Ray and Maura Travelling Australia: In Katherine (still)

Wednesday 23rd July

Well we are still in Katherine. Lucky it isn't a bad town to spend a bit of time. If you remember last Wednesday, Ray put his truck in for a wheel alignment. Well the mechanic couldn't do it as the tie rod ends were worn and the front shock absorbers were wearing out. He said if he did do it then we would get to the end of the street and it would need doing again. He suggested that Ray try to find the parts needed as if the workshop did it then they would get genuine F250 parts and that would take a while and cost a small fortune.
So back to the computer and he found an F250 supplier in Brisbane. The parts were duly ordered, paid for and express posted on Thursday. Lo and behold they arrived in Katherine on Monday, we picked them up on Tuesday and the truck is booked in to have the parts fitted and a wheel alignment done on Friday. So we should be on our way again on Saturday.

So the following pictures will tell you what we are doing:

On the Friday we went to Katherine Show. A lot grander than the show at Longreach. We wandered around the cattle exhibits and took a couple of photos of this little fellow. He was only young and weighed about 700kg.

Large but quite docile and a champion.

I found a lady who was selling cup cakes she made. She was a nurse on maternity leave and her cupcakes were the best I had ever tasted. Gluten free options, diabetic options. Lots of flavours and so yummy.

Sculpture of Sabu Peter Sing outside the Tourist Information centre in Katherine

Sabu was a member of the Wardaman tribe, a very well known stockman, skilled bushman and horseman in the Katherine region in the middle part of last century. The statue is one and a half times life size. It acknowledges the older people of Katherine and salutes those who currently work the land.

As the area was born from cattle it is a very apt sculpture to be at the entrance to the town centre

On another day we went for a drive out to Katherine Gorge (now called Nitmiluk) just for a look around. We had been out there some years ago and it has changed somewhat. A lot more commercialised with hundreds of people.

When we were last here in 2005 we went on the gorge cruise. we didn't go this time but I have put some photos in from that cruise. I don't think the gorge has changed much.

The area around Katherine Gorge is covered in thousands of bats or flying foxes. They absolutely stink. When we were here in 2005 I took photos and the difference now is that there are thousands more.

Apparently they are protected because they pollinate the flowers. I think the bees do a lot better job with a lot less smell to contend with

This is the crocodile cage on the far side of the Katherine River

This is the view looking up the Katherine River

This is the swimming platform on the Katherine River DIRECTLY OPPOSITE THE CROCODILE TRAP. And there was a man and wife and 2 kids on the platform. WTF!!!

This is the water level marker beside the river. The top reading is 6metres. In 1998 Katherine was flooded really badly and the water level then was 20.9 metres.

This is one of the photos of Katherine Gorge taken in 2005. When we went on the cruise then we could only get through 2 gorges as the water level was quite high. When we were there the other day the cruise took you through 3 gorges as the wet season this year has only been a small one.

Another gorge photo from 2005

Some rock art on the gorge walls again taken in 2005

This is a photo of the Knotts Crossing weir. This was once the main crossing for the Katherine River before the low level bridge was built

Looking downstream at Knotts Crossing. This was also the original site for the settlement of Katherine.

This is a view looking upstream at Knotts Crossing.

Next stop was the Katherine Museum. The museum is located at the original Katherine aerodrome and the displays are housed in the original terminal building. This is a photo of some old petrol bowsers.

An old fashioned kitchen set up

Some old mobile phones. look at the one like an old brick.

Some older style radios. I can remember some like these.

An old way to buy stamps. 2c and 5c, how times have changed.

Here I am talking on an old black Bakelite phone.

This is an original "De Havilland Gypsy Moth" that was flown by the first flying doctor Dr Clyde Fenton, who provided medical assistance to remote stations.