Nitmiluk

Our next stop was Nitmiluk National Park (Katherine Gorge), an easy 25 minute drive from Katherine. Keep River to Katherine was one of our bigger driving days; 490km taking about 6 hours.

Nitmiluk was a late addition to our itinerary. On our last trip with the kids in 2022 we visited Leliyn (Edith Falls) which is also within Nitmiluk NP, so it made sense to see a different part.

We stayed in the unpowered section of the privately run Nitmiluk Tours campground. It was a lovely, open and grassy area where we could choose our own spot. It was surprisingly quiet. 

 And it had a pool. This was a welcome addition as it was really starting to get HOT. As for all resort pools, this one was freezing cold. 

The tear in the Patrol's front left tyre wasn't going to fix itself and the tyres overall were looking a bit scrappy so Andy booked her in for a tyre change in Katherine. Although a bit of a pain, as we would all be heading into Katherine to mill about while the new tyres were being put on, as well as pricey, it provided some peace of mind for the next leg of our trip requiring 4WD capabilities.

Knowing we would be going in to "town' the next day took the pressure off a big shop and restock with a full car. We saved our chores for tomorrow.

And happy days! All taps at Nitmiluk caravan park were safe for drinking, striking one (big) job off our list of domestic chores for Katherine.

Andy dropped the kids and I at a big shaded playground near the footy oval, while he headed to the tyre place with his new e-reader he had just picked up at Katherine PO. 

Many years ago we ran into Wally and Margaret Bower from Dangar Island who would become dear family friends in the years to follow, at this same PO.  I think Andy and I were {most likely} waiting for the bottle shop to open, and they were there to make a report about an accident they had witnessed. It prompted us to contact Wally (Margaret has sadly passed away) and he was delighted to hear from us and take a quick trip down memory lane with us.

 Huge undercover play space to themselves.

After an hour or so at the play space we decided to walk to town and the visitors centre for coffee and iced chocolate treats.

 Espresso coffee and iced chocolates or milkshakes were one of our rarest treats, making them all the more special when we had them.

We have a fantastic coffee machine at home and it would be fairly normal for me to start the day (and my heart) with a double-double piccolo, followed by more as the day goes on. This trip enforced a drastic reduction in my espresso intake, no doubt a health benefit. My coffee intake on this adventure has largely been limited to Moccona instant ( I don't even have a preferred 'intensity', I just buy what's on sale!) made with thermos water boiled the previous night, and long life milk. One of the many compromises we made so this adventure could happen.

Iced chocolates were delicious.

 A Gouldian Finch adorning a flag near Katherine Hot Springs. These birds live in this region and I was still hopeful that we would see some. They are such attractive little birds, and just about every local brochure is adorned with them raising my hopes even higher. We still have not seen any.

As we were in town we decided to check out Katherine Hot Springs once the Patrol was ready. We lunched out of the back of the car in the car park before getting changed and heading down to the creek for a soak. These natural thermal springs areon the banks of the Katherine River, within the Katherine township, and comprise of a series of clear pools framed by native vegetation. The water is between 25-30C and we felt cold on getting out! It was such a great spot that we stayed for ages

After soaking in the hot springs we did the shopping and headed back out to our camp in the National Park.

The kids and I walked up to a lookout with magnificent views over the Katherine River and gorge. It was pretty hot and the track was a steep one, but the views were phenomenal.

 A steep walk up

 but the views make it all worthwhile.

The walks here at Nitmiluk are generally long and exposed so we opted to do a morning cruise instead. We did the 2 gorge cruise at sunrise on day two at Nitmiluk. 

 Sunrise over Katherine River

 Fresh start to the morning. It was very quiet and peaceful on the river. To access the second gorge, we disembarked the first boat, walked a short distance over ancient rock, and boarded a second boat. Our guide provided commentary with a good mix of aboriginal and white Australian history. 

 Glass on the river as the sun comes up

 It was a beautiful morning and the colours of the gorge changed and came to life as the sun climbed higher in the sky. 

As I mentioned the afternoons were pretty hot and getting the kids to do much physical activity in the heat, aside from swimming, was fraught with complaints and moping. We decided to head back into Katherine for some more hot spring action where we ran into some of our new travel friends!

 Fun for all the family at Katherine Hot Springs.

We very happily spent another couple of hours swim-soaking here.

The kids went exploring further up the creek and discovered another access pool. They could then float down the creek. What a wonderland to explore as a kid!

 Floating down the creek.

The bird life in Nitmiluk NP was impressive, and noisy at times. We saw northern rosellas,  blue winged kookaburras, great bowerbirds, corellas, varied and red-collared lorikeets, some sacred? kingfishers, a pair of white bellied sea eagles, rainbow bee eaters and red winged parrots. These are the flashy, easy to spot birds and there were lots of them around. We also heard dingoes howling at night, much to Jemma's terror.

 Charismatic blue winged kookaburras were common in the campground. They are smaller overall than the laughing ones, with bright blue wings and enormous bills.

 The impressive bower of a Great Bowerbird. While not that impressive to look at these birds have a different superpower - they are incredible mimics. And it would seem, based on my limited exposure, that different birds specialise in different sounds. A great bowerbird we met at Lake Argyle was mimicking a whistling kite, and here at Nitmiluk they were mimicking the kookaburras. Clever!

Our three nights at Nitmiluk were done and dusted. We had a much nicer stay than we anticipated ( don't believe every review you read, eh!). There is lots to see and do, namely walks, that we that need to park  for a future visit. It was time to fill the water jerries and pack up again and head into the wild once more.