Our tour group split today. Donna and I did the Top Didj Cultural Experience with Manuel and Mark and Wayne returned to the gorge.

It was incredibly interesting and humbling to hear the story of someone our own age who grew up traditionally: being born in the bush of Nitmiluk; growing up in Arnhem Land; losing his family at a young age; on many occasions being hungry and constantly dealing with the elements and nature. Manuel learnt so much about traditional life – first from the women in his life and then the men. He compared and contrasted his traditional and his current life with humour and humility.

We were taught line painting. Using the reed brushes demanded skill and patience. It was so therapeutic and at times, a little frustrating.

We were also shown fire making and spear throwing.

Mark and Wayne went back to the gorge and did a walk to the lookout. Before doing so, they indulged in some big pieces of cake.

The walk to the lookout gave them a bird’s eye view of the gorge.

Once we returned to Katherine, we searched again for somewhere to have lunch. Many places were shut and there were many signs advertising for staff. Despite the number of travellers currently going through the town, there appears to be a huge hang-over from Covid.

Along with a number of other travellers, we ended up back at The Coffee Club. It was a long wait for lunch but delicious when we got it.

Once we had lunch, we headed to the Katherine thermal pools just out of town. We had a final swim.

Where we got in was not as warm as the day before so we decided to walk up closer to where the spring started. We did it without our shoes and it was the longest 50m or so on a wire path for our soft feet.

To avoid the walk back we had to go down a little rock waterfall, traverse a narrow creek with overhanging foliage and some hidden rocks and logs and then swim under a bridge. Not my favourite kind of activity but anything to avoid the painful walk. Wayne said I went under that bridge like I was kicking to save my life.

We went home via Woolies and had to go Plan C as many of the things we wanted were sold out. Mark and Wayne were questioned again at the Bottle-o.

We settled in for rest of the afternoon and completed some planning for next stage of our trip.