Swimming at Edith Falls

After visiting the war cemetery and saying a quick hello to Charlie the Water Buffalo we hopped in the car and headed toward Katherine.  We had spent several nights in Katherine on our way north and were happy to head back to the same caravan park.  On the way we made a quick stop at Edith Falls for a swim.  It’s part of Nitmiluk National Park, the same national park that Katherine Gorge is in. We donned our new snorkels & masks and headed in to the warm water.  One thing about travelling this late in the season- the water is always warm!  No crocs here, but plenty of fish and some of them were feeling a bit nippy that day. We hopped in at the first water access point we came across.  This put us in a shallow area next to a bit of an island.  In the first picture at the top of this post you can get an idea of how far away we were from the falls.  I think I read that it was a 100 metre swim to reach the falls.  The part we were in felt more like a river.  There were lots of fish around, even coming up onto the steps where you get in the water which made them easy for TurboBug (2) to spot.  A good place for snorkelling as long as you are careful not to disturb the sediment at the bottom or your view will become very murky! TurboBug wasn’t interested in staying in one place for long, so we walked down to the next water access point to have a look.  We’d both had a swim and neither of us were that interested in getting back in.  He loved the steps but it was obvious the water was deeper here.  I was glad I didn’t have to go in after him. I seem to have several somewhat identical pictures of the falls.  :)  I know it doesn’t seem so from these pictures but there were several people around.  A few were making that 100m swim out to the falls.  There was a grassy picnic area and as TurboBug and I walked back to meet the others we passed a rather large tour group headed that way.  We got out just in time! We had intended to walk up to the upper pools at Edith Falls, but it was boiling hot when we arrived.  We had our hats and water ready, but really we only had to get out of the car to realise we couldn’t put ourselves through that.  I’ve seen some stunning pictures and was sorry to miss it but it couldn’t be helped.  The kids enjoyed the swim in the plunge pool and I think they were relieved we didn’t make them walk in that heat.  We stayed maybe an hour or so and then got back in the car to finish our drive to Katherine.  We only spent one night in Katherine this time around as we wanted to get moving and make our way to WA.  We made sure to have one more lovely swim in those hot springs before we left!