NITMILUK NATIONAL PARK

17^th August, 2012

Less than an hour’s drive east of Kununurra is the border between West Australia and the Northern Territory.

Crossing the border

There are no quarantine regulations heading east so all the fruit and veggies we stocked up on in Kununurra are safe.  We continued east all day and stopped for the night in a rest area and by 10am were rolling into the town of Katherine.  It has been 25 years since we were last in the Northern Territory and things have definitely changed in town.  There were only a few buildings along the main street then with a park where the local aboriginals were hanging out.  The park is still there but a full-on Saturday market was taking place and the main street sported both a Coles and Woolworths supermarket along with a variety of other shops and takeaways.  And you just know that a town has hit a certain benchmark when you see a McDonalds around the corner.  We stop for fuel and then head east for 30 kms to Nitmiluk National Park.  Here the spectacular Katherine Gorge forms the backbone of the 2920 sq km National Park.  A series of 13 deep sandstone gorges have been carved out by the Katherine River on its journey to the Timor Sea.  We pull into the Visitor Centre (which wasn’t here 25 years ago) and book a 1pm cruise up the gorge.  On Australia Day in 1998 the raging floodwaters of the Katherine River inundated the town up to a height of 2 metres and saltwater crocodiles cruised up and down the main street.  The camping ground that used to be further up the river in the National Park was virtually swept away so it was relocated to higher ground up near the visitor centre.   At 1pm the boat arrives to take us on our tour up the gorge.

Our tour boat arrives

As we head up the gorge a croc trap comes into view. 

Croc trap in Katherine Gorge

The rangers do a clean-up of any saltwater crocodiles that have managed to swim up the river in the wet and keep the cage handy in case any strays wander in.  The ‘salties’ they catch are taken to the crocodile farm near Darwin.  Of course there are lots of freshwater crocodiles in the river but we keep getting reassured by rangers and tour guides that ‘freshies’ don’t like us humans.  Yeah … we know that but has anyone told the ‘freshies’?  We motor on up the river through the first gorge

Heading up the first gorge

until we come to a rock barricade.  From here we have to hop off the boat and walk a few hundred metres to the second gorge where another boat awaits.  Twenty five years ago we (us and our 14 year old daughter Tina and 13 year old son Trent) clambered over all the rocks to get to the next gorge.  This time it was much easier with concrete pathways and boardwalks making the transition from boat to boat much easier.

Boardwalk in Katherine Gorge

The thousands of years old aboriginal paintings are still visible high up on a cliff face.

Aboriginal paintings in Katherine Gorge

We were wondering how on earth the artists managed to do their paintings as it was a sheer cliff face with no ledges to support an ant let alone a human being.  Then it was explained to us that the rocks on which the artists had stood to do their paintings had long since eroded away and crashed to the gorge floor.  This makes a lot more sense than our theory which sort of had the artists balancing on stilts.  The view back down the gorge was just as spectacular

View down the river from the second gorge

as the view up the gorge.

View of the second gorge

The first bend in the second gorge brought us past Jedda’s Rock or Jedda’s Leap.

Jedda's Rock

In the 1950’s the first Australian film starring aboriginals in lead roles was produced.  The film was called Jedda and is now an Australian classic.  The boat continued up the gorge

The sandstone cliffs of Katherine Gorge

and sandwiched us in between sandstone cliffs.

Cliffs along the second gorge

Of course we just couldn’t leave out a photo of a freshwater crocodile.  This ‘freshie’ was quite fat and around 8 foot long.  It’s amazing how they blend into the landscape.

Can you see the 'freshie'?

It’s not until you get really close that you can see their distinctive markings and toothy grins.

Just sunbaking .....

Then it was time to retrace our steps back down the gorge and enjoy the scenery all over again.

The beauty of Katherine Gorge

It was 3.30pm when we got back to the car park so we decided to head sixty kilometres north and camp at Edith Falls for the night.  The falls are also situated in Nitmiluk National Park and we arrived in time to snaffle up one of the last remaining camp sites.  We took a walk down to the falls and were surprised to see a large gravel sandbar in the pond at the bottom of the falls.

Gravel bar across the pond at Edith Falls

Twenty five years ago this sandbar did not exist but in the ‘wet’ two years ago the water raged over the falls flooding the whole area downstream and when the water level subsided the gravel sandbar had been created.  The falls however have not changed and there were quite a few people braving the icy cold water.

Swimmers at Edith Falls

This time around we didn’t see any ‘freshies’ in the water but the signs still advise one to be careful as this is their pond and their creek.  In the morning we take a stroll down to the falls for one last look before heading further north.

Edith Falls

This has been quite an interesting experience for us – revisiting places we have not visited for quarter of a century.  Have we been disappointed in the changes we have seen?  No – we are not.  Change and growth is inevitable and the control and management of the National Park seems to be headed in the right direction.  May these natural wonders remain as accessible as they are right now so that future generations can enjoy them just as much as we have.