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
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