KATHERINE Traveling north from Mataranka, some 100k later we arrive at Katherine. But 20k before Katherine is the Cutter Cutta Caves. We definitely recommend a visit to the caves. A little expensive but worth the visit. On 4 July 1862, explorer Stuart crossed the now Katherine River and recorded in his diary: "Came upon another large creek, having a running stream to the south of west and coming from the north of east. This I have named 'Katherine', in honour of the second daughter of James Chambers Esq. Katherine is also the location of the Tindal Air force Base, and the base brings many economic benefits. Not the least the town being a technological hotspot. Katherine is another of those towns where the indigenous population is quite high. This demographic factor also brings economic plusses and Katherine is also a town where the provision of services pretty much equal that of the cities. The well known and spectacular Katherine Gorge in the Nitmiluk National Park near the town has many ancient rock paintings. These often become flooded during "the wet season" as the river can rise 18 m in the narrow passage. Most of Katherine’s development has occurred in recent times and is a ‘new’ town. The churches and hotels are of the modern. The Katherine Museum is worth a good look over and has interesting records on display of the epic floods the town has experienced. The War Memorial is located at the river end of town Bustout found Katherine an interesting town that deserves a multi evening stay. Diary notes