Welcome to The Lindsay Family Big Trips Australia Blog! We aim to provide useful information about camping and caravanning around Australia. From planning and preparation, building itineraries, getting equipped, education on the road, where to stay and what to do. We also hope you enjoy following us on our family travels, and aim to keep this blog fun, informative, interesting and inspiring!

Saturday, 3 September 2011

Nitmiluk National Park...Katherine Gorge and Edith Falls

Canoeing on Katherine Gorge was one of our trips must do's.  We had a great day, making it to the end of the 2nd section of the gorge, although only just, due to a really strong headwind plus current to test our fitness levels! 
              Trying not to look too exhausted!                    The kids had a ball flowing down the current

                              Ben trying to pull Hannah out of the current for another go.

           Spectacular scenery that makes you feel small       Hannah spots a baby croc on the rock
          Ben jamming with some fellow muso's at camp                    Look at all those bats!

The Katherine gorge camp was nice.  It had a great pool and plenty of wildlife, especially the bats. Wow they have really taken up residence there in huge numbers.  We found a Great Bower Bird nest decorated with lots of white things.  Hannah left a white lolly wrapper out to see what would Happen.  The next morning  it had dissapeared....and yes it had been added to the nest!  The wallabies came into camp in the afternoons who Ben loved to feed, and seemed to be the only person they would let pat them!
One afternoon we drove into town to spend some time at the Katherine hot springs. It was lovely and shady an quite natural looking (except for the stairs entering the spring). The kids loved letting the current gently take them down to the other end where they would flow over a little waterfall.  We quite literally had to drag them out after a couple of hours.
Edith Falls was our next stop, on our way up to Darwin. Its such a nice place, the walk is a few km's return and reasonably steep but once you come out at the top falls its all worth it.  There is the main large pool with a pretty big waterfall and then a series of other pools to explore.
Looking down at the bottom pool
Once again the kids coaxed me out to swim to the end of the picture above in the left and then climb up the rocks to see a little waterhole they found that was full of some really healthy and unusual aquatic plant life!  It was worth the effort even though getting down I accidently took the quick way and had my own slippery slide into the water!

Anyway off to Douglas Daly Region and the Daly River.  Thanks everyone for reading and for all your comments on our posts, which we really look forward to reading! 




3 comments:

  1. Ben looks like a real bushy with his shirt off & big stick.We walked up over the top of the falls as well.Talk about up close & personal with the wild life, that's our Ben. Love Mum& Dad.

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  2. How do you know where it is safe to swim?

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  3. Hi Peter, we look for the sign posts. If we are in saltwater croc territory and there are no signs or one that says NO swimming we dont go in. Some area's will have info on how they manage croc's in the area. They go in just after the wet with traps and move any salties on. Other signs will say freshies occupy this area and can cause serious injury if disturbed, swim at your own risk. We do swim in these area's but dont go off to far away from where most people swim. We've seen freshwater crocs but they are usually further up or downstream from the main swimming area. Hannah is the one we have to keep an eye on as she loves snorkelling and sometimes ventures too far without realising. (no fear!)

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