The NT has a whopping population of 244,000. That’s 244,000 for the whole State (OK, Territory if you’re being picky)! In comparison, Melbourne is estimated to have over 5 million residents now. The NT is about the same size as Italy, Spain and France COMBINED…and they have a collective population of 170 million!! If you consider that most Territorians live in major centres such as Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs it doesn’t leave many who call the NT Outback home. Driving through it, it feels empty and isolated. We decided to stick to the highways but it was a lonely drive past hundreds of kilometres of unfenced, sparsely grassed paddocks, occasionally raising a finger to a travelling comrade heading in the opposite direction. The landscape was uninspiring and the sporadic roadhouses even more lifeless. We’d initially planned to take a more remote, unsealed track across the Top End to Queensland but after finding it difficult to get an accurate road condition report, decided to stick to the highways. I’m guessing the Top would have been more eye catching but it was probably better we avoided it given the rains that hit the region at the time we’d have been there!
Anyways, it wasn’t all bad! Once you ventured off the highway, there were a few gems to find. Mataranka offered the chance to relax in their famed hot springs but we decided to bypass them in favour of a local history lesson. The Mataranka region was the setting for Jeannie Gunn’s 1902 novel, We of the Never Never. We took some time to explore the Elsey Homestead site where the stories were borne and visit the local cemetery where most of the characters from the book were buried. Turns out Jeannie only spent about a year there as her husband, who was part owner in the homestead and who’d taken up the role of Station Manager, died after 12 months from malarial dysentery. Given Jeannie had come from the privileged classes of Melbourne, it must have been a somewhat unpleasant shock moving somewhere like Mataranka in the early 1900’s. The experience clearly had such a profound impact on her that after she returned to the comforts of her Melbourne life, she wrote about the extraordinary characters, heat, hardship and resilience she found in the Outback.
Our next stop was Daly Waters. What a quirky little town! Daly Waters’ most remarkable attraction was it’s kooky pub. The walls, roof, beams and anything else with a flat surface was adorned with collections of tacky ‘memorabilia’ including money, licenses, student cards, flags, hats, thongs, number plates, badges, bras and even an assortment of ‘used’ underwear (which hung too low for my liking!). The building is said to be one of the oldest in the NT and still has plenty of rusty corrugated iron to convince you of its authenticity. The historic pub was licensed in 1938 to service passengers and crew from the nearby airfield; another interesting part of this larrikin town.
The aerodrome (as it’s referred to on the signs. I love that old fashioned word, which my dad still uses...but shortens it, Aussie style, to ‘drome’) is notable for being Australia’s first international airport. Funny to imagine in such a remote part of the country but it became a refueling stop between Brisbane and Singapore for early Qantas flights from Sydney to London in DC-3’s! Even funnier is that the passengers were taken from the ‘drome’ to the local store owner’s house, where his good wife provided a home cooked meal. They were promptly returned in time for the scheduled departure after the men had filled the fuel tanks and changed any mail or freight. Great home cooked tucker and a chance to meet your fellow travellers – better than any first class experience these days I reckon!
Although commercial flights continued throughout WWII, it also became a servicing base for the RAAF, sharing facilities with the USAAF for cross country flights and those travelling on missions to the Dutch East Indies. It was officially closed to commercial traffic in 1965 after long range aircraft made Daly Waters redundant. The ‘drome’ was completely closed in 1971 but the original QANTAS hangar still stands and is, surprisingly, in great condition. We camped there for a night with a few grey nomads, avoiding the over subscribed and over priced caravan park attached to the pub.
From Daly Waters we headed east again through more dull landscape, stopping for a few nights at a popular roadside stop. Although the location was far from exciting, we enjoyed some pretty spectacular sunrises and sunsets and the kids were kept happy toasting marshmallows in the nightly fire.
As we approached the NT/QLD border, we felt we were leaving the Territory prematurely but were also looking forward to the new adventures awaiting us in the Sunshine State. We have many exciting and scenic locations already identified for our return visit one day but for this trip, it was time to bid adieu.
(PS - don't forget to check out the updated map!)
Photos from left to right
the Elsey cemetery
the gravesite of Jeannie Gunn's husband (there is also a plaque commemorating her life on the gravesite)
the Elsey homestead site
outside the Daly Waters pub
inside the Daly Waters pub
another view from inside the pub
the 'soovenier' shop opposite the pub!
love this sign from the 'soovenier' shop!
classic Outback humour - an opening hours sign from the art gallery in Daly Waters
water tanks from the old post office / police station - Daly Waters
old gaol cells - Daly Waters
the QANTAS hangar at the Daly Waters 'drome'
Jesse inside the QANTAS hangar
wartime photo on planes at the 'drome'
TAA plane at Daly Waters
inside an abandoned plane at Daly Waters
sunset at 41 Mile Bore
Jesse climbing the old tower at 41 Mile Bore
sunrise at 41 Mile Bore