Timeless Katherine Gorge Cruise

We have reached the last day of June and already suffered through one month of winter at a chilling 30 degrees every day. In fact, we last saw rainfall in Darwin on 18th May. It was warm last night too so neither of us got the best of sleeps.

This morning we make our way to Katherine Gorge jetty and the start of our 4 hour Katherine Gorge “timeless land” cruise. The bats are still squarking in the trees. We are travelling through three gorges that are separated by dry rock and boulders this time of the year so we have to boat hop.

the naming of Katherine Gorge is rather uninspiring although we can agree, Katherine is a beautiful name. It was named after the second daughter of a wealthy entrepreneur and Pastoralist James Chambers Esq. He funded an exploration of the area by John McDouall Stuart in 1862. One of his other daughters is named Edith, hence, Edith Falls down the road.

I think we passed a dry creek bed on our way through so we’ll have that, “Jaime’s Creek”. She can add that to “Jaime’s Bar”.

The Aboriginal name for Katherine Gorge is Nitmiluk and the Jawoyn clan are traditional owners and custodians of this timeless land.

Now Katherine Gorge is part of the Arnhem Sandstone Plateau which runs all the way from the top end of Kakadu and Arnhem Land. Katherine river runs all year but can peak up to 15m higher than the current level during the wet season.

There are a few lazy fresh water crocodiles on the banks and we see protected sandy areas where they lay their eggs. Only 1% of all crocodile eggs survive and make it to adulthood. We don’t see any other wildlife of note on the cruise and most wildlife is active teal early in the morning or before sunset. 9.00am is like an afternoon snooze to them to escape the heat. Except for us human folk...

The second gorge is the most impressive with taller ridge lines and vertical sandstone walls. Occasionally, a fault line on one side of the gorge where the sandstone has fractured is replicated on the opposite side of the river. In these pockets, plants and trees thrive.

Back at the section between gorge one and two are a couple of swimming holes. They are cold and shallow but Jen takes the plunge as I take up my important role as a vertical life guard from the rocks. The Jawoyn people are not allowed to fish swim or drink these waters as they may disturb Bolung, the Rainbow Searpant and his spirit may cause lightening or a great Monsoon. We apparently are ok though.

The camp ground is a buzz when we return as there are two year nine school groups setting up camp, both from Melbourne, Wantirna College and Brentwood Secondary College. They are travelling up the centre to Darwin and back and have set up their Nomadic tents in circles with the boys in one hemisphere and the girls in the other. That’s a lot of mouths to feed and keep happy.En savoir plus