N: Nitimulik (Katherine) Gorge and Litchfield NP

N:

On arriving at Nitimulik (Katherine) Gorge we were all hot and bothered, so immediately after setting up camp we went to the swimming hole. We where staying here for two nights on a powered site. The next day we would be going on a canoe trip up to the first gorge, where wee could swim and look at indigenous paintings.

We got up early as we were due down there at 8. We had breakfast and then went to down to the boat ramp to board our canoes. After mum and I finally worked as one, we rowed down the river, most sandy banks of the river were fresh water crocodile breeding areas. After a short stop on a rocky area we proceeded down the river to the first gorge where large boats and smaller boats were moored. After getting all our things out of barrels we found ourselves a shady spot and jumped in. In the middle of the river there was a rock protruding about a metre above the water and on the opposite side a ledge to get up on. We jumped off it several times and then had a look at the rock art. On the way back Georgie and Dad sped off while I was pulling mum in the canoe along so I could get on. Mum and I paced it hard enough to catch them and a race was declared; mum and I got a lead but George and Dad were hard on our tails. After some mishaps, the canoes thudded as they collided at halfway mum and got out in the lead again after the collision and got around ten metres tip to tip but the gap was closing, fortunately the line came in refuge of two buoys strung 20m apart. We unloaded and went for a swim while trying to get blood back into our legs. The water was cool and refreshing, we then went for a steep 1km walk up to a look out where views down the river were seen and light was shed on rock formations and aboriginal heritage.

We packed up on an absolute scorcher of a day and then drove back into town were we got petrol and did the weekly shopping, that night we went to Douglas Daly Tourist Park we only spotted it in a magazine and thought that’s where we’re going. After setting up we went to find the thermal pool, we found a sign saying twin pools but wasn’t it and after some more exploring we found it was just about body temperature was great to swim in. The next day Georgie and I went down to the thermal pool and waited until mum then dad came after dad had a swim we went down to the arches where you could float through into the waterhole at the arches there were two ways to go and thank goodness we chose the right one because it was the right one a log sat wedge between the rock that we had to swim under. The waterhole was not great but served to cool us down. The walk back was hot and we cooled off in the thermal pool. We packed up the next day and drove to Litchfield national park where the camping choices were either Buley's Rockhole, Florence Falls or Wangi Falls (pronounced one guy). We had a look at Florence falls campground, and Buley’s Rockhole Campground but neither suited our needs. The heat was blistering so we had a swim at Florence Falls, which was great. We then moved on to Wangi which was perfect, we set up and then went and had a swim, there were two falls. On one, if you climbed up a bit there was a deep pool up on the rock face! The next day we swam and did a 1km walk that walked through monsoon forests which where home to thousands of Flying Foxes. When we got back we slumped back into the water. The next day we packed up, had a swim and set off to Darwin! 42ks was unsealed but I felt somewhat at home while bumping along on the corrugations.