Katherine

This article covers the city. For the first name see Katharina .

Katherine
Main road
State :  Australia State : Northern Territory Founded : 1926
Coordinates : 14 ° 28 ′  S , 132 ° 16 ′  E Coordinates: 14 ° 28 ′  S , 132 ° 16 ′  E Height : 105  m Area : 17.3  km²
Residents : 6,303 (2016) Population density : 364 inhabitants per km²
Time zone : ACST (UTC + 9: 30) Postal code : 0850
LGA : Katherine Town Council Website : www.katherine.nt.gov.au
Katherine

Katherine
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     312   34 24     229   34 24     181   34 23     40   34 21st     6.3   32 17th     0.7   30th 14th     0   31 13     1.8   32 15th     3.5   36 20th     38   38 24     94   37 25th     264   36 25th Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: Bureau of Meteorology, Australia, data: 1988–2010

Katherine is a city in the Northern Territory of Australia with a good 6000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest town in the Northern Territory.

location

The city is located about 317 km southeast of Darwin on the Stuart Highway . It sits on the former North Australian Railroad and the current Central Australian Railroad . The Katherine River flows through the city, which is now the center of a region named after her.

history

Before colonization, the area of ​​Katherine belonged to the Jawoyn - and Dagomen - Aboriginal people , whose main livelihood was the Katherine River. The first European to come to the area was Ludwig Leichhardt in 1844 . The river was only named on July 4, 1862 by John McDouall Stuart after the daughter of James Chambers, one of the financiers of his expedition. The settlement, which was later named after the river, came about in the course of the construction of the Trans-Australian Telegraph Line in 1870. Two years later a relay station was built at Knott's Crossing .

From 1878 on, farms in the surrounding area began raising sheep and cattle; Another milestone in the development of Katherine was the opening of a coaching inn in 1883.

The Sportman's Hotel , built in 1888, and the completion of the railway line between Darwin and Pine Creek the following year made travel easier in the Northern Territory. The manager of the Sportman's Hotel was Tom Pearce (* 1862, † 1952), who was immortalized as mine host in Jeannie Gunn's novel We of the Never-Never . Jeannine Gunn gives the number of permanent residents of Katherine for the year 1902 as six.

The settlement focus of Katherine shifted two more times before the current city center was built in 1926 with the construction of the railway bridge of the North Australian Railway over the river and the second station on its south bank. Before that, the settlement center and the first train station (since 1917) were on the north bank of the river; this settlement was called Emungalan . Katherine's upswing initially ended in 1930 when - due to the global economic crisis - the construction of the railway was stopped. Immediately before the Second World War , the place had about 250 inhabitants. As an important base during the war, it took off considerably during this period. On March 22, 1942, several people were killed or injured in a Japanese air raid on Katherine, while only minor property damage was caused.

In January 1998, large parts of the city were devastated by a flood: Cyclone Les moved over the area and caused 300 to 400 millimeters of rain within 48 hours, which corresponds to about a third of the total annual precipitation.

population

Today the city has a good 6,300 inhabitants, the local administrative area , the capital of which is Katherine, about 9,700. A significant part of them are Aborigines .

Economy and Transport

Until the mid-1970s, the city lived primarily from cattle breeding. The meat and milk processing industry was pushed back by the increasing export of live cattle (closure of a slaughterhouse and a dairy in 2001). Today, however, tourism is at the center of economic life: around 300,000 tourists visit the region every year.

Katherine is an important road cross in the outback : this is where the Victoria Highway coming from Western Australia meets the Stuart Highway , which connects the city with Darwin in the north and Alice Springs and Adelaide in the south.

railroad

Katherine used to be on the Northern Australian Railroad , a narrow-gauge railway that was completed in 1926 and closed in 1976. The reception building has been preserved and houses a small museum. Since 2004, the city has been back on the full-gauge railroad that runs from Alice Springs in the south to Darwin in the north. It runs twice a week in each direction, has a scheduled stop in town, and is called The Ghan . However, the route of the Central Australian Railway runs far west of the city, so that the station is about 15 km from the city center.

Airport

Katherine Commercial Airport is approximately 15 km from the city center. There are no scheduled flights, only charter flights. The airport shares facilities with the RAAF Base Tindal military airport , which replaced the original Katherine Airport, which operated from 1930 to 1978. This was famous as the flight base of Dr. Clyde Fenton , who founded the Northern Territory Aerial Medical Service . The airport and the city were described in detail in the book Beyond the Blue Horizon by Alexander Frater in the 1980s.

Attractions

Station building of the former North Australian Railroad

Katherine itself offers few tourist attractions, but is close to the Katherine Gorge National Park , a popular destination.

Katherine Gorge National Park

→ Main article : Nitmiluk National Park

In addition to Kakadu National Park and Uluṟu (formerly "Ayers Rock"), the Katherine Gorge National Park, 32 km northeast of Katherine, is one of the most popular excursion destinations in the Northern Territory. The park, called “Nitmiluk” in the Aboriginal language, is 180,400 hectares in size. It offers 13 successive gorges, which are a total of 12 km long, with rock walls up to 70 m high. Furthermore, the park offers its visitors extensive hiking trails and many swimming areas.

Katherine Museum

The local history museum is located in the terminal of the former Katherine Airport. An important exhibit in the permanent exhibition is a single-engine, open biplane that was once used by Clyde Fenton, the first "Flying Doctor" .

Katherine Hot Springs

Several pools, fed by warm springs and surrounded by tropical forest, at the southern end of Katherine ( Victoria Highway ) invite you to take a relaxing bath.

Katherine Low Level

Southern borough of Katherine on the Victoria Highway. Here the warm water of the Katherine River with the Low Level Bridge, a weir and several rapids invites you to swim . Several colonies of flying foxes live in the trees along the shore , which offer impressive aerial spectacles, especially in the morning and evening hours. Just a few hundred meters away is the Katherine Low Level Caravan Park.

Cutta Cutta Caves Nature Park

The biggest attraction of the 1500 hectare nature park 25 km south of Katherine are some limestone caves with stalactites. In the dry season, the rangers organize tours through the underground. Rare bats and snakes live in the caves.

Edith Falls (Leliyn)

About 40 km north of Katherine, 60 m high waterfalls feed a lake that is a popular swimming destination. There is lush vegetation around the lake. The lake is part of the Katherine Gorge National Park. There are more bathing ponds above the waterfall.

Springvale Homestead

The historic farm is now only used for tourist purposes. The program includes night drives to the crocodiles resting places on the river and free tours of the farm. It is about 5 miles from Katherine.

Mataranka

110 km south of Katherine, the crystal clear water of two warm springs near Mataranka attracts visitors. Elsey National Park, through which the Roper River flows, is also nearby .

sons and daughters of the town

• CW Stoneking (* 1974), blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and banjo player
• Justin Anlezark (born 1977), shot putter
• Cadel Evans (* 1977), cyclist , winner of the 2011 Tour de France
• Leisel Jones (* 1985), swimmer

Web links

Commons : Katherine  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: Katherine  Travel Guide

• The city Katherine website (English)
• Website of the Visitor Center by Katherine (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Australian Bureau of Statistics : Katherine ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
2. ^ Bureau of Meteorology, Australia: Climatic Information Katherine. World Meteorological Organization, accessed June 7, 2012 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Archived copy ( memento of the original from February 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/katherine.htm
5. ^ Jeannie Gunn (alias: Mrs. Aeneas Gunn): We of the Never Never . Hutchinson: Hawthorn 1987, p. 24.
6. ↑ ^{a b} Katherine Region Tourist Association: Katherine Region - Visitor Guide 2008/2009 , p. 16.
7. ↑ https://www.ozatwar.com/kath01.htm
8. ↑ ^{a b} Australian Bureau of Statistics : Katherine (T) ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
9. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ Katherine Low Level Caravan Park ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 1, 2015.