The Top End

6^th August 2025 – 15^th Aug 2025

We spent our first two nights in the NT at roadside stops. One on the Barkly Hwy at Ranken, the second was north of Elliot, then we drove on to Mataranka and Katherine.

Our first impressions of the NT is that it’s very hot, there seem to be a lot of small fires (there have only been few days when we have neither seen nor smelled smoke,) the country looks very dry, even though here is quite a bit of water lying around. But what’s really messing with my head is that a lot of trees are bare, a lot more are still losing their leaves giving the look of Autumn, but the thirty plus temperature screams summer.  I have to say, it’s weird.

Saying that, we’ve only seen a tiny portion of the territory. As I said…first impressions.

For those of you overseas, the Territory only has two seasons. The wet and the dry. We’re visiting at the end of the dry and we should have another month before the tropical rains set in. Most tourists visit through the dry season (Autumn and Winter) to get away from the cold down south. Also, the heavy rains in the wet season (Spring and Summer) make it impossible to drive to a lot of tourist spots as many roads are closed with flooding.

Fun fact

As land heats up faster than the nearby Arafura Sea, hot air rises over the land and draws in cooler, moist sea air. This raises humidity to nearly 100% daily, causing the moist air to rise, condense, and result in heavy monsoon rains.

In contrast, the dry season occurs for the opposite reason. Thank you, science guys. 😊

Now to the fun stuff. Mataranka is famous for its hot springs, although the fact that it’s the origin of the 1950’s movie ‘We of the Never Never’ really put it on the map in the first place. We could have stayed at Mataranka Homestead CP, a short walk from the thermal pools, we decided to stay at Jalmurark campground, in Elsey National Park. Great decision. Mataranka Homestead is very touristy, caravans lined up, side by side, and it’s not an attractive Park. There is a pub there, (serving cool beer) and a huge car park to accommodate the tourist busses.

We did visit Mataranka springs and enjoyed it greatly, though the  34 degrees temperature was not discernible from the 33 degree air temp. The water was crystal clear, and a gorgeous colour. Overall, a very relaxing and enjoyable experience.

 Jalmurark campground is well set out, plenty of space between sites, and there were a few birds in the area, including an Olive Oriole, Varied Lorikeet, Great Bowerbird and a Brown Honeyeater, all new sightings for me.

On our second day there, Peter got his bike out to cycle the Roper River track, four kilometres – each way, while I walked it. Add on the distance from our site and the detours we took, the whole walk was closer to nine kms. The Roper is a lovely wide river and apart from the heat, we enjoyed the day thoroughly.

Peter left me to wander with my camera and made it to the end of the track long before me. But because he was speeding, he didn’t see the crocodiles, or the Wolf Spider, I did.  

Peter had a good rest, then turned back and caught me halfway past the three km marker and the end of the track. And, being the gentleman that he is, he kept me company as I walked to the end. Our reward for the long trek, these little waterfalls. Believe you me, on a hot day like this, they were very inviting but, being croc aware, we didn’t go in.

Peter knew I was getting tired, and I don’t cope very well with heat these days, so on the walk home he doubled back a few times to check on me. Then when we hit the 1 km to home marker, he took off, only to return on foot with fresh water and accompany me home. What a man.

Then next day was a rest day. We just drove around the area, checked out the town and Bitter Springs, another thermal pool. Water just as clear and inviting, and much more popular. It was packed. We also checked out the old Homestead at Mataranka, which was used in the movie, ‘We of The Never Never’.

Our next stop was Katherine, not very far down the road, but we still had to stop for smoko. Peter found this little pull-over on the side of the road. A very pretty spot, croc free with crystal clear water.

We were both keen to visit Katherine gorge and have a good look around the area. We stayed in town at the Riverview Caravan Park. It was good park and an easy walk to the Katherine hot springs, the Katherine River, and the frozen mango man.

He comes into the park every afternoon selling fresh fruit, vegies and frozen mango. We bought a couple of containers, loved them and wanted to buy more. This proved a little difficult as it was hard to catch him. You’d hear his quiet, little bell (if you were lucky,) but by the time you got up and grabbed your money, he was gone. This inspired a limerick.

The old man who sold frozen mangos,
Would sell them where travelling vans go.
But he drove round so quick,
You’d have to be slick,
Or you’d never get your frozen mango.

Don’t fret, we managed to get him on our last day and stocked up.

A 2km walk from the Riverside Tourist Park was the Low Level Nature Reserve. We went to check it out a couple of times. It was quite a pretty area and there was still a good amount of water in the river. I was on the lookout for crocodiles when I spotted this little fellow way on the other side of the water.

It was only a few hundred meters from Chunky Bum to the Katherine River, and it was there that I saw my first Blue Winged Kookaburra. She is beautiful and I can’t wait to see a male. I was also thrilled to see Peter’s favourite bird, the Rainbow Bee Eater. This must one of the most elegant birds we have.

The Katherine River also boasts some impressive thermal springs. Again a short walk from the caravan park, these hot springs are formed on many levels, each cascading down onto the next, and very popular with locals as well as tourists.

A highlight for us was the Nitmiluk Gorge sunset dinner cruise. To avoid confusion, Nitmiluk is the Jawoyn name for Katherine Gorge. The Jawoyn are the traditional owners of this land. The Gorge is on thirteen levels, each separated by extensive rocky areas during the dry, and it is truly magnificent.

I don’t believe that these photos do Nitmiluk justice, but they should give you an idea of the enormity and magnificence of the area. If you get a chance – go and see for yourself.

We left our little boat at the end of the first level and had a wonderful walk along the bottom of the gorge, giving us a chance to experience it on foot before hopping into another boat to explore the second gorge.

After we’d explored the second gorge we retraced our steps and reboarded our first boat for the return trip. Then, as the sun began to drop below the horizon our on-board chefs got to work to prepare our delicious meal while we enjoyed a nice bottle of bubbly. Ahh, could it get any better? It could in fact. You see we were seated with three lovely people (should have been four but Roger was ill,) and we enjoyed some great conversation and exchanged travel stories. That made the evening all the more wonderful.

We highly recommend the sunset cruise. Sometimes on these cruises the food is sub-standard. Not on this one. Plenty of it, cooked fresh on the boat, very good quality.

Our guide recited many facts and stats regarding Nitmiluk, which are awesome, but to many to list. Things like,

• At the time we were on the water the shallowest point was 1.5 metres. The deepest part (a corner section) was between 32 – 35 metres deep. Each wet season it gets deeper. This section is also the resting place of Bolung, the Rainbow Serpent.  
• When full, the gorge could fill an empty Sydney Harbour – every nine hours.
• There are thirteen gorges carved from sandstone and are approximately 23 million years old.
• Every wet season the water level in Nitmiluk rises dramatically, in the 2006 floods the river peaked at 19 meters – that would cover a six-story building!

Our next stop from Katherine was to be Kakadu. However, we had some incredibly sad news that our brother-in-law, John, had passed. So, we made our way to Wagait beach, where we set up camp in Rick (John & Hazel’s son) and Michelle’s garden, then made plans to fly to Kingaroy to say farewell to John.

See you out there somewhere

On tow and on the go!