Katherine Gorge and Edith Falls

Katherine Gorge was a weird, slightly disappointing destination.   

We intended to stay for 2 nights, having planned to do the short, loop walk to see the gorge and then a longer 4.5km each way walk up to a rockpool we had read heaps about.  Ross also wanted to put his kayak in the water and paddle up though the first few gorges (there are 12 or so making up ‘Katherine Gorge’).

Our first surprise was the price of the sites.  $58 for a powered site and $43 for an unpowered was the most expensive we have come across in our whole trip.  We didn’t need power so booked for 2 nights in the unpowered section. We were about to walk out when I mentioned to the girl behind the desk that we were going to do the rockhole walk the next day.  She said that there was no water in the rockhole and then when Ross asked about kayaking she said that there was also no water in the first gorge and he couldn’t use his own kayak because they only portage their own boats (which you have to pay to rent of course). 

That left us standing there realising that there was little for us to do other than the short loop walk.  We were only planning the long walk to the rockhole because it meant that the boys could have a swim in between long hikes there and back.  With no cool down swim on offer and no picturesque rockpool to see, the hike had lost its appeal.  It is super hot during the days at the moment so a swim would have been very necessary.  

We felt sure that we were missing something but it really is the case that you can only see the gorges there if you pay for a boat ride (over $300 for the 3 of us to go), pay for a helicopter ride (even more $), hire their kayaks or canoes ($80-90 per hour and they wouldn’t let Ben go anyway as he is too young) or do a minimum 10km walk, which the boys wouldn’t be up for.  

We ended up changing our booking to only one night and as it was too hot to hike that afternoon, had a couple of swims in their pool that afternoon. Unfortunately there must have been way too much chlorine in the pool and Jenny did a lot of underwater swimming with her eyes open. 
That night she was in terrible pain with red swollen eyes. We did many eye baths, pain killers and cold compresses but it took several hours before she could see properly and for the pain to subside.

Great Pool but too much chlorine!  Not much else to do for less than $300.

There was a wallaby family near our caravans and they came to visit us, sitting under the vans to keep under the sun.  They were hanging around the leaking water tap so Barb gave them a bowl of water that they eagerly drank.  The joey was very cute.

  

This little guy had a crook back leg.

Sneaking out after resting in the shade under the van.

We walked the loop the following morning and saw the river which was very much full of water, leaving us to wonder why Ross hadn’t been allowed to put his kayak in.  We couldn’t see the gorge at all.

Like I said, it was weird.  We stayed at Katherine Gorge but didn't actually see it, so we packed up and made our way up the highway to Edith Falls.

Edith Falls

The Edith Falls campground is really nice and we had two sites opposite each other with a grassy area (complete with sprinkler) in between.

There are several walks and swimming areas, one of which is right next to the campground.  It is awesome and is one of Lou's favourite places so far.  There is an enormous natural pool at the base of the falls with the river flowing out of the far side.  Near the bank on the campground side is a small island which is an easy swim for the kids to reach.  The water is cold but the days are so hot that it is really refreshing.  Loads of people make the long swim across to the base of the falls, with pool noodles being the floatation aid of choice.

Great little swim spot.  You can stay close to the shore...

Or swim right across to the falls.  Hello Lou!

We were planning to do a long walk out to Sweetwater Pool the following day.  It is 4.5km each way and the pool is apparently wonderful but we spoke to a few people who had done walks over the previous few days and they said that it gets so hot that such a walk would be too much, even if we left early.  We decided instead to walk to another swimming spot at the top of the falls, a shorter walk.

The walk to the upper falls is just over 1km up some really steep steps.  We stopped half way at 'the green seat' that the kiosk manager had said has phone reception.  While we had a rest and drink we were able to check some emails and try to arrange some van repairs.  We were glad that we had decided against the longer walk as by 10.30am it was already unbearably hot.

Walking to the upper falls.

The upper falls are fantastic.  There are two main pools that you can swim in with a huge rock island between them.  After the hot walk, it was wonderful to jump into the cold water and we had a great play there with a bouncy ball.  We all played catch and then Ross and Daniel had fun throwing it up into the water at the top of the falls and watching it flow down into the swimming pool again.  

Ben and Jenny on the rock in the centre of the pool.

Upper Falls.

Throwing the ball with Ross.

After the hot walk back we swam in the campground pool again, played cards and caught up on the olympics using Ross' satellite dish. The main challenge was just trying to stay cool.  When we are free camping we can't plug into power and so can't run the air conditioner in the van. It can easily get up to 39 degrees in there so we open up all the windows as wide as they will go and hope for a breeze.