Katherine

Katherine School of the Air

The old radio equipment. Oldest at the bottom. The one at the top was used in the 90s.

Over the internet now. We could see (and hear) this teacher interacting with students through glass in a studio to the right of this screen. This is what the students see (although I doubt their screen is this big!). The high quality IT equipment is provided and installed for each of the families, or indigenous communites.



 

Scenic Flight

Katherine Gorge





gold mine and tailings dam

We were all feeling a bit green after the flight, although none of us actually threw up!

Katherine Gorge
We decided to do the "three gorge cruise" while in Katherine. This meant getting on a boat, cruising up the gorge until reaching shallow, rocky water. Then we got off and took an easy walk to the next boat, cruised a little further and got off again at the next shallow part and on to a third boat. At the end of the third 'gorge' we turned around and did the reverse.

At the end of the first gorge we were able to stop for a while and take a look at some rock art. Some of the paintings are warnings of danger and others are information informing about food that can be found in the area.

The rainbow serpent. A warning not to enter the second gorge.

One of the boats



The picture above and the one below are from the 'second gorge'. The area in the picture below is believed by the Jawoyn people to be the resting place of the rainbow serpent. The water in this area is apparently 40m deep. The Jawoyn people do not enter this area for fear of disturbing the serpent but they do allow visitors to visit as they know it will help their people to share their land and culture.

Before we got final boat to return to the jetty we were able to have a swim in the gorge. the water was cold, but refreshing in the hot weather. It is likely that we swam with some freshwater crocs here, although we didn't see any while we were swimming!

The wild (and not so wild) life

Anyone know what this bird is called?

Blue-winged kingfisher

Anyone know ehat this bird is called? It tried to chase away the kingfisher!

I'm unsure of these ones too...birds of prey. You see eagles, ospreys etc everywhere from the nullabor, right up through WA and into the NT. The one flying below is the one on the right after it saw me approaching.

A huge flock of these lorikeets came flying by; landing in the trees above our tent. They were making a huge racket and fighting/playing with each other. It was amazing to watch.

We have seen many of these signs in Northern Australia!

A saltwater crocodile trap in the first gorge at Katherine Gorge.

cormorant

Freshwater crocs resting on the river bank. \Apparently it is rare to see two crocs in such close vicinity to one another.

"Bessie" the Brahman cow interacting with Liam over the fence behind our tent. She was the friendliest. There were about five of them who came over each night. The kids named all of them. 'Bessie' was the only one who wanted friendship more than food! Liam has tried to avoid eating beef since making friends with her.