A few kilometres north of Tennant Creek the Stuart Highway meets with the Barkly Highway. It was here that we made our first stop of the day at the Three Ways Roadhouse. Three Ways first started selling fuel in the 1960's from 44 gallon drums but has since been developed, and is now run by the Knight family. Ben kindly agreed to donate $20worth of fuel to us as he had no work that needed doing, this meant we could leave immediately and head towards our next fuel stop at Renner Springs.
Phil with all the goodies donated to us by a passing motorist, below the lady who donated
At Renner Springs we worked for our lunch and some more fuel, digging a drainage ditch out the back of the roadhouse. It was hot, sweaty work and after a quick shower we were back on the road, we stopped briefly in Elliott but decided to try and race the fading light, motoring on to Dunmarra where we would stop for the night. Approaching the owner of the roadhouse, he told us that he had little work for us to do, however we were welcome to pitch a tent on the adjoining campsite if we liked. We barbecued some Pumpkin and cooked up some pasta, spending the remainder of the evening drinking tea around a campfire.
Part of a huge Bush Camp Mural at Dunmarra
We were running pretty low on fuel now and pulling in to the Hi-Way Inn just outside Daly Waters we all had our fingers crossed that they might be able to help. Luckily the owner agreed to feed and fuel us in exchange for a couple of hours work sealing the roof of the roadhouse, this would prevent any further leaks during the wet season. Some customers of his, hearing about what we were doing, made a very generous donation to the charity, and wouldn't let us leave without giving us extra supplies for the journey which gratefully contained some hallowed lemon cream biscuits. Mmmmmhhhhhh sweet biscuits.
Many people we had met along the way, and a few of the books we had read, suggested visiting The Daly Waters Pub. It being the oldest pub in the territory and only a few kilometres off the highway, we went in search of this famous watering hole, it proved to be one of our finer decisions.
The area's traditional Aboriginal owners, the Jingili people, believe the Dreaming tracks of the Emu and the Sun travelled through here on their way to the southern parts of the Northern Territory. The name Daly Waters was given to a series of natural springs by the explorer John McDouall Stuart during his third attempt to cross Australia from south to north, in 1861-2. Stuart named the springs after the new Governor of South Australia, Sir Dominick Daly. The Overland Telegraph Line that followed reached Daly Waters from the north in June 1872 and for two months a 'pony express' carried messages the 421 km to Tennant Creek. The completion of the Telegraph Line later that year connected Australia to the rest of the world. Daly Waters also has Australia's first international airfield, all flights had to refuel here on there way to and from Singapore. During WWII (1942) the Air Force requisitioned the airfield and it became an operational base known as RAAF Station Daly Waters.
Phil gets to work washing the windows
Phil licks his lips as he is told he will be treated to a beer after work
The Pub was first established in 1930 to service the drovers and settlers. The back of the Pub menu states that 'In the early days the Daly Waters Pub was a drover's rest, the mob always staging here for stores and a night out for the boys before tackling the Murranji leg of the drove. Daly Waters was never on the main road, which was built for defence purposes in 1942, but was on the old stock route and the overland telegraph line.' The drovers and station workers used to pin any extra money they had onto the wall behind the bar, thus making sure of refreshment next time they passed through. These days people leave more than their money, and the walls of the pub are decorated with decades of memorabilia including bra's, knickers, t-shirts, thongs (flip-flops) driving licenses and even photocopies of their passports.
At the bar we asked the owners daughter, Kate, if it would be possible for us to work in exchange for a meal and maybe a place to stay. She dissapeared briefly but returned with a 'Yes' and Anne was quickly put to work painting a room in the back, whilst Gareth and I cleaned the windows of the family home next door.
Paddy did the kindest thing he could possibly do and got us absolutely wasted! Thank you! You are a life saver and a gentleman
Lyndsay Carmichael and Robyn Webster bought the Pub back in 2000, already a very successful business they have carried on the good work and even in the low season the pub is never quiet. Being close to Christmas Kate and Paddy were also at home to spend time with their parents, and after we finished work we all sat around with a beer as we told tales of our trip and they stories of the Pub. A few beers later and it was time for the family to go to work and though we offered our assistance they insisted we relax in the bar with a few more beers and a meal. We skipped back to our air-conditioned room to take a shower and clean ourselves up before returning to the pub.
Brian and his wife Jess donated fuel and books
A few beers turned into many, as Paddy took it upon himself to get us drunk whilst telling us stories about his short career as a Rodeo rider. Paddy had recently broken his back in a car crash and doctors have told him that he probably won't be able to ride again. However we found him in very good spirits and thanks to him we had a long and enjoyable night playing pool and drinking 'Jaeger Bombs'. In the small hours we staggered back to our room feeling 'true blue' in our new Daly Waters singlets.
Billy Connolly look alike Lynsey, the Daly Waters pub owner, feeds us some delicious food
We awoke just before lunchtime and have seldom recieved an offer of a cooked breakfast and coffee more gratefully. After gathering our thoughts we planned to leave, but not before the staff had given us more fuel for the van and a selection of books to read on the road. We reluctantly dragged ourselves away from Daly Waters and headed north towards the 'Top End'.
Anne and Gareth model their Daly Waters vest tops or 'wife beaters' as they
are commonly referred to in Australia
A huge thank you must go to everybody at Daly Waters who made our stay such a memorable one.
Less than a week to go before Xmas, I wonder where we end up?
Thankyou to Lindsay, Robyn, Kate and Paddy for taking us in and feeding, watering and accomodating us.Brian and Jess, thanks for the fuel and the books, and thanks to Steve for the beer, donation and the offer of a trip to Jabiru.
Sump'n'tabloodybuymate, or the shop
A Daly Waters customer, Steve from Jabiru buys us a beer, makes a donation and offers us a trip to see Jabiru (which we have to turn down due to time restraints)
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