Katherine

Long-suffering visitors to this humble Yorkshire blog may recall that from time to time I like to investigate obscure places with the help of my buddy Professor Google and his Streetview imagery. Just yesterday, it occurred to me that I had not paid any such visit in a long while.

My mind can be like a randomising tombola drum and what has been coughed up today is a place called Katherine in Australia's Northern Territory.  I admit that until I decided to embark on this virtual journey, the only places in The Northern Territory that I was aware of were Alice Springs and the capital of the territory - Darwin.

So where is Katherine? Two hundred miles south east of Darwin, Katherine is at the crossroads of the Savannah Way that runs east–west from Cairns to Broome and the Explorer's Way that runs north–south from Darwin to Adelaide through Alice Springs. 

Established as recently as 1926, Katherine and its satellite communities has a population of about 10000. It is mostly there because of gold-mining, farming, horticulture and more recently - tourism.

Whenever I think about Australia, I find myself contemplating the indigenous aboriginal people who occupied their island continent for 50,000 years before white Europeans arrived. Indeed, in Katherine there is still a significant aboriginal population - mostly Walpiri people who mostly live in Katherine East. 

Let's go to that area of the town in the Streetview car... There I came across this place. It is part of Callistemon House which accommodates young people from more remote parts of The Northern Territory. It gives them the opportunity to live in a safe and happy environment  while engaged in formal education in one of Katherine's secondary schools...

In the Callistemon House website gallery, I found these two residents and friends. The girl on the right is holding something that her ancestors could never have imagined - a smartphone...

Back in the main town, this is one of the hotels that is available to visitors. It is on Giles Street and it is called The K Town Hotel. If you were to stay there on Monday night,  a double room would cost you £132 (US$178)...

Also on Giles Street is this business - "Rod and Rifle" that may give you a clue about popular local leisure activities...

Just out of town is the Katherine River Gorge shown below but be careful if you are boating or fishing there because there are crocodiles around!

I was a little surprised to discover that average temperatures in subtropical Katherine are on a par with northern Florida so the heat is rarely unbearable.  There is a lot of greenery in the area - including native trees. Though there can be dry periods, the average annual rainfall is 44.72 inches compared with 36.4 inches here in Sheffield, England, 60.0 inches in Tallahassee, Florida and 25.5 inches in Melbourne, Australia.

Finally, a map and a shout out to Katherine. If you guys pay my airfare and accommodation fees, I will be happy to visit you to make more blogposts that extol the virtues of your  lovely town and its environs.

from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/GvCn2fB