Day 25 Kathrine NT

There are some things you do in your life that you know you will remember for the rest of you life and today was one of those days when we took a scenic flight in a Cessna 172 over the Katherine region.  We had purposefully made the booking for the flight as late as we could because the photographer that I am wanted to get some late afternoon shots.  We were booked for 5.00pm but as luck (or not) would have it, we arrived early and the pilot was waiting for us so we were in the air by 4.30pm.  No sunset shots unfortunately but that in no way detracted from the magnificent scenery we saw in our one hour flight. Our pilot, Leslie, took a photo of us in front of our little plane before we embarked on our journey.

Katherine Airport

Arriving at Tindal Domestic Airport was a little strange.  There is just one small building that houses a passenger waiting area and toilets.  That's it. As there are no commercial flights in or out of Katherine I should not have been surprised. The airstrip however is another thing altogether as it is a share arrangement with the Tindal RAAF Base.  

The runway is huge and as we flew over the Air Force base Leslie pointed out the triangular shape runways. This is so that three runways can be used at the same time.  It was quite extraordinary.  The dome shaped hangers that you can see in the photo houses fighter jets.  At the moment there are only three based at Tindal but that will all change with the joint collaboration with the USA commencing in 2026/27 when the Americans will be moving a lot of their fleet to Tindal.

RAAF Tindal. Domes are to house Fighter Jets

RAAF Tindal Base

It was quite warm in the little Cessna with a temperature of 30 degrees but the flight was not bumpy at all which is what we might have expected at that time of the day.  We flew at around 5000 feet that was the perfect height to get a birds eye view.  As we left Katherine we flew over a large mango orchard but this is a baby compared to the ones north of Katherine.  (We will see them tomorrow on our way to Litchfield.)

Mango Farms

It took no time at all before we were flying over the Katherine Gorge.  Katherine Gorge is just a small part of the National Park that covers more than 20,000 square kilometres. Certainly the largest in Australia.  The gorge itself is not just one gorge but thirteen gorges and you really get a better idea of the structure of the gorge from the air.

Katherine Gorges

After the gorge we made our way to Edith Falls.  This is a beautiful spot that we visited by bus many years ago but once again the air perspective is so much better where you get to see all three waterfalls and ponds.  Edith Falls are around a 45 minute drive from Katherine.

Edith Falls

We then flew over the Mt Todd Gold Mine that has only recently re-opened. Vista Gold has owned the mine since 2006 after it was closed in 2000, and it is the largest undeveloped gold mine in Australia with 7.8 million ounces of gold.  

Mt. Todd Gold Mine

Our pilot then turned our little plane back towards Katherine for our return.  Katherine from the air is also a bit of an eye-opener.  The town has a population of 10,000 with a quarter of that number working at the RAAF Base. We flew over a massive solar farm that powers 75% of Katherine and there are hopes to expand this farm as it has proved to work extremely well in this part of the country with sunshine 90% of the time. We were amazed at how well Katherine is laid out but then again the town of Katherine has been moved three times after floods so the town planners have had plenty of experience at getting it right.

Katherine's Solar Farm

We absolutely loved our flight today and have vowed to do as many more as possible on this trip.  It is awesome to see things with a birds eye view and gives a much greater perspective of the area you are sightseeing.

A perfect landing by our pilot, Leslie

 

Day 24 Katherine NT

 We were slightly discombobulated this morning for some reason and didn't start our journey to Nitmiluk National Park (Katherine Gorge) until almost 9.30. It is a half hour drive so we didn't arrive at the gorge until after 10am.  I said to Philip that it was probably too late to start a walk but the lovely young girl at the information centre told us that it is an easy 1.8 km return walk to do the Baruwei Loop via the lookout. So we set off.

The first 400 metres of the walk is very easy with well defined concrete paths leading to the boat ramp where the tour boats are lined up to take you on a cruise along the length of the gorge.  We had done this some years ago when we were last in Katherine aboard "The Ghan" so we felt no need to do this again.  The walk would suffice this time.  We were a little lost as to what direction we should take from the boat ramp but a local guide soon set us on the right track.

After walking a few metres I asked Philip how high did he think the look-out would be and he pointed upwards to the top.  I said "No way! We couldn't possibly climb that high".  How wrong I was.  The path started gradually until we reached the steps. S O  M A N Y  S T E P S, that went up and up and up.  The only redeeming thing about the upward journey were the hand-rails.  I don't think I could have made it without them being there. I was also pleased that we had been walking up and down Buchanans Point at Palm Cove quite a bit before we left so I had a little hill walking experience.  However it really was a hard walk but as my friend Kate and I said when we were hiking at Lawn Hills, "slow and steady wins the race".

We meet some people coming down at around the halfway mark, and they assured us it was well worth the pain, so I plodded on.  Philip galloped up but did stop occasionally to make sure I was doing okay.  It was a very hot day with high humidity that didn't help matters, but we were carrying water as is recommended on any bush walk.  

FINALLY!  The end was in sight and what a sight it was.  I felt like I was standing on top of the world!  We were so incredibly high above the gorge and the views were truly spectacular.  Philip spotted a crocodile in the waters below us but all I could see was the mud that it was churning up.  We were also lucky enough to have one of the gorge cruises pass below us.  Everyone on the boat was madly waving at us and probably thinking we were quite mad to be up here.  We probably were 😁.

We stayed up there for quite some time just breathing in the beauty before looking at our watches to see that it was almost midday so we started making our way back down the gazillion steps.  Of course the decent was much easier and Philip branched off onto another path that took him down to the waters edge.  I said I would stick to the one we came up on. When we meet up he said that there was quite a lot of sand to walk through on the path he chose, so I was pleased.

Back at Katherine we picked up a chook from Red Rooster and had Rice Paper Rolls for lunch.  We were starving and they were perfect.  This afternoon we vegged out in front of the TV (and in airconditioning), to watch an old favourite movie of ours called "Good Will Hunting".  We shopped a few groceries late this afternoon at Woolies and found a terrific butcher who had a good selection of everything we needed so we are now stocked up for the next week or so.

Day 23 Katherine, NT

 Our first stop today was the Visitor Information Centre at Katherine.  We usually make these places our first point of call as they deliver a wealth of information of places to visit in the area that you may not have even heard of.  They usually have a visual display of some sort and this one had a rolling TV presentation.  But one of the best things attached to this centre is the coffee shop.  It is a little caravan set up under the shade of some magnificent fig trees. There are tables and chairs spread around and each and every one is in the shade.  It is such a lovely tropical setting and is the perfect place to be on a hot day.

After coffee we went for a drive to find our friends place and also to look for Katherine Springs.  We found Pam and Raymonds home very easily.  It is on acreage and we look forward to our return when we can park up here and spend some time with them.

Katherine Springs was also easy to find as Katherine is not a big place.  The springs were a lot more defined than the ones at Mataranka with a large winding path leading down to the springs.  There are numerous pools each with their own signature.  All have steps leading down into them.  Some have little waterfalls others are just peaceful.  The top spring pool seems to be where the young ones congregate and the bottom one is for the young as it is shallower.

 

We settled into the middle pool and started chatting to a young couple from Singapore.  They had overheard us talking about taking alcohol into Kakadu (you can't).  Alcohol Restrictions in the Northern Territory are harsh and policed. We went to a drive through bottle shop yesterday and were met by a policeman who put us through the third degree.  We had to show identification, we were asked where we were staying and then asked if the alcohol was for our own private use. Payment was only accepted with photo identification.  Welcome to the Northern Territory.  

Anyway, getting back to our young friends at the springs, we told them that alcohol restrictions don't exist  in the eastern Australian States although alcohol is not sold in supermarkets like it is in Singapore.  They were a chatty young couple.  He was from the Netherlands and she was from France.  They were both studying in Singapore. They love coming to Australia and have been here several times and they are heading south as they have just completed the loop from Litchfield to Darwin to Kakadu that we are yet to do.

We don't really have a plan for tomorrow but on Friday we are booked on a 40 minute sunset flight around the Katherine region. We are both excited about that one.

Day 22 Mataranka to Katherine NT

 It was another easy day of driving with just 106 kilometres from Mataranka to Katherine so we were in no rush to pack up and leave and didn't get away from Mataranka until 9.30am.  The Sturt Highway seemed to be packed with vans heading both north and south although every van park tells us that the tourist season doesn't start until May.  I don't know about that.  Fuel prices don't seem to have stopped anyone and as Philip pointed out, even with these higher prices it's probably not going to add that much to our overall trip.

As we drove north along the highway storm clouds were gathering in front of us.  Oh how we wish for a downpour of rain that will wash the top of our van.  At least the outside looks fairly clean after it's bath at Boroloola.  

The speed limit in the Northern Territory along the open highway is 130 kmh and I have to say most vehicles are travelling at this speed if they are not towing a van like us.  The road trains are also much longer with four trailers behind them, and thank goodness we haven't had to pass any of them.  I don't think we will ever need to as we are usually travelling a lot slower than them. 

The vegetation on both sides of the road is timbered with the majority of trees being gums.  Around 15kms from Katherine we noticed large stacks of the giant square hay bales that by the look of it had just recently been cut.  Further on we came to the turnoff to the RAAF Base, Tindal that has been here for a very long time.  I'd go as far as saying that it was initially set up in WW2 but don't quote me on that.

As soon as we arrived at the Boab Caravan Park in Katherine, I rang our friends Pam and Raymond but as luck would have it they are currently at their property just outside Toowoomba.  They will be flying home on Sunday so we said we will catch up with them when we return to Katherine on our way to Kununurra. Pam gave me a long list of things to see and do while we are in Katherine.  We are going to be here for four days as we have the car booked into the auto electrician on Friday morning to have a couple of small things changed so we have lots of time up our sleeve.  

According to Pam at the top of the list of things to do was Cutta Cutta Caves around 30km south of Katherine.  We had noticed the signpost as we were heading north and had already said we would go back and as we had nothing planned this afternoon we decided to not wait and just head there. As we approached the information building we noticed that there were no hills in sight so we then realised that the caves were underground. This wasn't a surprise as we know that the under the surface of this vast territory it is like honeycomb with large sink holes opening up in many places.

We paid our entrance fee and had to wait 10 minutes as it is a guided tour and we had to wait for the tour guide to return.  Tours run every hour from 9am to 3pm.  We set off down the path towards the caves.  We had another tour guide with us as a snake was spotted in the very deepest part of the cave that very morning and he was the "snake catcher/chaser".   We were told when we made our purchase that we wouldn't be going to the very end of the cave because of the rogue snake.  I was secretly pleased.  I dislike snakes very much.

At the entrance to the cave I was actually taken aback at how far down we had to go.  The path down into the depths of the caves is well marked and lit and a mesh walkway the whole length means that the floor of the cave is not damaged in any way.  We were also asked to not touch any of the walls of the cave as our hands would leave a grease mark that would harm the cave walls.  Our tour guide turned the lights off at one stage and the cave is absolutely pitch dark so we know that aborigines never inhabited this cave.  Even using fire torches would have been impossible as there is no where for the smoke to escape. 

The deeper we went into the cave the more humid it became to the point that it was almost airless.  This is the perfect environment for all the stalagmites (the upward) and stalactites (the downward).  I was absolutely gobsmacked at this remarkable cave system.  It was just so beautiful and so natural.  Some of the stalactites shine like crystals and some look like fish tails and others like coral. Our guide was very knowledgeable and interesting and it is indeed amazing how the stalactites are formed with just drips of calcium laden water slowly crystallising.  They are very slow at growing and the giant stalactites that we were looking at would have taken a very long time to grow, hundreds of thousands of years if not millions.  It is indeed mind boggling. The guide showed us one new stalactite that was around one inch long and as thick as a pencil and it had taken 70 years to get to this length so you go figure......

The cave was found by accident by a man called John Smith who was driving a mob of cattle from Mataranka to Katherine and when he arrived at Katherine he found that half his mob was missing.  When he backtracked he found them all milling around the entrance to the cave.  The moisture was so high that the cattle thought that they were near water.  

The guides took us as far into the cave as was safe, without running into the rogue snake, so we turned around and made our way back towards the entrance. The exit was even more intriguing as we noticed things that we hadn't seen on the way in.  What a brilliant place and I was actually sad to exit the cave.  At the exit we were shown a path that took us over the top of the cave and we stopped at various information signs along the path to read about this amazing cave system.

Tomorrow we plan to drive out to Katherine Gorge and Edith Falls.  We had thoughts of kayaking through the gorge but our friends asked us to reconsider this as this is crocodile country.  With an inflatable kayak.  I don't think so.......

Day 21 Mataranka, NT

After a leisurely morning of yoga for me and a swim for Philip we made our way to Mataranka Springs.  It is around 10km from where we are staying but this spring is still forms part of the Elsey National Park and also flows into the Rover River.

Mataranka Springs are open to the public but also form part of the Mataranka Homestead Tourist Resort.  We had to walk past the complex to get to the springs and it is a lovely set-up with open air restaurant/bar and they also have nightly entertainment.  It is a lot more "touristy" than where we are staying but if you are looking for more to do this is the place.

The walk to the springs is a short walk across well defined walkways floating above what we presume would be flood plains in the wet.  Once again we are awed by the massive fan palms that soar high above us.  We arrive at the springs and the hoards of people!  Admittedly it is Anzac Day and a public holiday so there was always going to be more people here.  This waterhole is man-made with lots of cement seating running around the perimeter of the lagoon.  The first thing Philip noticed that there was not a spring "smell" like there is at Bitter Springs.  Bitter Springs are much more natural with algae along the edges of the waterhole.  

(This is where the spring bubbles up to the surface).

We made our way into the water.  There are three points to enter and we went to the furtherest.  As we swam to the closest ledge I noticed a gentleman with a GoPro.  I'm interested in buying one so I struck up a conversation with him and his wife.  They were a lovely couple (farmers from Blackbutt) and we shared a lot of information about our upcoming journeys.  They are also heading to Darwin but they are heading to Kakadu first whereas we are going to Lichfield.  Hopefully we will catch up with them again.  We ran into another family that were parked beside us at Daly Waters so it is not uncommon to see the same people over and over.

We stayed a couple of hours before returning to our campsite for a late lunch of "Chop, Chop" Salad and chocolate brownie.  We watched a little Netflix this afternoon before a last swim at Bitter Springs.  I think I prefer Bitter Springs over Mataranka Springs.  It is so much more interesting.  We once again took our snorkel and mask and looked for turtles.  Philip saw one but I completely missed it.

Just a little bit of information about Mataranka.  When I moved to Julia Creek one of the first books I read was "We of the Never Never", an autobiography by Jeanie Gunn.  It was about her life on Elsey Station at Mataranka in the early 1900's. She was one of the first white women to live here and was referred to as the "Little Missus".  I loved that book so much.  It feels a little surreal that I am now at Elsey National Park just a few kilometres from where the Elsey Homestead used to be.  I wonder what Jeanie Gunn would think of Elsey more than a century later.....

Day 20 Mataranka - Bitter Springs

At 12.35 pm last night our air-conditioner stopped working. It could have been earlier but that's when I woke up sweating.  Philip woke too and between the two of us we checked power, fuses and anything else that we could think of.  Nothing would get it going again.  Fortunately by this time of the night it had cooled down slightly so we managed to get back to sleep.

As soon as we woke Philip was up on the roof to see if something might be amiss with wiring to the air-conditioner.  Overnight we had been invaded by Singapore Ants that are apparently everywhere in the NT and we thought that they might have been the problem but we won't know until we get to an air-conditioning specialist in Katherine.  We sprayed insect spray all around the outside of the van and we now seem to be on top of them.

Today I decided to wash all the linen while we had access to a large washing machine and clothes line right beside our site and as I was waiting for the washing to finish I had a thought about the air-conditioner.  Whenever you ring a technician with a problem with any product the first thing they ask you is "have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again".  I asked Philip to humour me and disconnect completely from our power source, wait 1 minute, and connect to the power.  It worked!  Our air-conditioner is now working perfectly again.  The van park owners told us when we checked in that the whole area had been having power problems with lots of brown outs and we can only presume that is what happened last night and the air-conditioner didn't like it so switched into safe mode.

We once again walked down to the springs twice today for a glide through the waters.  This time we took our full face snorkel masks with us.  They worked a treat and we were able to spot turtles while we quietly slipped by.  The bottom of the lagoon is also quite different while looking through a mask.  In the area where the turtles live there is a lot of weed that the turtles are presumably feeding on whereas other areas are more tree stumps and rocks.  The bottom is also sandy in parts and other parts full of leaf litter.  I just can't describe to you how crystal clear these waters are.  It really is quite beautiful.

I cooked up a roast leg of lamb in the Weber for lunch today.  It was the one that we bought at Boroloola. Gosh it was good and we had a craving for vegetables so I also chopped up a good selection of vegetables to roast along with the lamb.  Of course I made a gravy to go with it all.

We are staying another night here at Bitter Springs and tomorrow we will go to Mataranka Springs.  They tell us that they are not as natural as Bitter Springs with lots of cement seating but nonetheless they are apparently still worth a visit.  I will let you know.

Day 19 Daly Waters to Bitter Springs, Mataranka

 After we packed down the van this morning we went for a little walk around Daly Waters.  It is only one street block long so you would think there would not be a lot to see but this little town really knows how to turn it on for the tourist.  The street is jam packed full of interest.  We came across Ned Kelly, then on to the shell of a helicopter with its own toilet.  Further on we found a water buffalo and of course there is the pub with all its quirkiness.  It is such a great town and it's no wonder the tourists flock here.

It was another easy driving day for us with just 162km to Mataranka.  Once again we listened to the very helpful information from other travellers.  We talked to a family from Darwin as we we were walking the street of Daly Waters and they said that the van park at Bitter Springs was definitely the best one to stay at, so that was our choice.

Mataranka is a vey small town but surprisingly there are two service stations, a supermarket, two variety stores and of course the obligatory pub.  We stocked up on a few things at the supermarket and found pool noodles at the variety store.  At $6.50 each they were the most expensive pool noodles in Australia but we will need them for the springs.

Downtown Mataranka

Our caravan park was just a couple of kilometres from the town centre and the owners were just the most helpful we have found.  We were guided to our site by one of the owners and we asked for a site with satellite coverage.  We were given a choice but looking at the multiple trees we knew we were not going to receive a satellite signal.  It's not a problem for us. The more days on the road the less we want to know what is going on in the rest of the world.  Days seem to just glide by and we have to remind each other every morning what day it is. 😁

We picked up some homemade Mataranka pies from one of the stores while we were there so that was our lunch today.  Man, they were good.  We shared a Curry Pie and Steak and Onion Pie.  I had also made a quick mix, quick bake chocolate brownie so we had that for dessert.  We had a rest after lunch and at around mid afternoon we grabbed our noodles and made our way to Bitter Springs.  It's not far.  I'd say 500 metres.  

What a beautiful place.  It is so well laid out with good paths leading to the area where you glide into the warm water from the pontoon. I reckon it was around 30 degrees that is a perfect temperature for me.  You float downstream for maybe 500 metres and there is another landing with steps for you to get out of the water. Hand on heart, it is probably the most relaxing thing I have ever done.  As you float along in the crystal clear water you hear birds chirping, some even joining you in your drift.  Dragonflies silently fly by and you are mesmerised by the crystal clear water below you.  Water Lillies adorn the waters and pandanus palms line the waters edge.  There are also paperbarks but the most prolific trees are the giant fan palms. 

You are disappointed when you reach the end but it's just a short walk back to the starting point to do it all again.  We did it three times before looking at our watch and seeing that it was 5.00pm!  We will go back tomorrow morning before breakfast and perhaps again tomorrow afternoon.  I am addicted.  We are booked in to this van park for two nights but already we have decided to extend it out.  There are a couple more springs in the area that we think we will drive to on Monday.  

Day 18 Boroloola to Daly Waters, NT

We smashed out 382km’s today from Boroloola to Daly Waters, along a road that looked like this for 90% of the way……
 

Pretty much miles of nothing.
We left Boroloola around 8.30am and arrived into Daly Waters at 2.30pm.  We had a couple of stops along the way for coffee break and then lunch break. The road is bitumen but 80% of it is a single lane.  Although this photo shows a straight road there were plenty of winding sections where you had to slow down just in case there was a car approaching from the opposite direction.  We only meet a couple of road trains and would you believe it both times were on a narrow bridge.  Both times we were able to stop in time for the truck to pass.  Those trucks stop for no one and certainly don’t slow down!
Arriving into Daly Waters is like an oasis in the middle of nowhere.  We decided to stay at the Daly Waters Pub Camping Area after reading lots of recommendations.  It was the right choice.  The check-in process is fantastic and we are guided to our site by a gentleman driving around in a side-by-side.  We were surprised at just how many people were here and asked if there was a campdraft/rodeo on this week-end but no, it’s just a very popular place.  We are used to having the van parks to ourselves and not used to parking so close to someone.  I commented to the family beside us that we could shake each others hands through our respective windows!

 When we checked in the receptionist told us that “happy hour” was between 4-6pm with meals starting at 6.00pm.  We arrived around 5.00pm and the pub was very busy.  I’m not surprised with beers at $4/midi it’s very cheap.  On another recommendation we ordered the Steak & Barra.  We were a bit hesitant about the size but both the steak and barra were 200g and as we were quite hungry so we demolished them!

The pub is very quirky with lots of interesting memorabilia in every nook, crany  and rafter.  You would need a week of Sundays to go through it all.  We have already decided that tomorrow morning we will take a better look before we leave.

There was live entertainment that started as the meals were being served and the husband/wife team were very good.  They sang a little of everything including a set for the kids that was a nice touch.  We didn’t stay to long as we both had a restless night last night for some unknown reason and as I type this blog we are both yawning.

 
Tomorrow is Mataranka Hot Springs. Can’t wait.