Traditional Custodians: The Jawoyn people

In June 2016 I traveled up from Adelaide to Darwin and headed south for three hours to the town of Katherine. I was meeting my friends Dan and Tom to spend five nights walking on the Jatbula trail. This trail starts at the Katherine Gorge and leads through the amazing Nitmiluk National Park following the path of an ancient song line used by the Jawoyn people. Each day leads from one amazing cascade to another, where camp is set up in the shade and the afternoon spent swimming and resting by the water cooling off from the days extreme heat.

The first day starts with a 2-minute ferry ride across the Katherine Gorge to the official beginning of the walking trail. There are two options for the ferry, a bright and early one or a late morning start. Unfortunately Dan woke up on this first morning with food poisoning and was emptying his stomach on a regular basis. We had planned for the early morning start but because of Dan’s health we delayed to late morning to give him time to sleep before the big walk.

Because we caught the later ferry we had to walk in the heat of the day. This was a pretty intensely draining day and unfortunately the first waterhole we came upon was UN-swimmable because of crock scares, but nevertheless it was a nice spot to stop in the shade for Dan to nap for a few hours. Dan powered on and after a good feed and a long sleep he was great for the rest of the walk.

Every campsite has a different waterhole or cascade nearby. They are each spectacular in their own way and can only be accessed by people walking the Jatbula Trail. I particularly loved the cascade we camped by on day one; it was such an achievement to reach the camp with Dan in relatively good health and the waterfall felt really special.

At the end of day one it became clear that it would be best to get up early each morning and complete all the walking by around lunchtime. This meant rising at 5.30am for a quick swim, waking Dan and Tom and getting out of camp by 7am. Each morning was fresh and beautiful, the light was soft and the air was crisp. It was a lovely contrast to the harsh bright light during the day.

Overall the hike is over relatively flat terrain, the first day has the most “incline” but it is very minimal and the last day has an easy decline to bring you to the final destination of Edith Falls.

Along the way blue arrows mark the track and no map is needed. As we were walking in the middle of the season the path was already well trodden and the majority of the time we could follow the trodden ground from arrow to arrow. But there were a number of times each day that we had to disperse ourselves out in different directions to locate the arrow and find the right direction to walk! Although the path is not undulating or a long distance each day, the heat really takes a toll on the body and lots of rest is needed to re-hydrate and gain strength. Since we would reach camp around lunchtime we had the remainder of the day to swim in the waterholes, climb up the cascades and surrounding rocks, read books and do lots of napping. There were a lot of flies around so I opted to spend most of the afternoons amerced in the water where they wouldn’t bother me. Along the path we saw some fresh water buffalo tracks and droppings but we didn’t sight any during our walk. It is not uncommon to see them! There are also hundreds of termite minds along the bush floor. They often seem perfectly spaced from each other and can have a creepy graveyard feel to them.

There is a rich cultural presence of the Jawoyn people along the trail; a number of days the path passes many rock art sites, some noted on the map and others left for only the most attentive walkers to notice. On day three there is a small detour that leads to “The Amphitheatre”, at first it appears to be a giant crack in the dry dusty ground but as you climb down into it you realize it is filled with lush vegetation surviving in this damp cavern in the ground. The rock walls on either side are covered (yes covered!) in beautiful, playful and creative drawings made by the Jawoyn people many years ago.

I would say this hike is very accessible for all. You do need to book, as there are only a select number of people allowed to start each day. This keeps the path and campsites in good condition and allows the experience to feel exclusive and not overcrowded. The water in the waterholes is fresh and safe to drink, so there is no need to carry more than one days worth of water. The weather is so warm there is no need to bring the outer shell of your tent we just set ours up with the inner fly net. We walked over a full moon period, making the while experience even more special!

By Alice Blanch

2016

aliceblanch.com

LFRF acknowledges all the Traditional Owners of the land [or country] and pay our respects to the Elders, past and present of all of The Northern Territory and urges you to please do the same.

info

prev / next

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·