Paddling the Katherine

We spend three days paddling the Katherine River to fall in love with its thrilling rapids, sheer-rock gorges and palm-fringed thermal pools.

- CATHERINE LAWSON

I’m about to close in on “Slippery Nipple” which, before you get excited, is a tricky little river rapid, not the very delicious drink. In fact, I’m about as far away from a cocktail bar as you are ever likely to be, staring down a tight squeeze of whitewater studded with precariously protruding boulders that snag the Katherine River’s flow.

I dig in my paddle, push off into the current and in a spray of white water, bounce my way through the rapid, sliding over slippery river stones into the deep pool below. My tiny triumph has me beaming, despite an audience of just one — seasoned river guide Mick Jerram, who is looking on somewhat relieved that I haven’t wrecked his boat. Downstream I go, dipping my paddle along a truly remote stretch of the Katherine River that few people see.

A three-hour drive south of Darwin, the Katherine River stretches for 328 kilometres, carving a rugged path through 13 barely accessible sheer-rock gorges, and bubbling though palm-fringed thermal pools before surging into the Daly River and, finally, what sailors call the Joseph “blown-part” Bonaparte Gulf.

The part of the river that woos most travellers is found deep inside Nitmiluk (pronounced Nit-me-look) National Park where you can hike riverside trails, take a boat cruise and paddle upriver in search of seasonal waterfalls and Indigenous rock art.

But it is far downstream of Nitmiluk’s sunrise lookouts and plunging cliffs that our adventure begins. Here, the Katherine’s riverside scenes are transformed by white sand beaches and shady river gums and are crowded with an abundance of wildlife found only in Australia’s rugged far north.