Driving to Nitmiluk

Today marks the half way point in our trip and I am nothing short of amazed at the things we have seen and done. From here we get closer to home. Someone are all looking forward to but we still have a lot to experience on the there!

Today we left Cooinda in Kakadu and headed for Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge). We left around 10am with the temperature and humidity rising rapidly. It was 30 degrees by 10.30. It didn't take long for the landscape to start changing with the Cathedral Termite Mounds disappearing and the landscape changing to more mountainous and rocky areas. We drove towards what look a flock of crows on the edge of the road but as they took flight we could see there was about 20 Red Tailed Black Cockatoos! (No time to grab the camera 😕)

We decided take the opportunity to stop and see Edith Falls on the way. It is a 20km drive from the Stuart Hwy, on a sealed road, to the car park for the area. The Upper Pools we went to were a very hot 1km trek up the hill. The trail is marked and had more stairs (I've never been a fan of stairs but after Kings Canyon and Gunlom Falls I've developed a serious problem with them!) but this trail is not nearly as steep. I definitely would not recommend doing it in the heat of the day like we did. It was 35 degrees when we parked and the temperature rose with the heat from the sun and rocks as we went along. But we all knew it would be worth it and Edith Falls did not disappoint.

Once we got down to the pools and in the water cooling off it was lovely. The pools were mostly rocks in the water with very little sand and were extremely slippery. We swam and climbed over rocks to get to the main pool with under the waterfall. On the way Lara nearly inadvertently grabbed a goanna sunning itself on a rock she was going to grab onto. It would've been almost 3ft long. Very glad Joey caught her first.

The waterfall pool was too deep to find the bottom and the current was really strong. Joe tried to get me to swim to the base of the waterfall but the current was jut too strong. It was the first time I really wished I had a waterproof camera of some sort. It was breathtaking. There was a tree growing out of a crack in the rocks, which we've seen before, but this one had its roots exposed, attaching itself to the rock. Different aspects of the falls from different positions were beautiful.

The trip back was better than the hike up but we were still completely stuffed! Definitely the wrong time of day for a hike! We grabbed a snack and got changed and continued on towards Nitmiluk. We made a quick supply stop in Katherine before travelling the last 20 minutes to the Nitmiluk Caravan Park.

Our plans were to stay two nights but with the heat preventing us from doing a few activities, we have decided to head to Mataranka after our Gorge Cruise in the morning. A fantastic spot which Jon missed on the way up and we are really looking forward to being able to see twice!Read more