Above : 3’ water monitor who swam with us- looks mean but wasn’t ..... as long as you didn’t get too close. My (bare) skin sure didn’t need those claws anywhere near it!
31st August - 13th September 2009
Well another two weeks has passed since my last blog entry, and almost 4 weeks since we arrived in Katherine. The 'new' motor arrived in town mid last week, but as yet work has not begun on removing our old motor, let alone fitting the new one. The weather has warmed up unseasonably early, & we are seeing temperatures in the high 30's most days, making swimming (cooling down) an almost daily event. This we can do in the river a short walk from our accommodation, or at the 'hot springs' in town (a nice shady spot, but generally quite a few others there too). The best swimming option however is at Edith Falls, 60kms north of Katherine. We took our tent & camped up there overnight. We swam in the main (lower) pool, but enjoyed the ‘Top pool’ & beyond far more. The hot walk to reach them being forgotten as soon as we dunked ourselves into the perfect temperature water. At the Top pool we swam behind a 3 or 4 metre high waterfall, into & through a curtain of white water, staring through squinted eyes, back out into sunlight & the world from a different perspective. No handholds, smooth rocks & treading water limited the experience, but I repeated it over & over like someone one fifth of my age. Later we found a hole, a naturally worn vertical cylindrical hole in the rock, shoulder deep, into which water cascaded from the high side exiting on the low side where it continued it’s path across the rocks to a 15 metre drop 5 metres further on. The hole, close to 2 metres diameter, is a perfectly sized twin spa. A smaller waterfall where we could sit one at a time gave a view over the inaccessible ‘middle pool’. Many people miss these delights (highlights), or at least those we observed whilst there did. If you visit Edith falls, do yourself a favour. At the Top pool, when you are standing on the little bridge, looking across to the Middle pool, get off the bridge & follow the water for just a few metres, get your gear off, jump in & enjoy. Don’t worry about any little dark wriggly things on your skin when you get out. They are not leeches, and they curl up & fall off once your skin dries in the sun. I think they are some sort of larvae. They were there when I visited 10 years ago too, but I’d forgotten about them ‘til now. Bigger wriggly things, like ‘Wally’ the water monitor above deserve a bit more respect. Yep he got given a name, to continue something we began back at the homestead. Funny the things a person does when ‘marooned’ in Katherine, NT. The gecko in our room is ‘Gordon’, whilst the green frog in our dunny is ‘Colin’. The Kookaburra... who has visited only once..... was ‘Eric’, as well as ‘Slinky’ the 4’ snake (Brown Snake or Keelback - not sure) who was captured in our kitchen. These acts of naming are primarily a female driven pursuit & I am hoping that MrsTea wont expect me to recall names for the couple of dozen or so caged birds in the aviary across the lawn from us!! My hypothesis on this sudden need to name the local wildlife is that it serves a similar purpose to my making up silly songs when on long unchanging stretches of highway! As for ‘Slinky’, he was apparently held in captivity overnight after being caught, inside a pillowcase, with intent to release him away from living quarters in the morning. Come morning he had escaped, & has been spotted since, in a flower bed nearby. Makes going to the kitchen in the dark a bit more interesting!
Back at Edith Falls :-) after a good night’s sleep in the tent, we took the longer walk up & across the escarpment, following the river to ‘Long Hole’ where we found a little waterfall & pool 'protected by a set of rapids (no crocs to worry about). We alternately dunked ourselves & then lazed in the shade & then dunked ourselves yet again, under the waterfall or in the stiller clear water. The hours seemed to fly past & not another soul came by.
Back at the homestead - Visits to town, just wandering around, & exploring every bitumen road in the vicinity of town means we now know Katherine like a couple of locals! Much time spent lounging & reading. Getting a bit stir crazy - will be glad when we get the bus back.
Last night was a great night. It was the 20th anniversary of the handback of Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge & surrounding country) to it's traditional owners the Jawoyn people. 20 years ago Katherine was a very different place. Racism & violence toward indigenous people here was common & overt. Many local whites were openly hostile & claimed that the Jawoyn would stop access to the gorge, & prevent Katherine from accessing it's water supply. Cowardly physical attacks on black folks were intended to intimidate & derail the handing back of traditional country. The bravery & persistence of the elders of that time was paid respect to by those attending the anniversary. The country, after legal title was handed to the Jawoyn, was immediately leased back to the NT government for 99 years, the park now being jointly managed between ‘Parks & Wildlife dept & the Jawoyn, whilst income generated from the park allows the Jawoyn a financially independent existence. After all the speeches by politicians & indigenous leaders we watched traditional dancers from surrounding communities, before being entertained by a collective of Australia's best known indigenous singers, touring together & calling themselves 'The Black Arm Band', performing 'Murundak' - "Inspirational music from the black protest movement". It was a great night, highlights for me were seeing Archie Roach & Ruby Hunter performing Archie's song 'Took the children away' accompanied by film footage of 'stolen' children'. It's the 3rd or 4th time I've seen Archie perform this song & it gets me every time. Kutcha Edwards, Stephen Pigram, Dan Sultan, Gubanbulu Yunupingu (Treaty Yeah), & Jimmy Little were among the performers who were backed by a bunch of jazz musicians & a large film screen. Mark Atkins playing didg was phenomenal. All of this was held alongside the water of Katherine Gorge. As darkness fell, coloured lights, strategically placed, lit trees & rocks to great effect. Quality of sound was as good as it gets.
We camped for the night at the gorge, & took the walk up along the side of the gorge this morning, finding some beautiful & peaceful spots overlooking the gorge, followed by a cooling dip in the water before heading 'home' to Manbulloo Homestead.
Now back at our room - we are hoping work will commence on the bus tomorrow, & that we may be able to leave town by the end of next week. We'll see eh? It has been suggested to me that the NT of Northern Territory also means ‘Not Today, not Tomorrow....not Tuesday....not Thursday’
For more photos please click HERE
