Sunday 28 August 2022.
Highlights: Cruising the Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk National Park), Adelaide River, Darwin Farewell Dinner

For the first time this trip both Kara and myself did not wake up before our alarm. The 1.5 hour time zone change I guess has fixed that up. Breakfast at the Paraway Motel was just okay and we were happy to be off to visit the Nitmiluk National Park.

The first thing we noticed in Katherine is the humidity is must higher than earlier in the tour. The drive to Nitmiluk National Park was quick and easily and my Optus mobile coverage was working most of the time.

Today we went cruising over the first two Katherine Gorges. The first one is a short 15-20 minutes slow cruise that highlights the amazing wall formations.

At the end of the first gorge and before walking around 800 metres to the start of the second gorge we stopped to admire some ancient Aboriginal rock paintings.

In the dry season Katherine Gorge gets broken up into 13 separate gorges but in the wet season the water rises so you can go from one end to the other in the water although that would be very dangerous.

The second gorge was more spectacular than the first. There were also canoeist we had to avoid. We got to a dire some small birds that build their nests into the roofs of rock cave.

Katherine Gorge is similarly magnificent.

After our two hour cruise of first and second gorge we returned to our tour bus and headed out of Katherine towards Darwin. We stopped at Adelaide River. At the Inn we saw Charlie the water buffalo from Crocodile Dundee movie who had been stuffed and maintained following his death in 2000 and he now overlooks the bar to ensure we all behave!

On a more serious note we then went and visited the Adelaide River War Cemetery were most of those who died in the World War 2 Darwin bombings are buried and for those not, including USA soldiers who died and when return to their country, there is memorials. We had watched a documentary on the bus about the Darwin bombings which put the massive loss of life into perspective.

In Darwin we checked into the Vide Waterfront Hotel and received a nice surprise a special birthday gift (sparking wine and a cheese and fruit platter). I had informed the booking agent this was a celebration tour for Kara’s birthday. Unfortunately they had only given us a queen bed so we changed rooms but the welcome gift was appreciated.

Finally we headed out for the AAT Untamed Kimberley Tour farewell dinner. This has a great event and quite a few stories and contact details were exchanged. While Kara and myself were the youngest on this tour there we many who were really young at heart.