Australia is an amazing country when it comes to natural beauty and wonders FREE for the enjoyment.  I am thinking of the abundance of public access thermal pools and hot springs around our country.   It’s simply heaven to relax in a palm fringed thermal pool or hot springs. 

The story us gray nomads like to spin is that for every two hours you have spent in a thermal pool you become two years younger.  You leave home in autumn, head for the warmth and the thermal pools and return home in springtime, a teenager.     These travels certainly renew and invigorate my man , he is having his swim right now  as I write and look after Katherine River and removing any salt water crocodiles found there as they migrate into the area during the wet season.  

Salt water crocodiles are now abundant in the waterways of Kakadu to the east and the Kimberly to the west of here and the Gulf country to the north.  The current policy in Katherine is to remove any salt water crocodiles that migrate to this area so they can try to keep the waterways safe for locals and tourists. The fishing with a hope of catching a barramundi from the Katherine river banks is as popular, as is sitting around in groups in the pleasantly tepid water sharing travel stories, swimming and walking along the banks of this beautiful river. 

There are of course warning signs that fresh water crocodiles are present and that the salt water dangerous to human’s crocodile may be present but given the crowds that use the hot springs and the fact that any crock would be seen in the pristine clear water and crossing the bank from the river, the Katherine hot springs would be one of the safest natural swimming spots in the country.