Katherine

We drove out to Katherine at 6am in the morning from Darwin, to reach the Cutta Cutta caves at 9.30am.  Tours run on the hour starting from 9am till 3pm, except there is no tour at 12pm, price for adults $16.00 and children $8.00, please note there is no eftpos and is cash only. Arrive 10 minutes before tour starts.  Takes aprox 20mins to drive from Katherine to the Caves. (to drive from the Caves to the Gorge its aprox 50mins)

We headed straight out to the Caves for the 10am tour.  The Caves are very nice, a very good experience.   I would definitely recommend taking along a torch or 2, as it is quite dark and only the tour guide has a torch.  There are small lights along the path, but I saw that without a torch you miss out on seeing a lot of the features in the cave.  I had to use my mobile phone light as did most of the other people in the tour.

I would definitely recommend pre-booking the Katherine Gorge cruise.   I went on the “Timeless Land” 1pm,  3.5- 4hr,  3 Gorge cruise where you get to stop for a swim for about 40mins, it was really good, the water was beautiful.  They have cold water on board the boat and refreshments at the waterhole– which was great! 

If we hadn’t booked the cruise beforehand we would have missed out.  When we got out there (12pm) all the cruises where full and a lot of people around us were disappointed.  I think if you can try and plan ahead it will make your trip more enjoyable.

It takes 2.5 - 3hrs to drive from Darwin down to Katherine, the Adelaide River Homestead has a dinner buffet for $10 which is really good for an outback stop along the way.  From Katherine to the Gorge it’s aprox 30mins.

Check the tour times as the they advertised a tour at 11am on the internet and when I rang the information centre they told me that it had been cancelled and was only running at 1pm.  If you want to book any tours and to get really good information and helpful advice call or email the tourist information centre in Darwin or go in there when you arrive.  They are situated near the Darwin Mall.

Phone: 08 8980 6000 Email: [email protected]

Click on this link below for other tour times and information.

https://www.nitmiluktours.com.au/tours/cruises/?gclid=CO3skLK-86ECFQY_bwodZ1BvmQ

Edith falls and Mataranka are other nice places visit while down in Katherine, although I didn’t get there – we ran out of time. 
Mataranka has natural hot springs that you can swim in.

I hope this information is helpful to everyone!