Katherine - first visit!

The beautiful Katherine River

After a brief stop in at the beautiful warm Hot Springs at Mataranka we continued on our way up the Stuart Highway to Katherine. Our destination was the home of a school friend of mine – Jodi Scattini (nee Badman). She had kindly offered us a ‘free site’ for the camper in their front yard. This was a fun time with lots of chatting, reminiscing, sharing meals and a bit of ‘bending the elbow’. The Scattini kids were on school holidays so it was great for our kids to have a bit of social interaction with others apart from their parents (and share their telly). Unfortunately, Ben’s work, had taken him to Elliot, so Jon had to put up with female ‘chatter’. I’m pleased to report that he survived admirably.

Nicola, Jodi, and Jodi's mum Merilyn

 Jodi and Ben's third child, Nicola, happened to be home from study in Townsville and turned 19 while we were there. So we enjoyed being included in the family celebration.

Jodi's sixth child (she's a braver woman than me!!), Will  who is 9, was glad to have someone in the house who he could "measure up" against.

Another highlight was catching up with Jon’s Mum & Dad, as they had arrived in Katherine on their caravanning holiday the day before, also enroute to Darwin. Of course they “oohed and aahed” over the kids, and how much they had grown in the 6 months since we had seen them.

Katherine Hot Springs

Jed chasing Will through the warm creek

During this time we tidied the van, washed clothes, did some van maintenance and readied ourselves for the big trip to Darwin to pick up Daniel, Nicole, Isabelle & Mia and Jake from the airport.

Jed and Will walking across the weir at Knott's Crossing - although shallow, the current was quite strong. Much of the north had a bigger than normal wet this year and the locals say the river is higher than it can be at this time. We didn't see any crocs tho' - which was a good thing!



One set of 'wheels' that Jodi drives - pristine!



Home of "Scatt's Plumbing"... for all your plumbing requirements!
 Ours was actually a welding requirement (those bikes have been nothing but trouble...!!) so Jon borrowed Ben's welding gear.