Katherine and then lookout Western Australia

The bulk of this chapter of the trip is all about "Katherine" the town and not Katherine so you have to be alert to the descriptors that have reference to Katherine.

This was one of the highlights of Katherine
Called now "Nilmilut Gorge" or what was called "Katherine Gorge"


This is the view of one of the numerous Gorges that is pictured in the dry season.
In the "Wet"the water level rises up to 10 metres above this level and can rise in a matter of hours.

Whilst there is more than water in the Gorge.
These are Flying Foxes taking a rest during the hot daytime situation. It was 35 degrees when we were on our lunch cruise up the Gorge



The next 4 images are called "Spot the Croc"

We assure you there are Crocodiles in each image sized from 1.5 to 3 meters long.

The easy one to spot.

This is one of the many sand beaches at the side of the Gorge.

There are signs saying do not enter since there could be damage to the Crocodile eggs.

That would be of less worry to me that the animals themselves who maybe are hungry

Well one can canoe in the Gorge.

Could this be Katherine and Mike??

Imagine the volume of water that arrives in this section of the Gorge during the "Wet"
The boats we travelled on are taken upstream in the "Wet' and have to stay there until the next years "Wet"

The volume of water creates some wierd and wonderful sights, this being a hole carved out of the rock face.

Awesome size and magnificent rock formations, all created by water that is discharge into the ocean, whilst we in Perth are in draught.

We had another cruise on the Katherine river at night.

More Crocodiles where seen in the natural habitat.

However the BBQ on this Cruise was it's speciality. The food, wine and company were excellent.

Perhaps, as Katherine said at the time, "we are all Croc'd out"

This was our style, Large tree,plenty of shade and Irish Breakfast tea.

This was another Northern Territory sight
A "Raintree" planted in 1879 and is still growing bigger at this age.

The sign at the base of the tree makes interesting historical reading.

The visit to Katherine was not all Flora and fauna.

This captures one of Perth's more competent cooks!!

Having left Katherine we headed for the Western Australian border some 500Kms to the west.

The trip took us 5 days.

Typical of our stops was this group that we met in a "Rest Area" along Victoria Highway.

Looks very Innocent at 4pm, however by 9pm with BBQ and bottles of red consumed and was somewhat livelier.

This was another rest area stop on Victoria Highway.

Peaceful and serene with no Crocodiles visible, but no one went in the water.

Another Australian bush sight "The Billabong"

They are many and varied in this area

We must have a Boab Tree

This is the Victoria River, large and flowing to the sea.

The reason for the image is the following image.

The bridge that spans the Victoria river just south of Timber Creek is there for Army use only.

The bridge quality was exceptional, my guess $30M exceptional.

For what, by the construction only heavy tanks would justify the bridge strength.

Why could they have practiced amphibian crossings and spent the money on something more appropriate.

Another must show of the Northern Territory roads are the "Roadtrains"

These are 55.5 metres long and are not to be denied.

Distance Travelled from Perth = 3,348 Kms

Distance travelled on Trip = 17,437 Kms

Number of days on the road = 253