© 1992 Christine Krieg
The aborigines that live in this area, the Jawoyn people, call this place Nitmuluk. I called it"A Place Beyond Time". A series of 13 sandstone gorges, carved by torrential summer rains through the millenia, snakes along for over 10 kilometers. Katherine River is one of the few canoeable rivers in the Top End: no salties! That's Aussie strine for saltwater crocodiles, though we knew there to be plenty of so-called "shy" freshwater crocs cruising around.
We canoed through narrow passageways with cliffs towering up to 60 meters
(~180 feet) above our heads. Lush vegetation, including hanging gardens
on the cliff faces, small waterfalls and the constantly changing look
of the escarpment contributed to our constant awe and wonderment.
But every delight seems to carry
a shadow as we soon discovered. It was already September and nearing the
end of the canoe season. Parts of Australia was experiencing a prolonged
drought. The river was completely dry between the individual gorges, exposing
rocks and huge boulders, the source of many a dangerous rapid in the wet
season. Now the sun bore down relentlessly as we carried not only camping
supplies, but our canoe as well in an effort to reach the next gorge.
The passage between the second and
third gorge seemed endless, the boulders insurmountable. I stopped caring
about the scuff marks left on the canoe after 5 minutes. I was supposedly
fit from all that bicycling but my Swiss friend left me in the proverbial
dust. (I swear it was all due to her long legs and not my state of, er,
fitness.) As soon as we arrived on the other side, I plunged into the
water. To heck with the crocs. I'd take my chances. I had to cool off.
In this manner we paddled, shlepped and swam our way into the 7th gorge over the course of six or seven hours. Was it worth it? We slept on a tiny patch of soft white sand enveloped by warm velvet air. The sky would have turned inky black as the red twilight faded except for one thing: millions and millions of sparkling dots, otherwise known as the celestial bodies of the southern hemisphere. No roads lead to this place. Nobody could suddenly pull up in their 4WD to shatter the silence. We were truly in a place beyond time.