Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Alice Springs ($315, 16 hours), Tennant Creek ($207, 8½ hours) and Kununurra ($146,
4½ hours).
Adelaide and Darwin twice a week, stopping at Katherine for four hours − enough for a
whistlestop tour to Katherine Gorge! Katherine train station is off the Victoria Hwy, 9km
southwest of town. Fares to/from Katherine are the same as per Darwin.
Nitmiluk Tours
(
1300 146 743;
www.nitmiluktours.com.au
;
Katherine Tce;
9am-5pm Mon-Sat)
runs shuttles
between the station and town.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Around Katherine
Cutta Cutta Caves Nature Park
About 30km south of Katherine, turn your back on the searing sun and dip down 15m be-
low terra firma into this mazelike limestone cave system. The 1499-hectare
Cutta Cutta
Caves Nature Park
( 08-8972 1940;
www.nretas.nt.gov.au/national-parks-and-reserves/
parks/find/cuttacuttacaves
; tours adult/child $17/8.50; 8.30am-4.30pm, guided tours 9am,
10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm & 3pm)
has a unique ecology and you'll be sharing the space with
brown tree snakes and pythons, plus the endangered ghost bats and orange horseshoe
bats that they feed on. Cutta Cutta is a Jawoyn name meaning many stars; it was taboo
for Aborigines to enter the cave, which they believed was where the stars were kept dur-
ing the day. Admission by tour only.
Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park
Spectacular Katherine Gorge forms the backbone of the 2920-sq-km
Nitmiluk (Kather-
from Katherine. A series of 13 deep sandstone gorges have been carved out by the Kath-
erine River on its journey from Arnhem Land to the Timor Sea. It is a hauntingly beauti-
ful place − though it can get crowded in peak season − and a must-do from Katherine. In
the Dry the tranquil river is perfect for a paddle, but in the Wet the deep still waters and
dividing rapids are engulfed by an awesome torrent that churns through the gorge. Plan
to spend at least a full day canoeing or cruising on the river and bushwalking.
