The Woodies Travel

Slept in this morning so it was about 11 o'clock before we got to Katherine after a 115km drive. The Knott's Crossing Resort Caravan Park has lots of palms, bougainvilleas and other tropical plants growing as well as native trees. Katherine is quite a large town now and not like I remembered it from 1956, although many parts are still familiar. Drove around the town, did some shopping, visited an aboriginal art gallery or two and the local library to see if the had any local family history (but they didn't). We also visited Mum's cousin and his wife and had a long chat about the family and its history. They live in a wonderful location backing onto the Katherine River reserve with a range of birds singing and squawking in the trees and palms in their garden. The house is raised, tropical style with a large verandah around two sides with fans in the ceiling to keep them (and us) cool. On the way to their house I saw three black cockatoos with red tails sitting in the trees and when I got out of the car to take their photo a flock of about 20 to 30 more took off from the ground. Tonight, as I forgot to defrost any meat, we had dinner at Katie's Bistro at the resort and chatted to some people from Brisbane. Today is Territory Day in the NT celebating the beginning of self rule in the NT. Unfortunately it is celebrated by everyone buying fireworks and letting them off. We hear it will go on all night and probably tomorrow too - if so there might be two very grumpy travellers tomorrow. if you ever intend to visit Katherine avoid doing so on the 1st July.