Travel Guide Katherine

320 km from Darwin, Katherine is the3rd largest town in the Northern Territory, after Darwin and Alice Springs. With a population of around 250 in the 1930s, the town prospered after the Second World War. Primarily known for the beauty of its gorges to the east, in Nitmiluk National Park, many travellers consider it a stop-off point on the Stuart Highway on their way to Darwin, Kakadu or Litchfield. In fact, it's a unique destination with an exceptional natural environment and a rather eccentric population. Katherine River is the first permanent river you encounter on your way up from Alice Springs to Darwin. The town was severely damaged by its 1998 flood, when the water rose up to 2 m in the town center. Photos taken at the time bear witness to the damage and can be seen everywhere. Flooding is not uncommon during the rainy season, as 2024 demonstrated once again. As in Alice Springs, many Aborigines are present in Katherine. Silently seated in the shade of the eucalyptus trees or chatting loudly in the vicinity of a bottle shop, they remind us of the difficulties still faced by this population, too long ignored and torn from its values. The main street is the Stuart Highway. On either side of the road are a few boutiques, a shopping mall and several hotels and restaurants. Katherine is also crossed by the Victoria Highway, NT's only major road to WA.