Katherine Gorge

Whilst I'm not a scenery tragic, Katherine is spectacular, and worth blogging.

We were shoveled into buses when we detrained, and driven the short distance to the gorge. Our bus was a "Higer", made in China, and like most Chinese made vehicles imported to this country, equipped with leather upholstery.

The cows supplying the hide must be a special oriental breed, fed on artificial grass, as the leather seemed less than kosher.

There has been a particularly dry year, so the punt that took us up the gorge could navigate only as far as the end of the first section. Both rocks and vegetation are interesting, but the vegetation more so, in my opinion.

Once you seen a rock, you've seen them all, and they don't change. The vegetation, on the other hand, is ever changing. There are trees described as calendar trees because you can tell what time of the year it is by looking at the state of the vegetation. The crocs (both freshwater and estuarine) apparently time their egg-laying according to these trees.

Clever critters, crocs, but we didn't see any. The guide claimed that it was too hot for them to come out of the water. Some of my fellow travelers were disappointed. Can't say I was - after reading the local rag (NT News) I'm crocced out.

Once back on dry land we were treated to buffalo and camel meat, crocodile fritters and soup, and watermelon, washed down with a glass of bubbly.

I'd rate the buffalo meat edible but chewy, the crocodile fritters tasty, and the soup delicious. I don't recommend the camel.

I'm not sure they are meant to be tucker except in the direst of circumstances.