litchfield and we only wished we had enough time to go back in there for another look. But we have to get to Mt Isa. 

We then headed down to Edith Falls for a second look and went straight down to the carpark at the falls with no plans of staying there as we expected it to be full, which it was. We all went for the 20 minute walk up to the top falls which was beautiful. Had a quick swim and just enjoyed the natural beauty and peacefulness of the place...which of course was a lot less peaceful once we arrived!

 

 

 

Sorry about the German family in the foreground but we had limited light left and I couldn't wait for them to leave or it would have been dark.

The kids are certainly getting better at changing  in public as we have had to do on many occasions to get in and out of swimmers for these lovely pools. Quite funny to see the change as at first they were so self conscious.

 

 

We then  headed back to the camping area where we had a BBQ before heading back up to the overflow at the top of the hill.

Our original apprehension when camping in free spots at rest areas etc has certainly changed during the course of our trip. We are now more than happy to pull up for the night wherever we can particularly when trying to cover some distance. It seems silly to pay $50ish just to eat dinner and sleep when you can pull up in a free camp and do the same thing for free. We have seen so many different free camps along our way and touch wood have had no problems at any of them.

Next morning we headed to Katherine mid morning after some school work and went over to the SDA church to stay the night. The couple who look after the place were still in Darwin so we left the van and went into town for supplies.

Then we headed off for a cruise down the Nitmuluk (Katherine)  gorge. I was a bit disappointed with the whole thing. The gorge walls were nowhere near as high as I had expected and although enjoyable and well organised not something that will be in my top 20 of things we have seen or done.

 

Anyway we then went over to the hot springs which were just a short walk from the church. The springs were not overly attractive as the water was murky and a bit hot but we had a bit of a play and ran into the family from Albany who we had met at Wangi falls.

Then back to the van for dinner. Eventually the guy turned up with the key and let us into the church grounds. We were so happy to stay there. It was almost like having our own house as we got to shower and leave our toiletries in the bathroom to use the next day, a real luxury. The kids did school work and played in the church hall. Just lovely.

 

The next morning we headed out to do the Top Didj Cultural Experience which was great fun. An Aboriginal guy who just turned 50 sat down and told us of his childhood, some of the traditions of his family and just stories of his past. We then got to do some traditional painting, fire starting and then spear throwing at a kangaroo (not real). Milly was very excited as she was the only one to hit the "roo" with the spear and there was a hole to prove it.

 

 

We all had a fantastic time and thoroughly enjoyed listening to Manuel tell us of his life. It was lovely to hear him talk in "Language" and he had a really great way with the kids. It was amazing to hear of his tales of when he was young.  He is only a few years older than me but was taught to hunt, lived off the land and didn't see a white man until he was seven.

A nice way to show the kids a better side to the Aboriginal culture than what we have seen on the streets.

The kids were quite excited to see the "cow van" again. We have bumped into this couple at least half a dozen times since Perth. We actually spoke to them at one of the free camp sites we had been at a while ago so said hi again over at the hot springs when we were there.

We went back to the Church, picked up the van and headed out after a very cool 24 hours in Katherine.