Jatbula Trail

Back to Katherine after five days hiking the length of the wonderful Jatbula Trail, a wilderness track which goes through the Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park from Katherine Gorge to Leliyn (Edith Falls).

We saw the full varied range of landscapes in the Park, which include gorges and waterfalls, rocky cliffs (part of the Arnhem Escarpment), riverside forests of pandanus, tree grevillias and melaleucas, small patches of rainforest, grasslands and savannah woodland on top of the plateaus. About 100,000 termite mounds. Fantastic country.

There are also rock art sites along the trail, where the local Jawoyn people had drawn and painted images of animals, fish, and ancestor spirits from the Dreamtime.

We saw no other people (none!) until the last day of the walk, and only heard a distant aeroplane on one occasion. You are only allowed to walk the trail in one direction so as to reduce the chance of encountering any other people. At this time of year (late in the dry season) it’s starting to get a bit hot, with daily temperatures in the mid-thirties, so not too many people are silly enough to go out walking anyway!

To counter the heat, which did get pretty intense at times with full packs on, we got up well before dawn (and before the numerous birds!) each day to get the bulk of the day’s walk over before the late afternoon heat. It also helped that each day’s walk included two or three truly BEAUTIFUL swimming holes, at which we’d drop packs (and clothes) and plunge in to cool off. Some of the most wonderful places we’ve ever swum, with sweet clear cool water, frolicking birds all around – and importantly, no crocs…

Our campsites were all beside waterholes which even had names to evoke the landscape – names like Biddlecombe Cascades, Crystal Falls, and Sweetwater Camp Pool. Plentiful smokeless firewood, (mostly) no mozzies, soft soil to plant the tent pegs in – in short, we were the original ‘happy campers’.

Returning to civilisation was a bit tough, though I must say that we have enjoyed little luxuries like ice cream, fine wines, air conditioning, laundry facilities and food cooked and served by someone else!