It’s a sure thing that if you have an iconic tourist destination like Katherine Gorge, and it’s only 30 km from the rather urban town of Katherine (they even have a McDonalds!), and the road is sealed, then you can bet there’ll be plenty of punters there. Nonetheless, the co-management by traditional land owners and National Parks is well done here in Nitmuluk NP. The information centre is excellent offering many options for visitors and lots of info for those that are self sufficient, and the camping options are many. There’s a pool surrounded by green grass and lots of shade. And the washing machines are FREE! I did two loads, and the toasty weather here means that once you’ve pegged out the last item, you can go back to the other end of the line and start bringing the washing in!

John and the boys took the Mango for an adventure up the Katherine River and the Gorges and I got the last seat on the Tommy Tourist Cruise boat.

My cruise saw a freshwater croc –

And some ancient aboriginal painting, way up high above the water line.

It’s a wide gorge, with safe swimming at lots of places. I’d love to see the river raging through during the wet season 10 metres higher than this:

And my bird photo for the day – a kookaburra, um – dare I say? – sitting in the old gum tree.

Meanwhile, the boy team got way up to Gorge 6 (my cruise went to Gorge 3). They had to portage several times between gorges.

Below is Gorge 6 camping site. There weren’t too many fellow paddlers this far up the river.

The boy team was back at camp by about 3.30pm – ready for a pool session!

They had a great time, and John said they were champion paddlers. Well done boys – 23km today.