Katherine

We were up and at'em at a sensible time so we could pack and hose the underside of the van... we've heard that if you take a van for a service with mud and crap caking the underside, they may baulk at servicing. Since there was a bay with a hose with good pressure, it made sense to do a wash there.

We left Mataranka (Bitter Springs) by 9am. We've been to Katherine before (a long time ago in 2011 with Tom and Lauren) and didn't think to book a cruise earlier, so that's the one thing we're here to do. A good spot to refuel and shop as well.

Katherine is just a couple of hours down the road from Mataranka. We are getting really good at this short, slow travel... set up, sitting in the shade of the awning by 11am with a morning tea coffee is absolutely the way to go when possible.

Robyn ducked into town and did a supermarket shop while I got busy reading my book. 

A quick visit to the visitors' centre and a swim in the hot pools 300m away and that was the end of another great day. 

A slow stay means there's time to do a roast for dinner. A bit of a treat as it's a dearer meal than typical. Delicious. Do like our Weber!

We went on a gorge tour - it's a huge tourist operation but really well done. Comfortable barge type aluminium tinnies take you through the different gorges with a short walk in between the impassable bits (dry season, low water level).

We both agreed Nitmiluk is the best indigenous run enterprise and experience we've come across. Handed back in 1989, controversial at the time. Really well done. 

On to Pine Creek an hour up the road this morning.