Katherine

Thursday 17 July

This morning we moved caravan parks. We are now staying at Knotts Crossing Resort in Katherine. We have our own ensuite site. This is a really nice park.

Jesse and Emily went out today with some friends we met a while back. They have just arrived in Katherine. They went to a kids day which was held in Katherine and everything was free. The kids all got their face painted and won some fluffy teddies. Emily was happy with now she has more stuffed toys to sleep with. Jesse gave his away to some young kid that missed out on getting one.

The kids even made the front page of the Katherine newspaper with their faces painted.

Katherine

Wednesday 16 July

Today we went on a boat ride along the Katherine Gorge. We did the three gorges tour. It really was beautiful. The kids got to swim in part of Katherine Gorge as there was no crocs in this area.

We saw a few fresh water crocs along the way. The fresh water are not the dangerous ones, it is the salt water.

We also caught up with our friends Alan, Julie and the kids to say goodbye as they are leaving tomorrow to go to Darwin.



this is used to capture any salt water crocs that may come into the gorge. The use a pigs head as bait. It does not happen very often and usually not in the dry season.

These are some bats.

This is where the crocs go and lay there eggs. You can see the path that they have made.

Aboriginal art.

Kids swimming in Katherine Gorge.


Katherine Gorge


This is were the tv commercial with Daryl Sommers was filmed a few years ago promoting the Northern Territory. You might remember it as him saying you will never never know if you never never go.

Katherine

Monday 14th July-Tuesday 15th July

Today we arrived in Katherine. We are staying at the Heritage Caravan Park. This caravan park is very busy and they have packed a lot of caravans in. We don't like it here very much as it is too busy.

We have the Katherine hot springs behind the caravan park which is good. These springs are really nice to swim in. I forgot to take some photos of it so I will have to get a photo when we return here on our way to Western Australia.

Our computer crashed on us tonight, so we have to send it back to be repaired as it is under warranty. This is why I am so behind on our blog.

We went up to the main shopping area of Katherine for a look and did some grocery shopping.

It is really good when you see a supermarket after not having one for a while. It is good to stock up on supplies again and to buy some fresh bread.

Mataranka

Sunday 13th July

Today we decided to go for a walk to the Mataranka Falls. It was supposed to be a 4.2km walk. We have done lots of walking and it was not a 4.2km walk, it was longer. It was a hot day and we were all exhausted.

We got to the falls and were a little disapointed as we were told you could swim but we could not find any swimming hole there.


Our little friends outside our caravan.

Having a rest on our walk


Mataranka Falls

Mataranka

Saturday 12th July

Today we went to have a look at the homestead that was used in the movie We of the Never Never. Afterwards we went to watch the barramundi feeding. You can see by the photo how big the barramundi is. He holds food above the water and waits for the fish to grab hold of it

We also went to look at the museum, and the bitter springs which is a tropical pool.

We took the kids fishing, they did not catch anything but they had fun. Jesse is really liking fishing.

Homestead used in the movie, We of the Never Never

Jesse fishing

Barramundi feeding

Mataranka

Friday 11th July

Today we went swimming at the Mataranka Springs. The water is about 27 degrees. It gets very busy here as they have tour buses running all day.

We had dinner with our friends tonight. They cooked the roast beef/lamb and we cooked the vegies. It was nice to have a roast dinner.




Thermal springs

Mataranka

Thursday 10th July

We left Roper River this morning and we were driving for about hour before we realised that we were going the wrong way. We only realised when we saw a sign saying "you are now on aboriginal land and that you need a permit to keep going"
We ended up turning around, and we drove through two creek crossings.
It was nice to be finally driving back on the black top roads, we have been driving for days now on the dusty corrugations.

We arrived at Mataranka today. It will be nice to finally have power and phone service again. We are staying at the Mataranka Homestead. Mataranka is known as the capital of the Never Never. It is home of Aeneas and Jeannie Gunn. Jeannie Gunn wrote the book We of the Never Never. There also was a movie made.