Slow Lane Home

We made two trips to Katherine, one as a stopover, the second to really explore the place. The second trip was certainly worth our time as what we experienced there was a big surprise.

If you are short of time to experience the Northern Territory keep (or even add) Katherine to your list. Spending a few days here to explore will give you a big taste of what the NT has to offer. For us getting this taste in Katherine was unexpected but very welcome.

Leliyn (Edith Falls)

Leliyn is 60km out of Katherine so unless you can swing by on your way in (or out of town) as we did, you have a drive to get there. Regardless of how you visit though, you certainly should. This section of the National Park feels a little like Litchfield National Park. With a rather special waterfall and huge swimming hole at the bottom to enjoy.

One of the highlights of Leliyn is that the combination of walks and water mean that you get to swim at the start, middle and end of your walk. This seems to be a rarity so far during our travels and was certainly appreciated.

To visit the top of Edith Falls, you need to complete an approximately 1km relatively steep climb to the top. It’s part of a 2.6km loop and although affording some nice views, has limited shade and is steep on the way up and down.

The swim at the top certainly gives the chance to cool down. During our visit, the water level meant that you had to enter the pool at one point and swim, crawl and wind your way around if you wanted to see the small falls in the swimming area. The water flows onwards into a second (inaccessible pool) before cascading down into the large pool at the bottom of the main falls.

The bottom pool is the largest we’ve seen on our travels, giving plenty of space for people to spread out and find their own space. It was beautifully shaded in sections and had an almost tropical picnic area around it. It’s less photographic (so much so we don’t think we took a single picture) but is certainly easier to enjoy that the slippery and rocky top pool.

Nitmiluk Gorge

We got a very different perspective of Nitmiluk Gorge as we decided to ride the trails to experience it. Taking the path we did gave us a birds eye view of two gorges. Nitmiluk Gorge is actually a series of thirteen gorges that works their way around the Katherine River.

There are many walking, moutain biking and shared trails that take in the early sections of the gorge. This was the first National Park we’ve visited with mountain biking trails and this for us was a welcome addition. There is also a long 60km multiday hike that takes you the full length of the gorges.

It’s very popular to take a boat tour up the first few gorges. The view of the gorge from water level would be spectacular, but having done a few boat trips already and spending our money on a cultural experience we gave this a miss. We still got a water level view of the gorge during our swim at Butterfly Gorge.

Probably the pick of ways to see Nitmiluk Gorge would be by kayak. Our canoe trip at Lawn Hill has been a highlight as you are able to explore at your own pace and get close up with some of the features. If we ever are fortunate enough to return, this will be number one on our list of things to do in Katherine.

Top Didj

When we first visited Katherine, we didn’t realise an experience like Top Didj existed here. We assumed that we would have a cultural experience in Kakadu. We had missed out so far this trip, but fortunately Top Didj was recommended to us on check-in.

If you have the chance, join a cultural experience with Manuel. He was born in the bush and raised according to traditional practices until after his initiation. His stories of his childhood and transition into European society are incredibly interesting. It appears he has managed to live successfully with one foot in each world.

The experience itself is very interactive. Manuel spends the time sharing his story, playing the didgeridoo, teaching you about his upbringing and customs. He also helps you to create art works, throw spears and light fires. All of this is done using traditional techniques and tools.

Manuel is an incredibly talented individual; an accomplished artist and well recognised in the community for his knowledge and work on maintaining and sharing his culture. He is incredibly patient and generous with his time, getting hands on with his guests to enrich their experience.

Big Smoke

Beyond these amazing experiences, Katherine is a major service town for the central Northern Territory. It gives a chance to replenish supplies, pick up additional gear or get repairs. We constantly forget how much smaller the NT is than the eastern states and the services in these middle sized towns are always a pleasant surprise. Katherine is also the gateway to the west, the last major stop before the Western Australia border, our next destination.