Top End: Day 5

It's quite something to wake up in a swag and lie there, all snug in the outdoors, watching the reddest sunrise you've ever seen. So began the final day of my Top End tour.

The main reason I'd signed up on the 5 day as opposed to the 3 day tour was the chance to spend a day canoeing in Katherine Gorge but I'd been told, an hour into the trip (the same time I realised I'd been booked onto the wrong tour), that gorge was closed to paddlers until further notice due to a pesky saltwater crocodile who was resisting capture and who was liable to make life a misery for said paddlers, if indeed it let them continue in life at all. Instead we were to take a cruise.

Imagine my dismay, then, when, as we boarded the boat, I saw other visitors climb into canoes and paddle off. The park services had opened up the river that morning but too late for us. My enjoyment of the cruise was therefore severely tempered. That was a shame because really the gorge is quite lovely:

Marcus, in his final act of being accommodating, was waiting as the cruise came to an end and told me and Rob that if we wanted, we could go straight back out in a kayak whilst everyone else in the group went for a helicopter ride (we had both already opted out of this activity). We were delighted and a few moments later were heading back up the same stretch of water we'd just cruised down. It was, indeed, infinitely better than being in a boat with sixty other people. Being that bit lower made us feel far more connected to the river, not least because we were getting much wetter. Moreover, we could paddle at our own pace. Best of all, without the boat engine, it was much quieter, allowing us to appreciate the gorge in all its natural wonder. We even had time to jump out and swim. We knew there were no saltwater crocs in the water (otherwise the canoe hire would still be shut), but we had seen, much further down from where we went for our dip, some freshwater crocodiles. On the phone to my parents later that evening, I had great fun exaggerating about my swim in 'croc infested waters'. They didn't see the funny side!

After that, we drove back to Darwin. The tour was at an end. It was a great five days but I was ready to move on.