WOOLIANNA  ON  THE  DALY
                                                 The river at dawn.

                                                          Happy Hour.

We came across this little gem quite by chance.  Heading north from Katherine, we thought we'd head in towards Daly River (as opposed to Daly Waters).  Didn't know where to stay, so picked a place out of one of our tour books - Woolianna on the Daly.  It turned out to be an oasis at the end of a dirt - and in parts mud - track. It's a park tucked in the middle of a large mango tree farm.  Right on the edge of the Daly River, most of the people who come here stay for 2 to 3 months while they fish from their boats.  It's only open in the dry season, starting from April 1st.  As it turns out we were lucky to get in, if only for a couple of days.  The river is deep and wide, and very fast flowing.  Apparently it has lots of crocodiles, stingrays, sharks, catfish - as well as the prized barramundi.  Many of the people come every year, and it's a very friendly community.  We really enjoyed "happy hour" for the three nights we were there - meeting so many nice people.  Generous too - we were given several large fillets of barramundi from a couple of different fishermen.  We happened to be there while the National Barra Fishing competition was on, and  were woken each morning by the sound of some 60 outboard motors revving up the river at dawn.  Had fun cooking outside under the awning on the first night, as the rain poured down. Water was up to my ankles by the time we ate.  Turns out we had 50mm overnight, which caused the river to rise by more than two metres over the next couple of days.  We were a bit concerned about pulling the van out, and had to use 4WD to get through the mud, but we made it O.K.