Kakadu to Katherine

After having a few days around Darwin at Point Stuart and Jabiru, we have commenced our journey south to home with our first stop in Katherine. We have allowed sufficient time here to visit some historic places and to take a boat cruise on Katherine Gorge (now known by its Aboriginal name of Nitmiluk Gorge).

Over the 250 kilometres of our trip yesterday we noticed quite a change in vegetation. Near Jabiru, we drove through forest that was quite lush but near Kaherine it changed into much drier vegetation of open forest and grassland. It’s a sign of a much drier climate as we head south.

One of our wayside stops was at Muirella Park (still in Kakdu Park) with its Billabong and fixed camping area. It may look more pleasant after rain but at the time we visited, it was hot, dry and dusty. It would take a lot of imagination to envisage anything very pleasant. The billabong looks shady and cool but of course, its too dangerous to swim here or take advantage of the cool looking environment.

The first town that we came to on today’s part of the trip was Pine Creek, almost 200 kilometes fronm Jabiru. We passed many tall termite mounds along the way and with 38C temperatures again, it was very hot.

There is not much left now in Pine Creek, but it was once a vibrant mining town that stumbled into existence when the teams building the Overland Telegraph Line in 1870 dug up some gold while digging holes for posts. Since 1870 it has had a variety of gold rushes with, at one time, over 2,000 Chinese miners working in the area.

The railway buildings in te town were built in 1888 and served as the town’s communication centre (it was also the local post office for a time). The buildings, now the Railway Station Museum, include a station building, water tank, residence, weigh bridge and goods shed. The railway was a vital link for the town. It was most important for the transportation of cattle and goods.

Around 80 kms further on, we came to the comparatively large city of Katherine.  Katherine is the third largest town in the Northern Territory after Darwin and Alice Springs. Situated on the banks of the Katherine River it is the service centre for the Gulf Savannah region of the Territory and a popular stopping point on the Stuart Highway. Its primary appeal is tourism.

We have swapped the luxury of the four-star Mercure Crocodile hotel at Jabiru for a much more humble motel – the vibrant pink K-Town Hotel. However, it’s clean and comfortable with more space for Jill to move around than in our cabin back in Darwin.

Prior to the arrival of Europeans the area around Katherine was the traditional land of the Jawoyan, Walpiri, Dagaman and Wardiman Aboriginal people. The Katherine River and Katherine Gorge were popular meeting places. There is plenty of rock art that records their presence.

Seeing that a visit to Katherine (Nitmiluk) Gorge is considered the must-do activity, this morning, we drove the 29 kms out to the gorge to do a two-hour boat cruise. I ended up doing this trip on my own as Jill wasn’t feeling too well and she waited in the picnic aea under the welcome shade of a large tree.

There are a total of 13 gorges along the Katherine River and our tour only took in the first two (looking upstream). The first gorge is quite pretty with the river flowing through shallow rocky areas. The sides of the gorge get more steep as you continue up stream.

At the end of this first gorge we reached the ‘crossover’ where a walk of about 600 metres was required to get to the second gorge. A well made pathway with a few steps and an occassional bit of rock hopping took us between the two stretches of water. At the landing point where we got of the boat off the boat at the end of the foirst gorge we could see some ancient rock art.

if I thought the first gorge was attractive, the second gorge was simply stunning, It’s high cliffs and deep water were awe inspiring. 

The gorge was used for some of the scenery in the 1955 movie, ‘Jedda’. It was the first film to star Aboriginal actors in leading roles, as well as being the first Australian feature film to be shot in colour.

Jedda was an Aboriginal girl born on a cattle station in the Northern Territory.  She wanted to learn about her own culture, but was forbidden by the station owners. Eventually she met an aboriginal man who lured her to his camp. The tribal council rejected Jedda so they went to an area of steep cliffs and canyons which are taboo lands. Driven insane by a spell, they jump off a tall cliff and both perish in the last scene of the movie. This very high cliff was used for that scene in the movie.

After a bite to eat for lunch in the visitor centre cafe, headed back to town to see two places that figure in Katherine’s history. During WW2,thousands of soldiers were based here. The town developed into a major transport hub with large railway yards.

The museum has some interesting exhibits relating to local history. Katherine was the most southerly town bombed by the Japanese in WW2. They flew seven bombers from East Timor that were not detected and left many bomb craters around the station and local streets. This and other stories of Katherine’s history can be seen at the museum.

The old ‘Ghan; railway station in the town had quite a bit of character. It was built in 1926 and is currently owned and operated by the National Trust. It’s an historic railway station; the only one on the North Australian railway line built out of concrete. 

We ate dinneer tonight at the Katherine Coun try Club – good food but an enormous amount on the plate.