Katherine was our first stop on the Ghan adventure  after boarding mid morning in Darwin.

Photos The Ghan Train

Katherine was named by explorer John McDouall Stuart in the late 1800s and the gorge was renamed “Nitmiluk” meaning cicada place by the traditional owners, the Jawoyn Aboriginal people in 1989, when they were gained title to the land. The Nitmiluk National Park covers some 292,000 hectares. Rock art and dreaming stories bring the girge walls to life.

The Katherine River flows through 13 separate gorges that have carved their way through the sandstone and  curve their way through the Arnhem Land plateau. We took a boat trip through the first 2 gorges. Beautiful! Two different boats required but in the wet season the water is so high you can go by one boat through 3 gorges! Canoes can be hired and it looked very peaceful for those floating along.

Katherine is the base for the Tindal RAAF and is one of Australia’s most important defence installations.

While it is dry and dusty it is also picturesque in a way. There are a few green lawns but the greenest spaces I saw were the cemetery and the rugby field.

Here is a link to another travellers experience – she travelled Gold Class, we were Platinum, but experience very similar.

https://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/international-travel/under-the-spell-of-the-ghan

Photos Katherine

Author: Gill

Hi. I'm fun-loving, creative, mostly energetic and a mother of 3. My interests are family, culinary pursuits (I own just a few cookbooks...), socialising and entertaining, living and always learning.