Next morning we headed for Katherine. Paul's car was playing up so the men drained water from his fuel twice along the way. When we reached Katherine we went straight to the Information Centre which was extremely busy. We opted for Springvale Homestead Park, a bit in need of a new amenities block but full of character, history and quite lovely. ..it has a billabong, home to Elvis a freshwater croc, turtles, waterlillies and fat ducks waddling around begging for food.
The grounds of the old homestead ( oldest standing in the NT) have magnificent old Indian Raintrees, gnarled and spreading welcome shade. They are each named after the children who were born there.
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We rang Eric for his birthday, and Glenn cooked a tasty beef curry for dinner much to the envy of the other four who had grills!
We relaxed there for six days spending many hours in the swimming pool which was fed by a hot spring, reading, catching up with family and friends which is often not possible due to lack of mobile service.
Glenn fitted a new water pump and everyone bought /replaced fuel filters. The markets had fresh food and veggies and the Katherine show was on . We went in the afternoon especially to see the Rodeo..a first for all of us. We perched like chooks in the stands overlooking the arena and were entertained by clowns with off-color jokes and gestures, skilled horsemen and bulls and broncos bucking their riders off into mid-air. We were coated in dust and decided that we had a great night!,
A highlight of our time in Katherine was a canoe trip up to the second gorge. We all went in three double canoes, enjoyed the paddling and the scenery. We saw some Freshwater crocs, lots of birdlife ESP the beautifully coloured Rainbow Bee-eater and then had a swim. As the tour boats went past people waved and some couldn't resist the two- armed croc gesture while we were in the water. We weren't worried... We know we're not on their menu!
The sprinklers in the campground gave us great opportunity to watch the birds and we enjoyed the freshness after such a long time without rain and often with limited water. The days are warm and sunny and the nights clear and cool. Ideal. No wonder the Grey Nomads are in here in astounding numbers.
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