Sun 17th: Katherine - Darwin
Another 7.15 start to the trip and we were on our way to the Katherine Gorge in the Nitmiluk National Park. Sooooo many fruit bats to greet us. If they weren't so valuable to their ecology, Australians would have them eradicated.
We were very thankful to be the first boat out as on our return from our second Gorge the magic had been obliterated by way too many tourists. Peter and I have done Katherine Gorge before but this trip was enhanced by a comedian of an Aboriginal boatman who was so knowledgeable as well as hysterically funny. "This rock art dates back 50,000 years, last Tuesday."
"The Katherine River rises 6 metres in the wet season but sometimes there is a 1 in 1000 year flood." You can see the velocity of the water by the horizontal lie of the trees, comparable to the angle of the growth of the trees in the Catlins.
There are 13 gorges in the park and 43 species of fish in the Katherine River. The Jawoyn People (the custodians) know when the croc and the turtles lay their eggs by when the kapok tree pods burst open.
We had lunch at Maysey's at Pine Creek, famed for their mango smoothies which tempted me.
Our next stop was the Adelaide River War Cemetry on the Stuart Highway. This was suitably manicured.
And so into Darwin which has been all but destroyed twice, once in WWII and again in 1974 by Cyclone Tracey on Christmas Eve. We were driven around the city to appreciate the magnificent rebuild. Hopefully Christchurch will materialise comparably.
There was just a slither of time for us to move into our magnificent apartment in the Mantra on the Esplanade and change for our tour dinner at Wharf One on Darwin Harbour. I just couldn't resist nibbling some of the food and a mouthful of the wine.
Today (18th) I have paid the price and am looking seriously at a dry water cracker with a smear of vegemite (the best they can do while Peter explores wonderful Aviation Heritage Museums and the like. However it has given me opportunity to catch up on this blog. Don't look for photos from me for toy. There aren't any. You know what a dry cracker looks like.