Travel to Australia

Day 20 Katherine gorge (333 Km.)

(in 30 Km.) Adelaide River: This town was the main pillar of defense of Darwin during World War II, reason why it underwent bombings of the Japanese after 1942. The most interesting thing of the town is its war cemetery. To the south of the town, through very rugged roads you can access Robin Falls, Douglas Hot Springs (bubbles come 40 degrees from the creek bed) or to the isolated Butterfly gorge.

(in 114 Km.) Pine Creek: Scenario of the first gold rush of the Territory has retained its colonial appearance. Unfortunately the gold was in the rock and not in the river beds. As it was a very hard work, many abandoned. The lack of labor was solved by bringing cheap Chinese labor. Fear of Asian domination (the number of Chinese workers was eight times greater than that of Europeans at that time) led to their being banned from entering the Territory in 1888. The Miners Park exposes the harsh mining tools of 100 years ago.

(in 68 Km.) Edith Falls: To the southwest of Pine Creek is the Umbrawarra gorge, crossed by a stream and full of ponds in which to take a bath. But about 20 kilometers across the highway are the Edith Falls, halfway to Katherine, which are much more interesting. The waterfalls, inside the Nitmiluk National Park, fall into a lake surrounded by forest around which a 5 km circuit can be made. From here you can also walk on a 66 km track. to Katherine's gorge.

(in 91 Km.) Katherine gorge: The main attraction of Nitmiluk National Park is the 12 km gorge. excavated by the river Katherine through the plateau of the Land of Arnhem. Often described as thirteen gorges, it is actually a continuous crack that winds along fault lines and is separated during the dry season by large rocks. You can take boat trips on the river, surrounded by orange cliffs, or tour it with canoe. There are also many marked trails.

You can make the steep walk of 400 m. from the pier to a viewpoint at the top of a cliff that allows you to see the first gorge from the river from above. There are 2-hour cruises to the second gorge, a 4-hour cruise to the third ravine and an 8-hour safari to the sixth. You can also make helicopter flights over the gorge. To go canoeing, you have to take it along long boulders, and the water stretches are shorter as you go up. To get to the thirteenth throat, the easiest thing is to leave the canoe in the fifth and swim or walk for the last 2 km.

(in 30 Km.) Katherine: It is essentially a town crossed by the Stuart Highway, which becomes Katherine Terrace, the main street. There are most stores and services. Going down 3 km along the Victoria Highway are really hot springs. There is a small hike to the Low Level Nature Park, a pleasant place to take a walk, bathe or go canoeing on the river surrounded by panda. 27 km south of the town you can visit the two caves of Cutta Cutta Caves (Cutta Cutta and Tindal).