Seeing stars

Australia is a continent that’s been around for a while. I,560 billion years of rock formation in the Katherine Gorge according to Jaimie our guide of the Jarwoyn People as we glided through its majesty and beauty. Hence no fossils since it pre-dates living creatures. Awesome is a word used often and for the most minor of wonders, but Katherine Gorge actually deserves the adjective and many more. At one point Jaimie stopped the engine of the boat so we could feel the silence. Unfortunately most of the group did not tune in to the spirituality of the place as they started talking almost immediately. Pity. I would have enjoyed the silence.


We have a thunderbox on our bus. To the non Aussies among you that is a toilet. It is not one of those you sometimes find in coaches, it is more basic. Our driver has gone to great pains to tell us that it doesn’t get emptied until we reach our destination, Broome. He obviously doesn't want us to use it so we are taking great care not to in case we make Bushie mad. He's turning out to be a little moody.

Bushie is a typical Aussie, the lean type: tanned skin, good legs, ending in boots and strong socks. He likes a clean bus, always telling us to knock the red bull dust off our shoes when we’ve been on one of our excursions to a rock pool or swimming hole. He makes strong tea in an enormous kettle which made an appearance at our first stop at Adelaide River War Cemetery on the road to Katherine.

He is more comfortable in male company (a bit hard on him since females are in the majority); he is sexist (all women in service occupations are ‘chicky babes’ – much gnashing of teeth in the back seats whenever that shows up.); he’s ageist, mimicking the croaky voice of previous older passengers in some of his yarns. It’s as if he doesn’t realise he has a bus full of older women. He’s always banging on about the 'latte drinkers' and for some strange reason, wearers of clear plastic glasses (still haven’t figured that one out). He is taciturn and abrupt but when he does his commentary he is a mine of mangled words providing wonderful entertainment. I’ve christened them ‘Bushieisms’

Yesterday he described someone as ‘Charamystic.’ Isn’t it wonderful? I almost prefer it to charismatic. He also keeps telling us to wear our 'shrawls' in case it’s chilly. That’s a laugh, I haven’t been chilly one second since stepping out of Darwin airport. If the aircon is on full we are not aware of it, it’s cool but not freezing.

Traffic lights are scarce in this part of the country, only one in 1459kms. Apart from an extra put up by road repairers we didn’t see any until we reached Katherine. It is 300kms between petrol stations. Unlike most of the country with a speed limit of 110km per hour on freeways you can bomb along at 130kms up here.

Another stat up Bushie’s sleeve is that the Northern Territory boasts the largest consumption of alcohol in Australia and the second highest in the world. He didn’t say which area had the highest.

Leaving Darwin, we passed through Palmerston, a satellite town, reputed to be the fastest growing city in Australia, going from a population of 4000 to 26000 in no time. Labour in this area is in short supply. According to Bushie, if 500 semi skilled workers showed up at the weekend, they would have full time jobs by Monday. The pay is good although cost of living is high. Bushie himself is looking for a driver, wages $60.00 an hour.

Down the road a ways we entered Nitmiluk National Park and headed for the highest point of the journey, all of 70 metres above sea level! He took us to a wonderful swimming spot called Edith Falls. The water was warm, and clean. Best of all it is a high inland lake, no abseiling salties!

After lunch we cruised into Katherine, where after freshening up we went on a real cruise in Katherine Gorge, all in all 16kms long. The aforementioned Jaimie took us through the first gorge then guided us overland to the second one. Since the indigenous people have taken over management of the area they have put in steps and hand rails to help the more infirm of us to manage the 700 metres walk to the jetty in the second gorge.

Given that I’m writing this a few days later I can say that the Katherine Gorge cruise is a highlight. And the dinner cruise afterwards was good. From the complimentary glass of champagne onwards the food and service were excellent. At the end of the night we city dwellers shared the novelty of seeing a sky full of stars, magical.