Feel like a bit of a chuckle? Remember how Rich paid all that money to go on a barramundi fishing safari on the Lower Ord River and caught nothing except fright at the size of the salty crocs? Well today he went for a ramble down the Katherine River (to a spot no normal tourist gets to), and handily had his fishing rod available, and caught twelve barramundi! (ok they were not all over 55 cm, which is the minimum to keep, so they all went back). On a lure that everyone had said wouldn’t work!! Needless to say he had great fun riverside!
While Cass and I had a marvellous time poolside – we literally sat next to the pool for quite a few hours, reading, sun tanning, having the occasional dip – it was bliss – so now you are wondering how we can be in such a wonderful place and just sit next to the pool? Well actually there is a very good explanation! I am slightly miffed about Katherine Gorge to be honest – I think that the tourists are being taken for a ride – firstly the caravan park fees are double anywhere else – even the fancy caravan parks in the cities don’t charge as much as this mob. Then, because it is a gorge there is no way to get access to the river unless you hire one of their canoes ($70 for a double for 3 hours!); go on one of their boat tours (over $150 per person), or you could go on one of their chopper tours (too many $$ to even put on this blog). Then if that isn’t bad enough there is one short walk (about 4 kilometres) and the rest are 10 – 20 kilometre hikes). That means that if you are not prepared to spend big dollars and when you have done the short walk, Katherine Gorge has exhausted its possibilities for you!! Did I mention that the canoes are ‘not working’ – not sure exactly what that means – do they have holes in them? Is their steering broken? Maybe they are being repainted? They all seem to be healthily lined up on the river bank, complete with life jackets and paddles – but no, they don’t want our $210 (which is what it would cost for three of us to have a little paddle up the gorge). Did I mention the showers are cold (The mens has hot water but Rich only has cold showers anyway as it is so hot here) and there are no rubbish bins in the caravan park!! Grrr!
Cass made me laugh today – as we sat in bliss poolside, a lovely blue eyed honeyeater came to us to enquire if we had anything to eat. Cass said it reminded her of an old lady who had overdone the eye shadow – see the picture to get her meaning! I laughed for ages about that – it is so apt!
We did do the short walk to the gorge look out, which was worth the rather stiff climb to get there – figured if we couldn’t paddle the gorge we could at least climb to the lookout to see it – and indeed, it is a beautiful as promised.
Tomorrow we hope to do the gorge paddle (if the canoes are working!) and if not, we shall simply move on to the next spot.
Cass: Watching the bats
Rich: Catching twelve barramundi (what else?)
Kim: Witnessing Rich’s delight at his fine catch (and I don’t mean me!)
Laugh of the day:
Rich has been complaining that his hair is too long and fluffy (go figure) so he purchased a set of clippers from a supermarket – they were missing the combs – the bits that ensure consistency of length when cutting. Well he was so desperate to have his hair cut that he told me to go ahead anyway – so he had a haircut in the dark without a guide to ensure the appropriate length. Needless to say by the time I had finished, he was looking a bit moth eaten – so Cass took on the job, and by the time she was finished, he was looking not only patchy but definitely completely bald in some places. So we bought him a new hat and told him to wear it all the time until it grows out! J Rich got the combs the next day and fixed it, but now it is super-short (great for the hot weather, so who cares).
Coincidence of the day:
Bumping into the Claxton family (Chairo people) in a coffee shop in Darwin.
Follow us to Katherine Gorge on Google Maps
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