Top 5 Museums in Katherine, Northern Territory

Top Didj & Art Gallery offers a genuine Aboriginal Cultural Experience. Manual Pamkal, the winner of the Tourism NT Brolga award in 2013 for outstanding interpretive guide, is happy to pass on his traditions from Aboriginal contemporary life after playing a traditional welcoming tune on the didgeridoo. Manual will teach you the fine art of Rarrk Painting and give you the chance to paint your own masterpiece using a special brush made from a reed called Julk. This fantastic 2 1/2 hour interpretive experience will provide many hands-on activities such as: Learning about indigenous culture and art Paint your own Rarrk painting using a reed brush Light a fire using two special sticks. Learn how to throw a spear using a woomera. Get to hold or feed baby wallabies. View and purchase some of the best Aboriginal art and didgeridoos in the Northern Territory. Bookings for Cultural Experience Essential.

Discover the unique history of the Katherine region at the Katherine Museum & Gardens. Start at the McNamara Cottage and gift shop, visit the Clyde Fenton Gallery, the Overland Telegraph Line building and Wallie’s Shed to see diverse displays of people, place and culture. Through outdoor and indoor displays, the museum showcases the resilience, resourcefulness and adventurous spirit of the people of the Katherine region. From town icon and Wardaman stockman, Sabu Singh, Galloping Jack and Russian Peanut Farmers to the Daisy Cutter bombs that fell during World War Two, Katherine’s strong military ties and the Katherine Floods, find out how and where it happened. Have a picnic or take a walk in the beautiful community gardens.

Permanently closed - Discover how students living in remote locations across the Northern Territory and beyond learn in a virtual classroom. Tours take you on a walk through the school meeting staff and exploring the unique world of distance education. Guided tours run for 1 hour starting at 11am Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) May-August. There is ample shaded carparking available opposite the school on Giles Street. Follow the path to enter the school building via Reception to begin your tour.

O’Keeffe House was intended as a recreation hut, built by the army in World War II, but became the Officer’s mess. It was a simple structure with the walls and ceilings made from bark, cypress pine, fly wire and the roof from corrugated iron. The floor was local aggregate and concrete. When the war ended the shortage of housing was immense and most people in Katherine scraped together homes from whatever materials were left behind by the army. It is one of the few structures from the war to have survived in the Katherine region. In 1963, Johnno and Olive O’Keeffe purchased what would become known as O’Keeffe House. Johnno turned out to be an excellent handyman, making furniture from all sorts of scrap and territory timbers. Olive loved her garden, so between them, they made their own little paradise between the trees on the banks of the Katherine River.