Day 4 Kakadu National Park to Katherine Saturday 2nd September 2017:

This morning after a goodnight sleep we made our way to the restaurant at 8:00 am for our included breakfast.

At 8:30 am we boarded the coach and made our way towards Katherine.

As we made our way towards our first stop of the day our Trip Manager Mark explained our itinerary for the day which included: Seeing the Welcome To Kakadu National Park Sign for some photo opportunities,having a lunch stop at Edith Falls in Nitmiluk National Park, An optional Katherine Gorge Cruise, before making our way to our accommodation in Katherine and having a Pizza Party by the pool for dinner which Mark had organized for the group.

We arrived at our first stop this morning at the Welcome to Kakadu National Park Sign at 10 am for some photo opportunities which has a picturesque background with the straight outback road.

The Welcome to Kakadu National Park sign has an amazing background for photos with the long straight outback roads and the red dirt the Northern Territory is famous for.

After taking many great photos, we hopped back on the coach and made our way towards our lunch stop at Edith Falls in Nitmiluk National Park.

We arrived at our lunch stop at Edith Falls at 12:30pm.

The group decided to a peaceful picnic lunch under the shade before walking down the walking trail to Edith Falls.

After our picnic lunch most of the group cooled off in Edith Falls which are a series of cascading waterfalls and pools on the Edith River.

After cooling off in Edith Falls we made our way back on the coach at 1:30 pm towards our next stop of the day our Katherine Gorge Cruise.

As we arrived at Katherine Gorge at 3 pm,we experienced an amazing display of flying foxes flying into Katherine Gorge.

Mark informed us that there were about 50,000 flying foxes inhabiting Katherine Gorge at this time of year which is significantly higher than the normal population experienced in previous years!

As we met our tour guide for our Katherine Gorge Cruise we made our way down the boat ramp to start our Katherine Gorge cruise.

The Katherine Gorge Tour by boat is probably the best way to see the gorge because it goes through the main part of the gorge which can’t be reached by foot due to the sheer rock faces on each side of the gorge.

Shortly after starting the tour we stopped by the sandy banks where we saw an adult freshwater crocodile, the only crocodile that inhabit the river due to a rock wall barrier which prevents the larger saltwater crocodiles from entering the river.

As the tour continued you could see why the Katherine Gorge is often used in movies and tourism films as it has a lot of natural beauty.

About halfway into the tour they park the boats at a manmade wharf where you disembark and change boats to see another section of the gorge which can’t be passed by boat due to the narrowing of the river.

There is a short 800 metre concrete walking trail which takes you to the manmade wharf where the other boat is waiting to take you through the next section of the gorge.

The walking trail is the best place for photo opportunities with the river winding through the gorge and the sheer cliffs providing a great back ground!

After taking another amazing group photo with Katherine Gorge in the background we made our way back to the boat.

After getting back on the boat we came to a section of Katherine Gorge that had been filmed in the Australian film Rogue.

Rogue is an Australian film about a enormous saltwater crocodile who eats a boatful of tourists who accidentally encroach on its territory!

We continued to make our way back through the gorge back to the wharf where our tour concluded on arrival.

When we arrived back at the boatramp at 5 pm, we boarded the coach and had a short drive to our accommodation for the night in Katherine.

After a short drive we arrived at our accommodation for the night in Katherine at Ibis Styles Katherine at 6 pm.

After checking into our rooms, we made our way to the pool area at 7 pm.

For dinner tonight our trip manager Mark had organised some pizzas to be delivered for dinner so we enjoyed pizza and a few drinks, for dessert Mark had organised some Lamingtons for everyone which was an amazing way to end a great day in Katherine.

 I must say as an Australian seeing new friends particularly from different countries experiencing new and Australian things for the first time is such an amazing feeling and makes you realise how great of a country we live in.

After a few drinks most of the group decided to head to bed as tomorrow was the longest drive of the entire trip and wanted to relax and recover after having such an amazing day in Katherine full of new experiences!

Safe Travels!

Campbell 🙂