Darwin to Katherine - Jatbula Trip

 

Pre Day 1 – Friday 16 August

Darwin to Katherine

We woke about 6:30am and had showers and breakfast.  Once reception opened, we checked out and headed to BCF Yarrawonga (to be there when the opened at 8:30am) to purchase our gas and insect repellent for the hike.

https://www.bcf.com.au/stores/details/bcf-palmerston

South down the Stuart Highway to Katherine.  There is something special about the bush in the Top End.  The Kapok trees were in bloom with very few leaves left on the trees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Highway

https://www.visitkatherine.com.au/

https://northernterritory.com/katherine-and-surrounds

Things we saw on the road that remind us we are in the Top End: 

• 130km/h speed signs
• Road trains with 4 trailers. We saw one road train that was transporting three demountable houses at once
• Metal power poles – the termites are too active for anything else to last

We arrived in Katherine in time for lunch, which we enjoyed at the local Coffee Club. We then headed to Riverview Tourist Park and set up our tent in an unpowered site.  We filled the water bladders in our packs and organised the food needed to the first day of our walk to be accessible. 

We filled the car with petrol, which proved a little tricky as the instructions provided on how to open the cap for the petrol tank turned out to be for a different vehicle.   

Then off to Nitmiluk Visitor Centre for our 3pm Safety Briefing and to have our permits signed to be able to board the ferry in the morning.  We met some of our fellow hikers, who would all be going on the 7am ferry the next morning.  Two young men in their early 20’s, and three brothers in their mid to late 20’s.  After the briefing we walked over to where the ferry would go the next morning to be sure we knew exactly where we would be going as we knew we would be pushed for time in the morning.

https://www.nitmiluktours.com.au/about/visitor-centre/

https://nt.gov.au/parks/find-a-park/nitmiluk-national-park/nitmiluk-national-park-jatbula-trail#:~:text=Safety%20briefings%20take%20place%20at,you%20can%20attend%20either%20session.

We then drove back to Katherine and had a relax in the crystal-clear Katherine Hot Springs before dinner and an early night.  The Katherine Hot Springs are a short walk via a gate at the back of the caravan park.

https://northernterritory.com/katherine-and-surrounds/see-and-do/katherine-hot-springs