Katherine - Day 54

Mackenzie : Today we slept in and we had to go on a tour and it starts at 11.00, so we were running a bit late but we needed petrol.  When we got there he took us to the cave with a bunch of other people.  The man said you have to be careful because there are snakes, bats and spiders so I was a bit scared but I still went in.  There are lots of rocks on the roof so they might fall down.  We were half way now and the man shows us limestone, it has lots of sparkles on it.  The aboriginal people thought they were stars and they stay there during the day and go up at night.  When we got to the back of the cave the man said we couldn't go any further because it gets hot and there are bats.  Then he said he will show us how dark it is when I turn off the lights, and I was a bit freaked out so I stayed close to mum.  When he put hem back on we got ready to go, was really fun I think and then we went back to Bentley at the caravan and had lunch.  We went out again to go to the hot springs.  When we got there we saw a sign that said warning fresh water and salt water crocs are in there but they are far away.  It was really nice but the current pulls you out and me and Fletcher found a slippery rock.  Fletcher and I went down it and it was fun and dad showed me another rock, it was the one where the current takes you.  Dad got ready to catch me.  We went back to the shallow bit and got out, luckily we didn't see any crocs and then went back to the caravan and me and Fletcher played outside in the dark until tea.  For dinner we had mild mince curry.

                                                              in the caves

                  the sparkles that made the aboriginals think that there was stars in the cave

Fletcher : Today we slept in until 9.30 and went on a tour which was called Cutta Cutta Caves, if your wondering what cutta cutta means it means light.   Aboriginal people were too scared to go into the cave because of the sparkles in the rocks they believed that the stars lived there during the day and when it was night the stars would fly out of the cave like bats into the night sky.  The animals that live in the cave are creepy such as spiders, ghost bats, snakes and much more but the ghost bats are scarier because of the fangs they are like vampires , they love blood and are meat eaters.  After the cave we went home for lunch we had chicken wraps.   Then we went to a hot spring there was a waterfall so me and Mack slid down it.  But on one of the shots I slid down on my tummy.  After that we went shopping and later we had dinner which was curry.

                                                                   inside the caves

                                                         The Katherine Hot Springs

The kids slept in until after 9 today, we had planned to do the 9am tour of Cutta Cutta Caves.  We messed around for the morning and got petrol before we headed out to the caves.  We had a 15c off per litre docket at Woolworths so we saved a massive $11 which is great.  The caves are only 27 kms south of Katherine and we got to the caves at 11.05, we are so good with cutting things fine!  Just by chance the tour guide had to get batteries for his torch so had sent the group ahead, so he let us go with him on the short cut to the cave entrance and we could pay the entry fee later.  What a great guy Ethan our tour guide was, he was aboriginal with so much knowledge of the area, Dan said are you from Katherine, expecting him to have strong ties to the area and Ethan says No I'm from Brisbane!  We met up with the group and ventured into the cave, has anyone noticed I am saying we, yep I went in the cave, all the way in, I was so stressed I could barely concentrate on what Ethan was saying but I did it.  Mackenzie was also scared but not of the confines of the cave but all the critters in there.  It didn't help when he actually mentioned not even half way into the tour that the snakes lose grip on the ceiling and free fall drop at any time, on tours last year the snake fell on to tourists on 2 separate occasions, oh my gosh we were all looking up by now.  The cave was both beautiful and unbelievable, again mother nature is amazing.  The kids explained it really well when it came to the aboriginals beliefs, there is no evidence of them spending time in the caves only around them, this could be for many reasons- it was too dark in the caves, that they were in fact scared of all the "stars" going in there during the day and that in the wet the caves actually flood right to the top.  There were stalactites and stalagmites and in some places they actually nearly met, these take millions of years to grow to this stage.  During World War 2 the soldiers would use the cave for target practice and line up the stalactites/stalagmites and take aim and shoot.  So sad for these amazing natural things, there is new growth that has taken 60 years and is approx. 2cm.  The cave system has a dimly lit walkway right through and in only a few spots you have to squeeze through cave walls but it was all very comfortable, I say this even though I lost my body weight in perspiration, I am going to say it was because it was so hot down there not that I was scared crazy.  It is actually very hot and by the time you are at the turning point it is extremely warm and you can go no further as it would be on your tummy pulling yourself through and the humidity further in gets up to 100% and the air is very thin.  It is at the end point he turns the lights off and its a bit of a giggle to start with but then as he explains your body and mind starts to become uncomfortable, and it really does.  He said that over time in complete darkness your mind starts to play tricks on you and you can go a little crazy, some people using it as a form of torture.  The lights were put back on and we were able to wander out at our own pace with Ethan heading up the rear still discussing things and answering questions.  The tour went for an hour and was $57 for the 4 of us and like all the things we have done the information was fantastic.  You could then look and read back at the information office which was air conditioned and like a fridge.  We headed back to a very excited Bentley and had some lunch.  We headed into Katherine Hot Springs which were fantastic.  This place you could sit all day but we were warned to be out by dark as the locals turn it into a drinking area, although the police did patrol through while we were there.  The kids had a ball.  The current was quite strong in sections but in the quiet areas it was really relaxing to just float around.  There is a deep section that the kids used as a slippery slide and the current was really strong, they did very well to swim against it over and over again but I still had Daniel waiting in the middle of the pool just in case.  In this deep section there was a rope swing and one of the mud hills had been turned into a slide too.  These were both being used by a few European backpackers with 6 pack abs, oh did I say that out aloud?!  We really could have spent a whole day here as there is toilets 150mts down the path and you could have taken a picnic.  We saw no crocs much to Mackenzie's relief, who had no intention of going in because of the crocs but after seeing the waterfalls she was the first one in.  There is also a section here for wheelchair/disabled access with ramp and rails to come into the springs, which is so good to see.  We headed over to the supermarket for a stock up of snow drop soft drink and a look in the dollar store, like our $2 shops. It was now after 5.30 and the alcohol had got the best of a lot of the aboriginals and the kids were in for a show, its so sad, with arguments and yelling down the streets, fist fights and passed out sleeping people everywhere on the footpaths outside the shops.  At one point 2 grown men were fighting, they were strangling each other and punching each other in the face and then as quick as it started it was over and they actually shook hands and waved goodbye to each other!  We headed back to the van and I opened the back door and a bottle of snow drop fell out and exploded open, Dans liquid gold was spraying out all over the ground, well we got some silver masking tape onto the hole and filled our glasses and drank it, a little warm but still great.  We move on in the morning but will be coming back through Katherine after Darwin which I'm glad of because it is a lovely town and a gorgeous caravan park.

                                                              the beautiful sparkles

                                                                    almost touching

                                             so many different shapes, sizes & textures

                                                          proof that I went in the cave

                                                    the kids slip-sliding off the rocks

                                                            Fletcher going face first

                                                                     the tranquil hot pools