It’s a long way … to Uluru: Stopover in Katherine

On a Greyhound to Alice Springs you get an idea of the outback, of it’s vastness, its uniformity and diversity. Going non stop from Darwin to Alice takes roughly 22 hours. Katherine, only 4 hours south east of Darwin, is a small pioneer town in the outback that offers things to see and do for at least 2 days.

Bye bye Darwin. Waiting at the bus station looking forward to a loooong ride, yet not my longest ever. My memory goes back to a Greyhound trip from San Francisco to New York, non-stop, just one hour’s time in Salt Lake City to see the Mormon temples, in all more than 3 days (and nights, that’s when your spinal column stops being a column even at the age of 21), meeting the weirdest people, it WAS an experience!

Two backpacker ladies almost my age joined me. They were going to Katherine to start from there on the Jatbula Trail, a five-day hike through Savannah grasslands and rain forests, passing by waterfalls and rock escarpments, sounds fantastic. The ladies asked me to have an eye on their luggage, while they went downtown to have a cup of coffee. I must look trustworthy even in raggedy travel clothes. Australia is a country where people don’t seem to be so hooked on watching the NEWS all the time. Do they have any idea, how baaad this world actually is? The ladies came back with a nice mug of hot coffee for me. The bus got more than half full and left on time, to the minute!

Look out of the window, let the scenery pass by, relax, in spite of … some rows behind me, two young girls jabbering away endlessly with each other, on the phone, with each other again, at the peak of their voices in … guess what language? The two ladies look at me astounded, silently mimicking question marks. I nod my head, form my lips as if to say the name of the language, the only one that I would understand at 2 km distance. I point my index fingers to my ears and soundlessly form the words: “… and I understand every word of it!” I can see, the ladies are glad, they don’t.

After 4 hours, arrival in [kath-er-in, kath-rin], which the bus driver keeps pronouncing [kath-er-ain].

This is my new home for 2 nights: Coco’s Backpackers Hostel.

Coco and his friends watch television, sports programs, when I arrived it was Rugby time. I immediately started bragging about my rugby-playing son. Later, in a more confidential moment, I let them know that I’d appreciate a news broadcast from time to time.

Nitmiluk means cicada dreaming and the park is 30 km north-east of Katherine. You have to have a car to get there or someone who takes you there.

The lounge is under the trees

This is what’s so nice about hosteling, you talk about the problem and sooner or later a solution turns up. Like someone by the name of Jack might go looking for a job out there around Nitmiluk and give you a lift to the park, you just share in the fuel. In the end he got together a couple of women on his pick-up truck and took us there. He said he would pick us up again in the afternoon.

From the signs along the way you learn about the myths, about the name Nitmiluk and others.

Nabilil and his Journey to Nitmiluk

Nabilil (Nah-bill-il), a dragon-like creation being from the Jawoyn “Dreamtime” or Burr, is said to have camped here at the entrance to the Gorge. (The word “Dreaming” means the origins of something.)

• Nabilil began his journey from the west at a place near Wadeye (Port Keats).

• The country through which Nabilil travelled was very dry and so in the dilly bag, in which he carried his fire sticks, he also carried water. Garrakla are the limestone formations on each side of the Stuart Highway north of Katherine through which Nabilil passed. Nabilil visited Wurliwurliynjang a mosquito dreaming place in Katherine (near today’s Council offices).

• Not far from here, at the blue-tongued dreaming place at Yerreljlrrin and Wun-gurri, thirsty birds tried to catch Nabilil to get the water. Lumbuk, the pigeon, Wakwak the crow and Garrkayn the brown hawk all tried but failed. Nabilil was too clever for them.

• When Nabilil arrived here, he decided to camp. After hearing the song of the cicada “Nit Nit Nitnit!” Nabilil called the place Nitmiluk.

Butterfly Gorge and back takes about 4 hours. It gets hot around midday, there will be little or no shade so bring along at least 3 litres of water, a hat, sun-cream, something to eat and take a photo of the map above. If you don’t have these things, buy them at the Visitors’ Centre, you NEED them. The employees provide valuable information, too. The gorge was declared croc free as far as salties are concerned, only the water would be a bit muddy. Who cares. We had to get there first.

Three litres would be fine if one didn’t get hit by bat or bird droppings.

Oh shit! That feels really hot and burns the skin. I frantically poured water over my arm. Bat droppings are actually very similar to rat droppings. What I had on my arm and t-shirt was far too liquid, so it may have been bat urine which is caustic and can corrode metal. It left a mark on my arm. The sun was burning down, I had used up so much water, I was thinking of giving up and going back … but look at the scenery.

Jawoyn Law  —  Stories from the Burr

The story of Nabilil, told along this Walk, is one of many Jawoyn stories that are part of Jawoyn Law. These stories explain how the world was made and give the rules for proper behavior.

During the time Jawoyn people call the Burr, creation beings that take the form of humans, animals, or plants brought the landscape to life by putting themselves in the country. These creation beings named many places and specified dangerous areas to avoid. Some of the stories about these Jawoyn creation beings are presented here.

Bula – Creator of the land

Bula is the most important Jawoyn creation being who first created the land. He transformed the landscape through his actions and left his image as paintings in rock shelters. North of Katherine he finally went underground. The area, known as “Sickness Country”, is very dangerous and should not be disturbed for fear that fire and earthquakes will destroy the earth. Seismic activity and other land disturbances in the Sickness Country are of great concern to the Jawoyn people.

Bolung – the Giver and Destroyer

Bolung, the Rainbow Serpent, is not only a life giver but also a destroyer. It is important not to disturb Bolung as this may cause lightning or monsoonal floods. Bolung sits in the deep pools of the Second Gorge, where Jawoyn people should not fish or drink the water. Only a small number of fish can be taken from nearby pools and any extra should be thrown back to appease Bolung.

I put my trust in the map (see above), in the water tanks charted on the map (I knew the tanks might be empty or the water old) and went on.

The water was there and it was drinkable. At the second tank my travel companions, two French Swiss women, and I split up. They had chosen the route which was described as longer and more challenging. I was quite happy with the easier one. We agreed to meet at the Butterfly Gorge and go back together.

Alone in the wilderness 

no people no noise no internet  

Being on my own I had the opportunity to slow down and take as many pictures of the path as I liked.

At the sign Butterfly Gorge 1.7 km I thought I was almost there, but the path was getting narrow and shady, difficult to follow and challenging for tired legs and a protesting knee.

Distance: 3,4 km, correct, Grade: 3 – moderate (real feel >4), Time: 2 hours (it’s good I read that on my way back)

Down I went to the gorge, lots of butterflies on the way but I didn’t manage to get a shot of them:

An exhausting walk! The reward: the narrowest beach all to myself, too narrow to sit down or to change into a swim suit, and a refreshing swim in the murky water with all my clothes on. I swam out to have a look around the rocks to see if the two Swiss women were there, but the next bay was just a bare rock escarpment. 

Being alone and not knowing what else – apart from crocs – might be under water, I swam back and avoided splashing about too much.

The walk back seemed endless. I met the two Swiss women who were more than an hour behind schedule and told me their path had been unexpectedly difficult. 

I met a group of young chaps from Germany and the USA, one of them with a bloody wound but nevertheless in good spirits. I’m convinced, it’s standing up to nature that makes you tough and keeps you from fussing.

Where is this leading to?

Endless means at some point you stop taking picture until …

I was on my last legs when from somewhere I heard a boy shout: “Oh look, Mum and Dad, an upside-down-tree!”

 Surprise, I saw 2 Baobabs, oops in Australia they say Boab (did they not get that name right either?). I thought, upside-down-trees existed only in Africa.

At the Visitors’ Centre I rested my aching feet, treated myself to a nice cup of coffee, the device on the table with number 13 signals, when your coffee is ready, and … enjoyed all the achievements of civilization.

On the way back Jack talked to me about Coco. The owner of the hostel had lived with Aborigines for years and knew a lot about their culture. He warmly recommended that I’d talk to him before leaving. First thing on my “to-do-list” for the next day, a look at Coco’s art gallery and didgeridoo collection, .

I love my hat from Nitmiluk

Cheers Gerburg