The decision to build Tindal airfield some 300 km south-east of Darwin was made allegedly in the early '60s on the belief that Australia's defences in the north needed to be strengthened. Tindal was selected as being close enough to RAAF Base Darwin to afford mutual protection, but far enough from the coast to be defensible and to avoid the effects of tropical cyclones.
Conceived as a "bare base", Tindal originally had no permanent staff and very few buildings. It was in this guise that Bazflyer last visited the place in 1968 when RNZAF No 14 Squadron deployed its B12 Canberra bombers on an exercise from Ohakea to Tindal. I possess no particular memories of the place other than a snake that in-habituated the ablutions amenity. The military role of Tindal was not operational for our arrival yesterday and with no other aircraft in the vicinity all the 2,750 metres of concrete runway was exclusively available for BAZ's landing.
The nearby town of Katherine serves as a gateway to Nitmiluk National Park and the very scenic Katherine Gorges. These gorges and the surrounding landscape have great ceremonial significance to the local Jawoyn people, who are custodians of Nitmiluk which means "place of the cicada dreaming". Indigenous rock paintings in the area are assessed to be older than 35,000 years...!
A young Brown Kankaroo
Entering stunning gorges on the Katherine River
Wow...!
And again...!
Amazingly well preserved indigenous rock art
Temperature was 35'C which made this swimming hole doubly welcome
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