The off train experience today was truly remarkable, a long drive from the train station at Katherine to the Nitmiluk National Park where we boarded a river boat for a cruise up through the Katherine Gorge. I have nothing to compare it to since I have never visited the bottom of
the Grand Canyon of Arizona and seen firsthand the steep cliffs descending to the Colorado River, but I imagine it is somewhat similar to this more modest canyon with its swift running channel. Although the watercourse is hundreds of miles from the ocean the river is still home to both fresh and salt water crocodiles, and we saw one of each during the excursion. When the river is low the rocky bed forms a barricade between different levels of the river, but when the rains come the critters can easily breach the natural dams and remain healthy even when the lowering water levels trap them upstream. Our guide was remarkable, a very knowledgeable young woman who both provided the commentary and performed all the duties of a ship captain and shore crew all by herself. During our portageto reach a second boat past one of the rocky barricades the walkway went along side a cliff where some prehistoric Van Gogh painted images of himself and the animals he hunted. At least 10,000 years old, it reminds the visitor of the oft repeated descriptive phrase, "the ancient land", when referring to Australia. The native people who inhabited this place prior to the arrival of the white man in 1788 have left many tangible reminders of their earlier settlement, and this rock art was a great example.
p>The tour was over all too soon and we got back on the bus to return to the train. While boarding the vehicle with all the other geriatric passengers both Jayne and I were reminded of the many tours her mother had taken overseas during the latter part of her life. She always had plenty of pictures of people we never met and that she delighted in telling us about. Do we really become our parents?
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