Our day started in hot Katherine, bright and early. We had a big brekky and got stuck into the day.
First stop was the Katherine School of the Air. NT schools get started at 9:00 and that’s when the first tour got underway.
We weren’t allowed to take any photos due to student privacy rules.
The school is run just like any other, really! They get the same funding from the government as any other school, its what they do with it that makes the difference.
These days the 250 students, across the NT (and beyond), are hooked up by satellite. This allows the teachers and students to utilize a 2 way video phone style hookup. All the students can hear and see the teachers, via a few cameras, and also see and hear the focus student as well. They do all the sorts of subjects that you’d expect and a few that are a bit tricky, like choir.
A few times a year, they all get together for a week in Katherine and have a big sports day and general catch up with all their mates. Some of these kids only get to physically play with other kids a few times a year, but they get to socialize quite a bit through the schools connectivity otherwise.
Academically, they do really well too. The school caters for students up to year 9, after that they need to choose another method to further their education, such as boarding school.
We had heard that the Ghan was in town, so went down to the railyard to check it out.
It was starting to get hot already this early in the day and we were all anxious to try out the Katherine Hot Springs.
Absolutely crystal clear water at a nice and cool 32 degrees. Cool is relative, right? … it was already 35 degrees in the shade by the time we found this oasis.
Back to the van, via the shops for supplies. A lazy lunch and swim in the pool saw 2pm sneak up on us. We had a cruise on Katherine Gorge for 3pm and knew it was going to be a hot one. We took a couple of bottles of water along and managed to empty them both. Luckily the cruise has a plentiful supply of barrels full of ice cold water.
Imagine the water level 14m higher. That’s how much water flows through here in the wet season.
A truly beautiful afternoon. We finished off the day with a swim in the park pool and dinner at their restaurant. Unusually they had live music. Ya don’t see that too much anymore. Plenty of classics and a few dancers made for plenty of entertainment to suit the great feed of local Barra.