The dawn cruise on Katherine Gorge left at 0700 so we had to leave the caravan park at 0615 to get to the jetty in the National Park to check in and get our light breakfast. The sun was just rising as we arrived and thousands of bats were flying around the carpark…the noise and stench was incredible! We found out later that there were 2 colonies of bats that lived there – one with approx 500 black fruitbats and the other around 2000 red flying foxes!!

We boarded the boat and Jason our indigenous guide was very friendly and informative. Katherine Gorge was spectacular in the early morning light, and we saw crocodiles, snakes, turtles and other wildlife.

There was a good example of ancient rock art at the first rapids we had to walk over to join the second boat to cruise up the next part of the gorge.

The Jayowyn people own the land around Nitmiluk gorge and manage it with the National Parks service.

After the cruise we arrived back at the campground where Gordon and Kerry were just finishing breakfast….having had a sleep in..they had been to Nitmiluk before.

We went in to Katherine- first place to visit was the museum which had some really interesting WWII displays and info about the history of the district including the disastrous Katherine Flood in 1998. Trev checked out the ancient fire fighting appliance….and Rose and Dave were fascinating by the old fashioned laundry!

After a late lunch in town we drove to Katherine hot springs – beautiful clear warm water flowing out of the rock down a chain of deep pools – we stayed and soaked for quite a while.

We went back to the shops to get some groceries and home for bbq dinner.