Kununurra to Katherine
After a bit of shopping and getting ready for the next part of our trip, we left Kununurra on the Victoria Highway, en route to Katherine crossing over the border into the Northern Territory. We had lunch at Timber Creek and decided to stay for one night at Victoria River, in the Gregory National Park. We visited the Durack Memorial, a tribute to the pioneering families who worked with the aboriginal people to establish a thriving cattle industry for the region. We stopped at the Bradfield Bridge on the Victoria River (defence area beyond) and then went up to a lookout where there was a memorial to the men and horses of the The North Australian Observation Unit, known as The Nackeroos, which was the concept for a group of “bush commandos” to watch over Northern Australia after the Japanese bombing of the top end and the North West. The unit employed 550 men and included 59 aboriginal people. Their task was to patrol the northern coastal areas. The aboriginal people were employed for horse breaking and tailing, clearing air strips, collecting paperbark for hut construction and general labouring. Most importantly they served as guides for reconnaissance patrols, and their bush skills helped the Nackaroos survive, teaching the soldiers how to supplement their army rations with bush tucker.
After a bit of shopping and getting ready for the next part of our trip, we left Kununurra on the Victoria Highway, en route to Katherine crossing over the border into the Northern Territory. We had lunch at Timber Creek and decided to stay for one night at Victoria River, in the Gregory National Park. We visited the Durack Memorial, a tribute to the pioneering families who worked with the aboriginal people to establish a thriving cattle industry for the region. We stopped at the Bradfield Bridge on the Victoria River (defence area beyond) and then went up to a lookout where there was a memorial to the men and horses of the The North Australian Observation Unit, known as The Nackeroos, which was the concept for a group of “bush commandos” to watch over Northern Australia after the Japanese bombing of the top end and the North West. The unit employed 550 men and included 59 aboriginal people. Their task was to patrol the northern coastal areas. The aboriginal people were employed for horse breaking and tailing, clearing air strips, collecting paperbark for hut construction and general labouring. Most importantly they served as guides for reconnaissance patrols, and their bush skills helped the Nackaroos survive, teaching the soldiers how to supplement their army rations with bush tucker.
Gregory National Park is very rugged and beautiful country. A lot of roadwork is taking place to raise the level of some of the bridges over the Victoria Highway and provide access for more months of the year. At the Victoria River Roadhouse we got to meet our neighbours, a couple from Cairns (Dean and Anya) who were travelling from Cairns to Broome via the Savannah Highway and the Gibb River Road on a tandem cycle! What was even more amazing was that Dean had serious back problems and has to have constant treatment on the way. They were most interesting and great company, and a bit humbling for us who were travelling in a comfortable AWD car. You may even hear of them via ABC radio interviews.
We arrived at our accommodation in Katherine and although we had booked a powered site, we were able to get a cabin for two nights, so quickly changed our booking. Katherine is a bit of a sad town with a lot of aboriginals just hanging around the hotels in the centre.
We were able to book a cruise for the next day up the Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge, home of the Jawoyn people, so drove up early and headed out to the Visitor’s Centre where there are informative displays outlining the geology, landscape and Aboriginal history of the National Park. After lunch we joined a two gorge cruise with an aboriginal tour guide. His commentary was very informative and we heard lots about the history of the area, how things have changed over thousands of years and stories of his people. The boat took us up the first gorge boarded and then we walked over to the next gorge, seeing some of the rock art from the area and then joined another boat to cruise up the second gorge and back. Again we saw some beautiful and different scenery. In the second gorge we saw the rock that was used in the film “Jedda”. We also saw some marks from the 1999 floods and it is hard to imagine the volume of water that comes through the gorges in flood times. On the way back to the first boat one of the guides had caught a tree snake.
We also saw a few fresh water crocodiles on the banks. The area is known mostly for the fresh water crocs but occasionally they get a salties up there, and try to monitor the situation with crocodile cages. The gorges are also very popular for canooists and we saw many in both gorges. Each of the gorges are different in their own way. The first gorge is more open and the second one has steeper walls so seems more enclosed. Some cruises do three gorges. There are 13 gorges in all but only a few available to the public. There are some walks which take in some of the gorges as well. Heinz enjoyed a dip in the gorge on the way back.
While at the caravan park we met up with a guy who is employed by the Australian Quarantine Services (and Customs) and was there solely to clear the American Airforce personnel who were coming in for some joint operations with the Australian Defence Forces. After waiting a couple of days he found they had all been cleared in Darwin (so much for our Defence/Customs co-ordination) so headed back there. However, he had lived and worked in the NT for some time and gave us some very good information about Kakadu and other areas to visit.
