When we researched what to do around the Katherine Gorge it seemed that there was limited options within the gorge itself. I think they’ve limited what you can do compared to the old days. It seems there’s mainly boat tours or long walks and we have had our quota of both of those for now. But I saw there was a place called Leliyn (Edith Falls) in the northern end of the park and it had some shining reviews on wikicamps. Although they all said—get there early as it fills up- and you can’t book. So we left Cooinda at seven which was a real achievement for us (it’s still dark at 7 round these parts and the kids don’t usually decide to get out of bed until near 8). And luckily it paid off and we got a great site in the national park camping area. It’s a BYO power and water spot and a TYO rubbish deal. The real charm of it though is it’s proximity to the falls and the enormous pool at the bottom. It was a three minute stroll.

We spent a lot of time just floating around this huge pool. We have now all, officially, got our own pool noodle. It’s easy to spend ages floating around the edge of the pool with googles on checking the amazing array of fish in the water.  They seem to love hanging about at the bottom of the falls.

There was a 2km walk that took you to the upper pools. I went with Lou on the first afternoon (we left at 4pm but  it was still 32 degrees!) and we did it as a family early the next day. The pictures speak for themselves. And how swimmy have we been! And …no injuries!!! WTF

Next stop is Mataranka so we had to do a day trip to Katherine as we haven’t had a shop for a few days.

I think at last we have all agreed that you can camp in some fantastic places and live without being plugged in. Yippee !