Sunday, 10 May 2026
Before leaving this morning Bernie decided to ring up to book a Katherine Gorge cruise and a Cutta Cutta Caves tour for tomorrow. When Bernie looked at their website, it appeared that everything was booked out. However, he sent an enquiry and they advised that, yes, there are plenty of places available. He thought it might be easier to get our bookings sorted out over the telephone, rather than on-line. Ha, ha, that was before he was connected with a gentleman whose first language was not English. It was an exercise in patience trying to explain what he wanted to book. Then he had to spell out, spell, spell, spell out our name and our email address for the confirmation to be sent to. OMG. After an excruciating amount of time, he finally communicated our email address and confirmation of our bookings came through.
After this entertainment, we finalized our re-packing, then headed out of Batchelor, before cutting across Crater Lake Road, to find ourselves back on the Stuart Highway, heading back to Katherine. While we were in Darwin, we saw a brochure for The Shed in Pine Creek, located out the back of the Lazy Lizard Caravan Park, Restaurant and Tavern. We didn’t come across The Shed when we passed through Pine Creek 10 days ago, so Bernie was keen to visit this private collection, featuring vehicles from Harley to Holden, on our way back to Katherine.
As we drove into Pine Creek we noticed some rusty mining relics … that we also missed last time! They sit just over the crest of a small hill from the Railway Museum and, although we could see a rusty relic from the Railway Museum, we didn’t appreciate the extent of the machinery displayed in Miners’ Park. But, first stop The Shed.
Pulling into the Lazy Lizard car park at 11.20am, it all looked rather quiet and we wondered if The Shed was open on Sunday? Their web site says – Opening times may vary during Wet Season & Dry Season – so a bit relaxed about WHEN it is actually open. We popped into the shop attached to the servo and we were told that the tavern and The Shed would be opening at noon.
With about 40 minutes to fill in, we returned to the Miners’ Park to look at the rusty mining relics. In addition to the rusty machinery, we found a surprisingly comprehensive collection of interpretative boards, telling us a great deal about mining in this part of the Northern Territory. Many different minerals – gold, iron ore, zinc and silver – have been mined between 1871 and the present day.
One of the boards also told the story of uranium mining in the South Alligator River Valley, an area that is now inside Kakadu National Park. At the time when the uranium was mined, no remediation work was required when mining operations ended and sites were left as they were until Stage Three of Kakadu National Park was declared in 1986. As part of discussions around the return of the country to the traditional owners and the subsequent lease back to the Federal Government as Kakadu National Park, it was agreed that all evidence of the former mining operations was to be cleared up by 2015. We didn’t read a single thing about this while we were in Kakadu!!
We returned to the Lazy Lizard at about a quarter past twelve and there were cars everywhere. It seemed that half the population of Pine Creek had arrived at the tavern to celebrate Mothers’ Day. We wandered through the tavern and made our donation to the Melanoma Institute of Australia in order to enter The Shed. They ask for $5.00/head donation, but the smallest note we had was $20.00, which we were happy to put in for a good cause. At the desk, we were introduced to Bully, the biggest blue tongue lizard we’ve ever seen. She’s basically THE Lazy Lizard, ha, ha.
It never ceases to amaze us, the collections of motor vehicles and motoring ephemera that have been amassed by individuals all over the country. This was another collection that did not disappoint. Cars and utes downstairs and motorcycles upstairs and an incredible collection of fuel signs all around the walls.
After making our way around The Shed, we popped into the shop for some sandwiches. Freshly made again rather than the defrosted packaged sandwiches we have been eating more often than not. We had the option of ham and cheese or ham, cheese and salad. We opted for the salad sandwiches only to discover that the addition of lettuce makes it a salad. No tomato, no beetroot, just a lettuce leaf and now it’s ham, cheese and salad!
We were asked while we were in Pine Creek if we are birders or if we are in town for the birds? Although we do like birds, it is official, we are not really Birdy Nerdies for, if we were, we would have known that Pine Creek is known for being the home of the very rare Hooded Parrot. Twitchers come from all over to wait for dusk, hoping to spot a Hooded Parrot. Damn, we’ll be in Katherine at dusk, looks like we will not be seeing a rare bird this evening. But, if we’re passing this way again, we just might have to book a night in Pine Creek for a date with a Hooded Parrot.
Back on the road, it was next stop, Katherine. We made our way to the Discovery Park which is a little bit out of the centre of town, on the road out to Nitmiluk National Park and Katherine Gorge. It is magnificent! Easily the best room/cabin we have booked into so far. The cabin that we are in seems brand new and it is appointed with EVERYTHING we need for a three night stay. We can cook dinner for a couple of nights AND we can even catch up on our washing with a washing machine included in our bathroom. No traipsing around the park between our cabin and the laundry. We didn’t book a cabin with a pool view, but we are much happier with our room that has a very private balcony, looking out onto a paddock of horses, plus one donkey. The occupants with the pool view can, of course, see the pool and … all the pool users can see them sitting on their balconies.
After stowing all our gear in the cabin, we drove back into town to fill the truck with Amplify diesel and to pop into Woolies to shop for food supplies. Back at the ranch we opened our box of Splices, before checking out the pool. Bernie watched parts of another disappointing Richmond game, before rigging up the spare battery to the outdoor power point on the outside wall of the cabin. As I said, this cabin has EVERYTHING we need! We took advantage of our private balcony to give Bernie a hair cut, then showered and changed.
A home-cooked meal tonight, chicken schnitzels and veggies. So good to have at least half the plate filled with vegetables. While dinner cooked the washing washed and we have drying clothes hanging out on our balcony and in our bathroom which includes … a small drying rack and even pegs!
Steps: 4,648 (2.99kms)
