The town of Katherine lies some 350km south of Darwin and is still well within the tropics. The town is subject to occasional flooding, and in the most recent high floods (2002) a saltwater crocodile made its home in the flooded isles of the local supermarket! There's not much going on in Katherine - the main reason people stop here is to visit the impressive Katherine Gorge in Nitmjiluk National Park 35km away. We only had an afternoon dedicated to exploring the town and it was quite sufficient. Most of the attractions had already closed their doors by the time we arrived in town from Kakadu, but we still managed to visit a few places.
We took a refreshing dip at the Katherine Hot Springs - they are supposedly at a constant 32C but they felt a little bit fresher than that when we were there. They certainly were cooler than the tepid Katherine air!
Once we'd been refreshed we paid a visit to the NT Rare Rocks gallery. This is an old gentleman's front room where he displays (and sells) rare rocks that he collects from - you guessed it - allover the Northern Territory. It sounds boring? Well, its not quite! There's a great variety of stones to be found in the NT, as well as precious gold, opal and silver. The stars of the display have to be the appropriately named Zebra Stones and Okapi Stones. These are very particular and apparently this type of rock combination can only be found in certain areas of the NT. The rocks get their name from the bands of white and brown that decorate the rocks. I'm glad we visited the rare rocks gallery as now I've got a unique souvenir to remind me of Katherine!
We made our way to Spring Vale homestead to spend the night. Springvale is an historic house that was one of the first homes in Katherine - it was the headquarters of the first cattle station opened in the area. It lies in a quiet location just out of town on the banks of the south Katherine River and there's even a freshwater billabong on the property that is home to a large number of freshwater turtles. The inquisitive turtles make their way to the bank expecting food when you stand close to the bank.
Nitmjiluk National Park
About 35km north east of Katherine you'll find Nitmjiluk NP - home to Katherine Gorge, the result of the Katherine River wearing out the soft sandstone over millennia. The best way to experience the gorge is from the water, and to that end we were planning on renting canoes for a day so as to be able to explore the gorges. Sadly this was not to be as the level of the river was still too high to allow private boats and canoes onto it - the only option was a very expensive organized boat tour. Instead of this we opted to take a 4km walk along the lip of the gorge leading to a very welcome waterhole. The walk climbs over an easy enough gradient to the plateau at the top of the gorge, where it winds along among some interesting rock formations before descending slightly to the waterhole. This is an amazing spot for a swim - a towering waterfall fills the deep pool (more than 2.5m deep) with cool, clear water. The pool is surrounded by high cliffs on three sides which makes for a shady rest area when you're out of the water.
Mataranka
From Katherine we made our way to Mataranka, some 100km further south along the Stuart Highway. While making our way through Ellersley National Park we came close to killing a wallaby … the animal must have been no more than 15cm from my front bumper. Our wildlife spotting was not to stop there - as we drew nearer to the campsite we caught a glimpse of a family of feral pigs, big hairy black beasts they were!
In the morning we made our way to a caravan park where we saw some Baramundi being hand-fed. Baramundi is a type of bream that inhabits the tropical north of Australia and is very sought after by sports fishermen for its game, and by hungry locals for the quality of its meat. The Baramundi lives happily in seawater and in freshwater, coming inland to breed. The fish is a hermaphrodite, starting its life as a male and gradually changing to a female as they age and grow - full grown Barras can be up to 180cm long and weigh in the region of 60kg!
Daly Waters
Some 150km south of Mataranka you'll come to a westerly turn off on the Stuart Highway labelled Daly Waters. This little roadhouse is home to what is known as Australia's remotest pub and oldest pub, running steadily since 1935. This little cult icon is a must-do stop on anyone's outback itinerary and most travelers leave a memento of their visit. The walls are lined with photos, ID cards, business cards, t-shirts, and bras! The whole "town" is littered with humorous signs such as "the world's most remote Traffic lights", a sign saying "Park at an angle - any angle mate!", and a rundown house with a helicopter crashed into it with the sign "for sale, ideal home, close to pub and services, own helicopter pad". After the mandatory photos had been taken and bladders emptied we hopped back into the Batvan for the rest of our 500km trip to Tennant Creek.
Tennant Creek
The drive along the Stuart Highway is incredible - not for its challenge as a drive - the road is mostly flat and slightly curvy - but for the amazing scenery. Clear blue skies, a distant horizon, rocky outcrops and eucalyptus trees as far as the eyes can see. As we neared Tennant Creek the landscape got gradually more hilly, giving the bored driver something to admire other than a distant horizon! In the early evening we eventually pulled up to the outskirts of Tennant Creek where we would be spending the night. As we drove through the hills we got to see another Aussie great - a herd of bush brumbies (wild horses). After watching a beautiful sunset we called in for an early night as we had another 600km trip ahead of us the next day - destination Alice Springs!
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