Katherine (1200km from Alice Springs) was our second motel stop on the long drive from Alice Springs to Darwin. It was an ‘extended’ transit stop as we stayed for two nights instead of the usual one. We arrived at about 5pm and checked in to the Beagle Motor Inn.

The usual reason for staying in Katherine is to visit Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) – the main tourist attraction in the area. In our case though, we were here on a work day and so didn’t have a full day to spare. Instead, we went out for lunch at the Pop Rocket Cafe (a shipping container near Katherine Hot Springs) and did a bit of bird-spotting.

The bird-spotting went pretty well and we saw our first ever great bowerbird and also our first ever red-collared lorikeet.

[We visited Nitmiluk Gorge when we passed through Katherine again two months later]