29 June 2011 - Katherine, N.T. Australia

Flying Foxes



Jan at Lily Pond falls

 An early awakening by lots of birds on our last morning at Mary River, so I was out with the camera anxious to photograph & identify some new ones.  The very raucous cries of a flock of  blue-winged kookaburras, plus the red-tailed black cockatoos is not what one would call musical.  For all that it is marvellous to see them flying over even though they are  far too quick to snap.  Thankfully they weren't the only bird life around, & the trees around the caravans were filled with small birds singing & chirruping to their hearts consent.  Managed to snap a few in order to identify, but sadly they are not good enough photographs to display.  Among them one which sounded not unlike our Tui , but  I think was smaller,  & black, white & blue.  Also a blue-faced honeyeater.  I'm sure lots of them were honeyeaters of one variety or another as there are so many different ones.  Most I still have not managed to identify even with our trusty  Field Guide of Australian Birds, so I will be kept in suspense until I can find someone more expert than I.

The highway is now extremely busy with  caravans as the official ' season' starts 1st July.  We believe in the time we left Darwin a week ago, the caravan parks have filled up to capacity & will probably stay that way till August.  Thank goodness it wasn't like that when we were there.    As we were returning down the Stuart Highway the way we originally went north, it was a bit of  'je da vous', however it was only a two hour drive to Katherine.  The first time we came through & simply shopped for food & visited the Visitor Centre.  At that time it was still a bit cold & Stu thought it better to wait & do any sightseeing on the way back down, so this time we will stay two nights.  Katherine is a very tidy little town equipped with all that one would need.  It is the turnoff to Western Australia, so naturally is a halfway point for those going west or east to Queensland as we are, though we have to continue  further south first.  After settling into the caravan park & having lunch, we walked to the hot springs just 10 minutes down the road.  Not hot but a nice temperature & very busy as it is school holidays.  I think we must have forgotten our deodorant or something as a lot of people left just after we arrived.  We were not complaining about that. 

Early morning 4 hour cruise up the Kathryn Gorge today.  There are actually 13 gorges, all divided by little rapids & rocks.  The boats are only able to access the first 3, but it is necessary to disembark at each one & take a short stroll along a boardwalk or footpath to the next jetty where there is yet another boat awaiting us.The boatman/guide was a very nice young aboriginal from the local Jawoyn tribe, who now own this National Park 100%.  Since Stu's last visit here & since the takeover, the Jawoyn people have put in a lot of work & spent a considerable sum on improvements so it is very organised & tourist friendly.  Good to see the local people working it in many roles.  While we are waiting to board we are kept interested by 1000's of flying foxes in all the dead trees by the river.  They look as if they have been hung up to dry & there is a great deal of jostling for a place in so much as one has to occasionally fly off to another tree or branch.  They have the cutest little faces with quite bulging eyes, but also have a very musky smell which becomes quite overpowering with so many of them present.  I did hear someone say that they serve no purpose whatever in the scheme of things, but I will have to research that myself.

The leisurely trip up gorge No 1 we are given an informative commentary.  The sides of the gorge are extremely high & at this time of the morning many are in shadow so the better photos will be taken on the return journey.  Disembarking at the end of this gorge we have time to study some very good rock art on the massive cliffs - some of the drawings are quite high & several of us wonder how they would have reached that level.  Some are little handmarks, no doubt children, so I guess it's possible they were hoisted up on their dad's shoulders.  Also it was explained there could have been trees there & they would have climbed them, & possibly there were more lower rocks to climb on at that time, long disintegrated away.  Although the paintings have originally done in yellow, white, black & ochre, it is the ochre colour which survives the longest as it stains the rock.

Safely installed into boat No 2, we continue up the gorge, the scenery becoming more spectacular.  It is such a beautiful, sunny morning with a blue, blue sky, so naturally the water looks very blue too.  There a lots of small sandy 'beaches' in places & the trees are very green.  We see a freshwater crocodile or 'freshie'  lazing on the side but are told we will see more on the return journey as it gets warmer.  Gorge No 3 & another change to yet another boat.  At the end of this gorge we disembark for an hours break & climb to the Lily Pond Falls with a lovely swimming hole for those who feel like a very cold dip.  Morning tea is provided, fruit cake, muesli bars, fresh mandarins & plenty of nice cold water which is very welcome.   It's nice to take a wander around the area & snap a few photos, then it's time to repeat the whole journey in reverse.  We are lucky & see another 2 'freshies' & get good photos thanks to the boatman easing closer for us.  Freshwater crocs are apparently pretty harmless unless they, or their nests are threatened.  It is nesting time now & we see a couple of nests in the sand - just slight mounds where they have buried their eggs.  They lay them when the kapok tree flowers & return when they are due to hatch, Take them to the water in their mouths, & crunch them slightly to allow the little ones to escape, then they are on their own.  Great how nature has it all worked out!



Katherine Gorge




Freshwater Croc

 We had intended to do a bike ride in the afternoon when we got back, but by the time we had lunch it was 2pm & a bit too hot, so spent it finishing off the washing & a pleasant read in the shade, as tomorrow we hit the road en route to Queensland via Mt Isa, which will be very boring by all accounts.  Oh well, can't have excitement all the time, CAN WE???