In our region
You’ll find us,
where the big rivers run
From the WA to the QLD border, the Gulf country to the east and the boabs in the west, the Big Rivers Region in the top end spans 25 per cent of the Northern Territory’s land mass.
In every direction, you’ll find our big rivers. They’re our lifeblood and our namesake. From our legendary Roper, Victoria and Daly Rivers, we have the most rivers of any region in the Northern Territory.
Fishing is engrained in our DNA
Some of us have been fishing since the day we could walk. Some of us moved here never having fished a day in our lives. For all of us, it’s just another way we get to live the adventure.
We wait all year for our infamous 'run off' season. That time of year when our wet season waters subside, and the barramundi are on the bite. For those lucky enough to have caught a metre-long barramundi, well, they’re part of our ‘metrey club’. There's something grounding about standing on the sandy banks of our pandanus - shaded riverbanks, waiting quietly & patiently for that 'hit' at the end of our line. There's a simplicity to it and we still value the simple things here.
Katherine and surrounds
On the same river that carved the limestone escarpments of the Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge, this is where Katherine exists. ‘K-town’, as the locals call it. It has always been the meeting place of the Big Rivers. Where Aboriginal clan groups from across the region come together and ringers come to town after another season of mustering. Where backpackers park up their campers for the dry and our working professionals wait patiently all week, ready to ‘head bush’ on the weekends.
From a thriving café culture, an immersive creative economy that shares stories over 65,000 years old and a charged sports scene, Katherine has all those country town feels with a big heart and only a three hour drive from Darwin.
The Roper Gulf
East of Katherine lies the unspoilt wilderness of the Roper Gulf, where the ochre dirt and bull dust meet the saltwater country of Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria.
You’ll already know the crystal clear waters of the Mataranka Springs surrounded by the shade of pandanus and paperbarks in the Elsey National Park, or one of Australia’s most renowned remote rivers, the Roper.
The Roper Gulf is home to some of Australia’s most infamous cattle stations with larger than life personalities and remote Aboriginal communities, where 65,000 year old song lines, connection to country and culture remains alive and strong.
The Victoria Daly
To the west of Katherine lies the Victoria Daly Region. It’s the birthplace of Aboriginal Land Rights after Vincent Lingiari and 200 Aboriginal stockmen and their families led the courageous Wave Hill Station Walk-off on Gurindji Country, demanding an end to violence against Aboriginal people, the same working conditions as white fellas and the return of country to Gurindji people.
Every year, the Freedom Day Festival honours the determination of those brave countrymen whose actions led to the return of country to Aboriginal people across Australia. It also inspired Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody’s song, From little Things, Big Things Grow’.
The Victoria Daly country remains alive with spirit ancestors and carries a deep pioneering and droving history that is carved into the trunks of age old boab trees and buried in the escarpments of the mighty Victoria River.
