Katherine Gorge

After touring the Victoria River region we arrived at the town of Katherine which is described as being the crossroads for travellers north, south and west and prides itself on being the ‘adventure’ capital of The Territory.  It is situated on the Katherine River in the ‘top end’, 320 kilometres south-east of Darwin.

Kayaking the Katherine River

Katherine boasts ten national parks and six rivers in the region and offers fisherman the opportunity to catch a ‘barra’ in the Daly, Victoria, Roper or Limmen Rivers. It is also ideally located only 30 Kms to Nitmiluk National Park and the magnificent Katherine Gorge, which consists of 13 natural gorges carved through sandstone by the Katherine River.

Katherine – 10 Things to See & Do

1. Paddle up the Katherine Gorge in a canoe or take a guided boat cruise with one of the tour operators.
   

   Katherine Gorge

2. Bush walk on one of the marked walking trails in Nitmiluk National Park.
3. Drive 46 Kms north of Katherine to Leilyn (Edith Falls) and hike along the 2.6 Km trail to the upper pool and waterfall.  Enjoy a refreshing swim in the rock pool.

Edith Falls

4.  Explore the Cutta Cutta Caves, a limestone formation of stalacites and stalagmites, just 27 Kms south of Katherine.

5.  Bathe in the idyllic 32 degree C pools at Katherine Hot Springs just 5 minutes from the centre of town.

Katherine Hot Springs

6.  Cycle on the path along the Katherine River which flows through town from Low Level Nature Reserve to Knotts Crossing.

7.  Take a snapshot in front of the Katherine icon, a one and a half life size bronze statue of Sabu Peter Sing, a skilled bushman, horseman and stockman.

Stockman Statue in Katherine

8.  Visit the Katherine Museum for an insight into the early history of the Katherine Region.

9.  Experience early station life at the Springvale Homestead established in 1879, the oldest original homestead in the ‘top end’.

Springvale Homestead

10. Take in the indigenous and non-indigenous art and culture at the contemporary Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts & Culture Centre.

Mataranka

Mataranka is known as the ‘Capital of the Never Never’.  This area was home to Aeneas and Jeanie Gunn, who wrote the famous book about Elsey Station titled ‘We of the Never Never’.

The Mataranka township, which  sounds a bit like a Latin dance, sits on the upper reaches of the Roper River, an hour’s drive south-east of Katherine and is home to the hot spring pools of both Bitter Springs and the Mataranka Thermal Pools.

Mataranka Hotel

Things to See & Do Include:

1. Watch the big Barramundi fish being hand-fed at the Territory Manor at 9.30 am and 1.00 pm daily.
   

   Barra Feeding

2. Float down the tropical spring-fed and mineral-rich thermal pools of Bitter Springs which are only 2 Kms out of town.
   

   Bitter Springs Thermal Pools

3. Wander through the Elsey Homestead replica of the original homestead constructed for the filming of the movie classic ‘We of the Never Never’.
   

   Elsey Homestead

4. Hire a canoe or launch your boat and cruise down the Roper River through the Livistona Palm fringed emerald green waters which are home to the famous Barramundi.
   

   Roper River

5. Check out the giant Termite Mound at Stan Martin Park and the life sized statues of the characters from the book and film ‘We of the Never Never’.
   

   We of the Never Never Characters

6. Go for a stroll on the boardwalks through lush green rainforest to Mataranka Thermal Pools and enjoy a dip in the 34 degree C waters of the sand bottomed pools.
   

   Mataranka Thermal Pool Walk

I thoroughly enjoyed every adventure-filled minute of our time spent in Katherine and Mataranka.  Who would have thought that there would be crystal clear warm thermal pools to dip into, or verdant green rainforests to walk through, or refreshing waterholes at the bottom of waterfalls to swim in, or deep river gorges carved through sandstone to meander down by boat or canoe?  I had no idea that there was so much astounding natural beauty and interesting places to see in the ‘top end’ of The Territory.

Linking up to Travel Photo Thursday