Catalin in Katherine

I've been here in Katherine almost 24 hours. It has rained most of that time, drenching Justin and me in downpours on two separate expeditions around town today. I revelled in the fact that I was walking around in shorts, tanktop, and Chacos, relieved by the coolness of the rain when only days earlier my sister and brother had driven me from Sacramento to San Francisco in a rainstorm of a very different kind.

My overriding impression of the 4 hour bus ride from Darwin to Katherine was of green--my eyes felt green-weary after awhile: eucalyptus trees, various palms and some shrubs and lots of neon-new grass. Red-dirt termite mounds rose up among the greenness, some only a foot tall, others looking over six feet tall and strangely shaped, like ancient rocks weathered by wind and rain.

Katherine River is much higher than it was when Justin left for Darwin only a few days ago, so he's predicting a flood. The river bed seems very wide and the banks very steep to me, but it has filled up before.