Katherine Gorge

Katherine Gorge is stunning. The only way to really experience it is on a cruise. You can do a couple of walks (and climbs) to various look outs along the gorge but the only way to see it at water level is by boat. And the cruise was definitely worth it. We did the two gorge cruise (the most you can do is 3 of the 13 gorges) and that was lovely. The pristine, still waters reflect the surrounding rock walls and vegetation. It is so calm and restful and thoroughly enjoyable.

We had an Aboriginal guide with us who talked about various parts of the gorge and wildlife and how they relate to it. It was very informative and very interesting. As part of my environmental degree we learned about how Aborigines worked in tune with the land and this was really apparent in the talk. One of the things that amazed me was the guide pointed out a Yellow Kapok tree that was bare of leaves but had yellow flowers on it. He said that when the flowers bloom, that is when crocodiles lay their eggs. When the flowers die and the seed pods form, the eggs hatch. The Aborigines note these connections in nature so much better than we do. The reason they knew this was so they knew when to go and collect the eggs for food, always leaving 2-3 eggs so the species could continue.

We met a lovely family on the cruise, which was great. It gave all of us a chance to chat to people other than ourselves and especially Tilda to have a girl her age to talk to. They didn't stop talking the whole 2 hours.

And we saw a crocodile as we headed back to the end of the cruise. Our first real crocodile in the wild and I didn't have a heart attack. It was very cool to see.