​May 9, 2017 - Katherine Gorge

It wasn't all smooth sailing! At the end of each gorge
we had to debark in order to walk passed the rapids to
get to the next gorge - and back again of course! 

May 9th, Lindsay's birthday, we spent a magical evening on a dinner cruise through 2 of the gorges of the Katherine River in Nitmiluk (the former Katherine Gorge National Park), Arnhem Land. These deep gorges formed from fractions in the plateau and the rest is, as they say, geological history. But I prefer the Dreaming story of how the gorges were formed by the Rainbow Serpent - I'll leave you to look it up, suffice it to say Nitmiluk means land of the cicada in the Jawoyn language.

This mysterious corner is a sacred place for the Jawoyn people.
They are forbidden to swim or fish here for
fear of dire consequence for the land.

The land through which the river flows was handed back to the Jawoyn people in 1989 and the area of the national park was then leased back to the Government to maintain as an important National park and conservation area.
We drifted passed towering rock cliffs of hard sandstone tinted all shades of ochre - orange, brown, gold and red with black smears where water tumbled or leaked over the rocks (the black is a form of algae and I've seen in on so many rocks from Uluru to the southern cliffs of Tassie).

On some cliff faces, places where there is a trickle of water,
palms and other trees grow straight out of the rock face.

In some parts of the gorge where water seeps down from a large swamp high overhead on the plateau, freshwater pandanus and mangrove grow alongside silver leaf paperbark and other trees and vegetation. The Jawoyn people used to scoop out the inner wood of the pandanus and use the outer shell to carry fire - hence the name fire sticks, and the bark of the paperbark was used for medical purposes as well as for cooking and a number of other uses. I simply don't recall all the uses for the vegetation clustered on sandy beaches in tiny coves but it sounded like a veritable ancient supermarket and was fascinating to listen to. Our captain was very passionate about the area and a wonderful guide. He nosed the boat up close to a freshwater croc ~3 m long soaking up the warmth of an island rock, but we saw no salties although they are still in the river.

You really have to be in the moment to appreciate the
Overpowering and magnificent scale of these cliffs. 

Remember the movie Jedda? the last scene when Marbuck takes Jedda to the brink of a tall cliff and falls with her to their death. That scene was shot in one of the gorges we went through on the cruise. The cliff is called Jedda Rock (strangely enough!) One of the most tragic movies I have ever seen. Incidentally it was the first Australian feature film to be shot in colour.
The river is home to over 40 species of native fish, a few turtle species, a jabbie kind of fresh water crustacean - and the fresh water croc of course.

After cruising the 2 gorges (of the 13-14) we boarded
the dinner boat for the rest of the evening. Croc soup,
salt-bush lamb, smoked kangaroo, duck and salmon
Quite delicious!

Somewhere in that triangle of  sky, a gibbous moon
was on the rise. It was so very tranquil!

We did lazy circles on the river under an indigo sky as the flying foxes took to air and a gibbous moon climbed above the cliffs. Once it was dark the captain turned on spot lights and we saw reflection of the ripples projected up onto the rocks. It was just beautiful! and we headed back to Katherine feeling quite replete.

And as the sun sets!
Better in the flesh but if you zoom in you might be able to
pick out thousands of small black spots - flying foxes
setting out on their night adventures.