Well over the last four days we have all had pur healrg issues. Poor Meg has had temps on and off since Bali, but on our drive to Katherine from Edith Falls, her temps had gotten high at 39oC and she was coughing up green sputum. Still we just fed her Panadol and Nurofen over the next four days, slowly improving. Will take her for a check up when we get to Alice Springs l think, seeing she still has those bumps inbetween her legs from Kakadu. I know, I'm a bad mother, think its the fact I'm a nurse though snd nurses always leave things too long. Then on the second last day Marty and Boo started having temps of 39oC+. All three of them spent the day in bed watching movies whilst l fed them medicine all day. I'm hoping that it's just a virus and we haven't caught anything too bad from Bali?! Luckily they are all improving, but Meg still having temps on snd off and coughing. My back is slowly improving thanks to a massage by Jenny at the caravan park and from swimming for the last four days.

Our time in Katherine wasn't what we'd hoped for, with all of us being sick. But we have still tried to see a bit around the place, we just dosed ourselves up on medicine in the mornings and rested in the arvo. We paid $160 for four nights at the Ksthetjve Low Level Big 4 Caravan Park, not bad. We had a great shady grassed site and the pool was huge. Really nice park, well kept. It was the end of the dry season, coming into the wet, so it was fairly queit. We still met some lively travelling families. We had drinks with Nicole and Dale whole Boo played with their daughter Coyrtneu. We also swapped details with a young couple, Leesa and Darren abd their little daughter, Madison, who the girls loved.

Our first day in Katherine was relaxed. We had Maccas for lunch, Meg and l rested while Marty and Boo did the groceries. Then we swam in the pool in the arvo and then caught up on all our washing from Bali, three full loads of it!

The next day we woke from our hot night sleep, having an overnight low of 25oC. This weather is killing us after having air conditioned comfort at Hard Rock in Bali. Today it reached 39oC, hopefully it starts cooling down. So after my back massage we headed into town for the morning. We went to the info centre and booked a couple of tours, the Katherine gorge cruise and Top Didj cultural experience, for the next few mornings. We then headed to the Springvale Homestead which was a functioning cattle station back in 1879, when it was first established. The original tree planted still stands, it was huge! The floods back in 1998 there was some slight damage to the store and homestead, but they have restored it well. After heating up on our look around we headed down the road to the Katherine Hot Springs and had a wonderful time floating down in the clear water. For me, nothing has bet Bitter Springs, it was magic!! Anyway, the rest of the day was spent back at the caravan park swimming abd chilling.

Another hot nights sleep and Meg waking a few times with temperatures, Marty and l were a bit tired. We got up early and went to Katherine Gorge for our two hour morning cruise. I don't know whether we are over sensitized or just spoilt or because Marty snd l have find this cruise before, but we weren't blown away. It was nice, don't get me wrong, and our guide, Jason, was fantastic, but l just didn't leave impressed. It is such a grand and majestic gorge though and am loving the colored rock formations again. The girls had a great time also trying to see a croc or turtle, none of which they saw. After the cruise the girls and l walked down to the swimming hole and jumped off the platoon into the gorge. I was on high alert for bubbles snd movement in the water, even though it was a designated swimming area l still felt on edge. So we were refreshed again, even though it was slightly cooler than the last two days, it was still warm. As usual, the rest of the arvo was spent in the pool while the girls found some travelling kids to play with. Marty abd l swapped stories with the mums and dads whilst getting water logged in the pool....

Our last day in Katherine wasnt the best for Marty and the girls. They all woke with high temps and Boo also felt like spewing. I quickly dosed them all up with medication as we had the Top Didj Cultural Experience already booked for the morning. So after it all kicked in we headed out for the morning. We were greeted by a traditional aboriginal bloke named Manual. We had the best two hours, would have to nearly say the best money we've spent on an attraction so far. Manual started by playing some traditional didgiredoo music, the girls were transfixed immediantly, they love the didg!! We sat whilst listening to Manual sharing his life story about growing up in the bush. He was literally born out in the bush and his grandmother cut his umbilical cord with a rock knife then did a smoking ceremony around him and his mother to make them both strong. He also told us of how they moved from out bush to just outside Kathetine to a community where they were accepted by the J mob. On our greeting Manual made us part of his mob, the Dalabon tribe and have us wristbands. Was a very nice gesture we thought. After talking about his life and culture he took us through steps on how to paint a traditional Dalabon painting. I took to painting a snake, Marty did a long necked turtle, Boo did a wallaby with Manuals help and Meg did a bush carrot with Manual helping her out. We were told that the only thing that was strict was that we had to paint our groups of lines with four lines in it, any less or more and we were offending the tribe. Manual told us how people had been banished from the tribe frthe not following the painting rules. It was also interesting to learn that paintings around Katherine region are all done in lines and the central NT area around Alice Spribgs are done in dots. Manual took us through the six steps: 1) paint the border; 2) paint the outline of our subject in black; 3) paint our outline in white using the grass brush Manual had made; 4) paint our white lines using the grass brush; 5) paint our yellow or red colored lines; and lastly 6) touch up our errors. Manual had made the paints himself with the black being from coal, red and yellow from ochre rock and the white from white clay from a billabong close by. Manual was fantastic with the girls, helped Boo with her outline and pretty much did all of Meg's for her. He gave Boo do much encouragement, you can tell they have natural teaching qualities. After our awesome attempts at painting, Manual lead is to a sheltered area to teach us how to make fire with fire sticks. They were made for a soft wood and you rubbed one down in the other toakd friction which would create an ember. The girls had a go but didn't make smoke even. Then l had a try and the smoke started then came the hot ember. Manual said l could join his hunting mob any day!! Marty got the ember going immediately, tipped it on the dry grass and whala, fire! Apparently the fire sticks last for months and can create several fires per length of stick and once finished, the fire sticks are kept and brought out to tell stories, ie. of a ceremony, bushtucker cooked or of a smoking ritual performed. Quite fascinating, they're like a story book almost. Lastly, Manual took us out and taught us how to throw a spear using a woomera. The girls had a great time trying and really did a good job. I didn't hit the metal kangaroo target but l was surprised how little effort it took to throw a distance. Marty eventually got the hang of it and got closest to the target. Unfortunately, our two hours had come to an end. The best $140 we have spent on this trip l reckon, a brilliant, intimate and cultural education experience.
After our amazing morning, the medicine must have worn off cause Marty and the girls fell into a whole and spent the rest of the day snoozing snd watching movies. Luckily it wasn't top hot, only getting to 36oC. I caught up on blogs on the laptop and had a quick last dip in the pool. A wonderful last day in Katherine, tomorrow we pack up and continue our journey down to Alice Springs. We have two days to drive 1100kms! Will be a testing few days in the car with the girls, hopefully everyone is well to enough travel?! We are all very excited to be catching up with the Woods family again, can't believe it's been 9onths since we've seen them last when we were in Tassie. How time flys!!

Bell Xxx