Nitmiluk National Park (Katherine Gorge) - Sunday Part 1

The most photographed part of the gorges

We drove out to Nitmiluk (Nit-me-look), meaning Cicada Country. Nitmi - cicada, Luk - country in the language of the Jawoyn people, who have spent generations on this land.  When the land was handed back to the Jawoyn people in 1989, they leased this part of the land back to the Northern Territory Government to operate as a National Park in a partnership between the Jawoyn people and the Parks and Wildlife Service.


After talking to the pilot of the helicopter tour, he persuaded us to first do the boat trip up the first two Gorges of the Katherine River. There are 13 gorges, and each is divided from the other by a natural rock barrier. There are boats anchored on each side of these barriers, necessitating a short walk over the rocks to board the next boat. In the wet, these natural barriers are covered, however, the current is so strong, some of the larger tourist boats do not have enough power to get them up river. Instead, they run a power boat, which carries much fewer people at a time and only takes 20 mins to travel what the other big boats would take 4 hours. We will go back to experience this thrill ride.

However, on Sunday we took the more sedate ride and walked the 400 meters between Gorge 1 and 2. Our boat operator and guide, Darcy was very informative about how the gorge formed and some of the legends associated with that. He also pointed out and explained some of the aboriginal uses of the trees and shrubs growing alongside the river. Once again, photos do not capture the majestic-ness of the gorges, the colours of the sandstone rock faces, the beauty of the waterfalls that are starting to appear after a good dumping of rain on Saturday night, that saw the river rise 1-1.5 metres overnight.

If you are interested, here is the link that explains how the gorge was formed: Katherine Gorge was formed by

One of the many waterfalls

One of the 'beaches' where fresh water crocs lay their eggs

The slant of the rock shows how it was thrust up during formation

The lower rock formations are under water during the wet

She's a long way up

The tenacity of vegetation to grown wherever it can get a hold

Jedda Rock - featured in the movie "Jedda" 

During the wet, the bottom cave is mostly under water.

The black rock is where water leaks out of the sandstone, sometimes travelling from way up in behind the top of these cliffs. The red/brown rock face is oxidised minerals that have leached through the sandstone with water, then on contact with the air, oxidised to colour the rock face.  

Both Pete and I would recommend this tourist boat ride to everyone. We were so pleased we did this as it gave a whole different perspective of the gorges enormity. 

Leave a Comment Holidays, Katherine Gorge, leisure, Nitmiluk National Park