Cutta Cutta Caves (Nicholas)

Cutta Cutta caves are classified as “dry caves” because there is not a constant flow of water over the roof and walls of the cave. It also follows the weather patterns outside. In the wet season there is water flowing through at a relatively fast rate and in the dry the growth of stalactites and stalagmites is significantly reduced. The temperature outside shows how hot it is likely to be inside the caves.

Cutta Cutta caves have shifted names several times since their accidental discovery by a drover who lost some cows in the caves, probably because they smelt water in them. His name was Mr Smith and the caves were originally called Smith Caves after him. Its name was then changed to 16 mile Cave because they were 16 miles from Katherine.

While it was under this name that World War Two arrived and Katherine became a place where soldiers and war materials were transported through to Darwin. The caves were explored by bored soldiers and they used the stalactites as target practice. Aside from making the soldiers completely deaf for a few minutes after the blast echoed and amplified the sound in quite a narrow environment back to their ear, they also snapped off the ends of the stalactites and caused some irreparable damage because they now can’t regrow.  

After the war the name was again changed to Cutta Cutta because the area was given back to the aboriginal people. “Cutta Cutta” means “place of many stars” and is appropriate because when you shine a light on the walls and mounds in the caves sparkle like the night sky. The aboriginal people believed that the cave was the place where the stars hid during the daytime.

The caves are 750 meters long and had some other off-shoots that went in several directions including one that went under the path we had come in on. Within the cave there were several formations and shapes in the rock faces that looked like different things and people, such as... a mammoth, a dog and Elvis Presley.

The Cutta Cutta caves had lots in them to look at. There was even more that we couldn’t see because the cave became too narrow to continue all the way. That’s where some rare species of bats had retreated to. The one piece of wildlife we did was a banded tree snake curled in a rock crevice. I really enjoyed walking through the caves and wondering what we would see around each corner.  It was an excellent place to get a tour through the accessible parts of the cave and learn about its history and geography.