Betten On Bike: DAYS 26 & 27 - 4TH & 5TH MAY 2013 - KATHERINE & SURROUNDS

Days 26 & 27 - 4 & 5^thMay 2013 – Katherine & surrounds – rest days

Last night I craved barramundi so very fortuitous that a café called ‘The Barra Café’ opened its doors that night for the very first night of trading. It was adjacent to the caravan park that we were staying at for the night. Yum the barra we had was super fresh and moist and very very tasty.

Also nice was another sleep in & then time to pack up & into Katherine for groceries, fuel & a coffee. Walter came up with a very practical idea to contact Dianna (my niece who was joining us for the Katherine to Broome stage) & ask if she could arrange to get off the bus at The Edith Falls turnoff. (about 43 km north of Katherine) Yesterday afternoon whilst enjoying a dip in the thermal springs close to the caravan park we had got talking to a lovely couple for quite a while who told us that they had just come from Edith Falls & that it was most definitely worth a visit - so often, this is how it goes when you are travelling & luckily our plans weren’t- fixed so we thought - why not !

We met Di at the Edith Falls turn-off and proceeded along the road where lo & behold we saw a serious cyclist, alone yet fully equipped with panniers (large bike bags). Of course we slowed down and asked if he wanted some cold water as, by this time it was around midday & the temperature was well into the mid to high thirties. He said he was fine and said he would meet us at the falls. Surprisingly Ludo was also from The Netherlands and we learnt that he had cycled up from Perth (a 3 month trip – with lots of side trips & sightseeing on the way). His bike was interesting as he didn’t have a bike chain but a band / belt instead so no greasing or maintenance associated with a chain.. Walter & Ludo who was a very friendly guy from Rotterdam had a great old chat and even shared a joke as they compared their bike tans on their legs.

Poor Di – after leaving cold temperatures in Canberra with no time to adjust to the very hot conditions in N T we invited her to join us in a steep very hot walk – The North Leilyn Track to the top pool. She did however agree, on arriving at the top that the hot steep walk was well worth it for what awaited us at the top was breathtaking – waterfalls with the most incredible sheer rock faces / cliffs with oranges, reds, browns in dramatic formation and the cool cool deep crystal clear water was so refreshing. We stayed enjoying swimming there for quite some time then it was time to head back down & have some lunch and another quick swim at the large pool where all the layers of waterfalls fed down into another huge pool at the bottom.

Then to Katherine Gorge (63 km to Katherine & another 30km to The Gorge) where we were camping for the night. This was of course a beautiful bush setting complete with a huge resort style swimming pool. There was a huge colony of bats who were very noisy but took flight at dark and then started to return and begin their crying and calling out just after four am.

Next morning we walked via the information centre in the park down to the jetty of the Katherine River as we were doing a four hour / 3 gorge boat trip which was the only way we could view the gorges because the canoe trip we had wanted to do wasn’t being offered due to it being dry season & crocs had been sighted in the river. So as this was the only way, we decided to do this tour. Glad we did because it was indeed a very informative trip. The Aboriginal tour guide shared a wealth of knowledge about the history and significance of the area to the aborigines interspersed with some great entertaining and comical comments.

We travelled up the first gorge and then walked around 700 mtrs to board the next boat to travel up the very famous Katherine Gorge – just as awe inspiring as all the photos / film footage I had seen over the years. Very tall vertical rock cliifs stretching high above us in all hues – dense vegetation and sandy little banks – rocky outcrops / huge boulders all in the most magnificent red / orange / black / grey / white colourings.

After Katherine George we walked another short distance to board the third boat to take us to our final gorge where we disembarked and walked the rocky trail to Lily Pad pool and falls (a very tall cliff face with a very tall waterfall. We enjoyed the walk behind and through the gushing water as it tumbled down to hit the rocky platform below before splashing noisily into the huge cold pool below. Another magic part of N T and a memory we will keep precious forever.

After our return through the various gorges on the 3 boats we visited the information centre for a coffee and a quick look at the displays which were in the process of being updated.

Lunch, a swim in the amazing resort pool at the Gorge camping ground and it was time to set off back to Katherine for the night as Walter was to start the next days ride from Katherine at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning.

We decided to stay at the Boab Caravan Park as we weren’t keen on staying at Riverview the one up the road – it was big and crowded and everyone was packed in so close – all concrete and paving.

We were very pleasantly surprised at the welcome from the owner who on hearing about our fundraising trip said we could stay for free. AND later turned up with a four pack of cold Gatorade drinks and a container with some delicious fresh frozen mango which we enjoyed as desert. This caravan park is small, only 40 sites but has the most beautiful shady lush green lawns and the amenities were amongst the cleanest and most well appointed that we had stayed at - so highly recommended.

Thank you for your kindness and hospitality.

I should mention that a number of wonderful caravan park managers have indeed been very generous in giving us free stays when we mentioned to them on our arrival about Walter’s cycling and our charity fundraising trip for Alzheimer’s Australia Dementia Research Foundation.

These being The Bottle Tree Motel and Caravan Park at Blackwater, Pentland Caravan Park, Clermont Caravan Park, Belyando Crossing Roadhouse (there had been some negative comments on the internet about this place – all totally unjustified as we found the owners very friendly and the amenities very clean and included all the things to make a stay comfortable – soap dispensers, paper towels, bath mats etc), Richmond Caravan Park where we were only asked to pay a $10 donation to help re-stock the fish in the lagoon and The 3 Ways Roadhouse – we would like to warmly thank all these caravan park operators for their generosity and support.