Long-suffering visitors to this humble Yorkshire blog may recall that from time to time I like to investigate obscure places with the help of my buddy Professor Google and his Streetview imagery. Just yesterday, it occurred to me that I had not paid any such visit in a long while.
My mind can be like a randomising tombola drum and what has been coughed up today is a place called Katherine in Australia's Northern Territory. I admit that until I decided to embark on this virtual journey, the only places in The Northern Territory that I was aware of were Alice Springs and the capital of the territory - Darwin.
So where is Katherine? Two hundred miles south east of Darwin, Katherine is at the crossroads of the Savannah Way that runs east–west from Cairns to Broome and the Explorer's Way that runs north–south from Darwin to Adelaide through Alice Springs.
Established as recently as 1926, Katherine and its satellite communities has a population of about 10000. The settlement is mostly there because of gold-mining, farming, horticulture and more recently - tourism. Furthermore, quite nearby is a Royal Australian Airforce base called RAAF Tindall.
Whenever I think about Australia, I find myself contemplating the indigenous aboriginal people who occupied their island continent for 50,000 years before white Europeans arrived. Indeed, in Katherine there is still a significant aboriginal population - mostly Walpiri people who mostly live in Katherine East.
Let's go to that area of the town in the Streetview car... There I came across this place. It is part of Callistemon House which accommodates young people from more remote parts of The Northern Territory. It gives them the opportunity to live in a safe and happy environment while engaged in formal education in one of Katherine's secondary schools...
Just out of town is the Katherine River Gorge shown below but be careful if you are boating or fishing there because there are crocodiles around!
Finally, a map and a shout out to Katherine. If you guys pay my airfare and accommodation fees, I will be happy to visit you to make more blogposts that extol the virtues of your lovely town and its environs.
Temperatures may not seem that high, but the humidity in the wet season is close to 100% for months on end.
ReplyDeleteJust out of town is a bit RAAF base, Tindal, a big employer. Also lots of American service people based there too, so it is potentially vulnerable if someone like China decides to bomb. Highly unlikely though China will want to, as they own swathes of properties in the northern part of Australia.
Thank you for your helpful input J. I will add RAAF Tindall to the text. I had no idea that there would be American servicemen there.
DeleteCrocs? No thanks!
ReplyDeleteI agree - they are not the most stylish shoes.
DeleteI like these posts as I learn about a place I would never think about or even know about.
ReplyDeleteGlad you appreciate my effort Red!
DeleteI live in Australia and for most of my childhood I thought Alice Springs was in South Australia. Shame on me! I have photos of Katherine Gorge from when my brother visited with his wife. It's a beautiful area.
ReplyDeleteYes - shame on you you little nitwit!
DeleteI've been to the Katherine horse show but when it was in Sydney
ReplyDeleteShouldn't it have been called The Sydney Horse Show?
DeleteFunny that the hotel is called the K-Town Hotel. K-Town in Germany is short for Kaiserslautern - the term K-Town was coined in the 1950s by American military folks (it is not a term I have ever seen used out of the US military context).
ReplyDeleteThe river looks beautiful but with crocodiles roaming, I would give it a wide berth.
Do the Yanks call Ludwigsburg L-Town? It sounds like Hell-Town.
DeleteNo they don't, but I've often heard them pronounce it "Louisburgh". Steve used to call it Luddie.
DeleteSteve must have been a Luddite! (Google it if you don't know).
DeleteI know what Luddites are :-) In one of my favourite TV series of all times, "BeForeigners", there are even Neo-Luddites.
DeleteI'm afraid we will have to disagree about bearable weather. It isn't, being both hot and humid. I know prices are higher in the NT, but £132 seems like highway robbery for that style of motel.
ReplyDeleteIt does have a swimming pool.
DeleteIf you do visit, take your SPF50 sunscreen and a big floppy hat.
ReplyDeleteShould I have dangling corks around the brim?
DeleteI wonder if the town is known simply as 'Kate' or Katie' by the locals. I'm surprised you didn't research that!
ReplyDeleteMy apologies for providing an inferior service.
Delete50 years ago, I never imagined a smartphone,
ReplyDeleteAre you an aboriginal?
DeleteWhat Katherine Did Next.
ReplyDeleteShe banned street drinking .
DeleteThat should be Tallahassee's sister city. Did you know that there is a Tyndall Air Force Base just east of Panama City which means it's not that far from here at all. Different spellings but still sort of funny.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Andrew and J about the weather. It is pretty darn close to unbearable here in deepest summer. Or, actually, all summer. Have you not heard me complain enough about it? So I'm sure it's the same there.
i really enjoyed that little tour of a place I will obviously never go. Thank you!
Well - I do remember that in passing you once complained about the Floridian summer heat. Happy to have taken you to Katherine.
DeleteMost interesting. It all looks quite new.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I can't see it being on the "International" tourist track! The water in the Katherine River gorge looks very uninviting - never mind the crocodiles.
ReplyDeletenever seen Katherine on Australian Gold Hunters so there can't be much yeller stuff round there!!
ReplyDeleteThat's a beautiful gorge. It looks like an interesting landscape. I would love to go to Australia, but I suspect even if I do I am unlikely to make it to Katherine.
ReplyDelete