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May 10, 2007
I guess Alice wasn't remote enough for us...
So Nat and I finally left Alice Springs. We packed up our stuff on the back of the ute, or should I say, I packed my golf clubs and three bags and then Nat filled the rest of the space, and we headed off. We spent the first night in Tennant Creek with Jason and Jess, some mates of Nat's who run a motel there. The next day we were headed for Mataranka and the hot springs but it was not to be.
We took a pitstop in Daly Waters, a little wayside pub with the oldest liquour license in the Northern Territory. After a beer, we noticed that there were some help wanted signs posted. Nat and I joked that we should just stop here and give up on Darwin. Another beer and we started talking with some of the staff who'd finished for the day. They said it was a pretty cruisy job, with tons of hours and a good chance to save a lot of money.
Nat and I decided to crash at Daly for the night anyways, cause the sun was goin down and Mataranka was another 1.5h up the Stuart highway. A few more beers followed, a talk with the owners and by the time we woke up the next morning we were employees of the Daly Waters Pub.
Daly Waters was named after the Governor of South Australia, Sir Dominice Daly, by John McDouall Stuart. The area was where Stuart found fresh water on his successful South to North crossing of Australia. Daly later became an important stop on the telegraph line as well as a pitstop for cattle drovers. The pitstop tradition continued as Daly Waters was a refuelling stop for early international flights, and a dispersal point for UK mail. During WWII Daly was a base for Mitchell and Hudson bombers as well as a fighter squadron.
The Daly Waters of today is a little more quiet with the Pub being the only business in town. Needless to say it is still a favoured pitstop for caravans and backpackers. Photos, shirts, hats, bras, underwear, licenses and cards of all sorts line the walls. A plaque commemorates the pub as the shortest lived MacDonalds (1 day) with the most limited menu as well.
And this is where I will be for the next couple of months. 270km from the nearest town, living and working in the Daly Waters Pub. So if you're travelling the North Stuart Highway, be sure to drop by for a beer and continue the tradition!
Posted by Dr.Unk at May 10, 2007 8:47 PM
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