The View From My Beer
Settling in at Daly Waters Pub for the night with a schooner of Great Northern listening to some classic Aussie pub music.
Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge)
Day two on my seven-day trek through Northern Territory started with a cruise through Nitmiluk National Park (aka Katherine Gorge). The park is the traditional land of the Jawoyn Aboriginal people, who have lived there for thousands of years and continue to be its custodians, co-managing it with the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory. The name “Nitmiluk” (pronounced ‘Nit-me-look’) means “place of the cicada dreaming” in the Jawoyn language.
The park’s central attraction is Nitmiluk Gorge, a spectacular system of 13 interconnected gorges carved from ancient sandstone by the Katherine River. The park’s character changes dramatically between the dry and wet seasons. In the dry season, the gorges are separated by rock bars, while in the wet season, the high water levels connect them into one continuous, raging river with powerful waterfalls.
Daly Waters
When I originally planned this leg of my travels I had originally planned to sopend three nights in Darwin looking around the top end. After I thought about it a little I decided i would get much more out my time by hiring a car and driving south to Daly Water, a classic Australian outback pub I had heard about but never visited.
The town is named after a stream feature discovered by explorer John McDouall Stuart in 1862, who named it after Sir Dominick Daly, the Governor of South Australia at the time. Daly Waters is known for being Australia’s first international airfield and a significant stop on the Overland Telegraph Line. It has a famous historic pub, often called the “Daly Waters Pub,” with a unique, memorabilia-filled atmosphere and a junkyard full of quirky exhibits. The town has a rich aviation history, including being a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base during World War II, and today, its aviation complex houses the oldest hangar in the Northern Territory.
My Drive
My memories of Katherine Gorge was that it was a high canyon that overlooked the Katherine River. When I arrived last night I could not find any evidence of trials that would take me into the gorge. On doing some research I found out that the best, and perhaps only way to fully experience the gorge was by takiug a series of boat rides up the river. Durong the dry season the river was blcoked at various places requiring a short walk to hop into another boat. I decided to take a three gorge tour that included the best known parts of the gorge and didn’t require too much time, given i had to drive down to Daly Waters that afternoon.
Nitmiluk
My two-hour boat tour started around 11AM. I arrived early allowing me time to take a short hike up into the gorge where there were a series of lookouts over the river. I believe this was the same spot I had visited on my first trip to Katherine in 1989.
As we set out up the river, the cliff faces quickly soared above us creating a magnificent spectacle. The water level rose quite dramatically during the wet season making one big long river and gorge. At this time of river we would have to stop at various points and walk up to 1km to reach the next party of the river. The tour companies staged a different set of boats in each section of the river. I think what made the gorge so spectacular was knowing that this eco system was located in the middle of a giant desert.
On the way back we enclountered a few “salties”, the colloquial name for slat-water crocidiles.
Mataranka
I was on the road by about 1:30PM heading south today’s today’s destination, Daly Waters. Not far out of Katherine i encountered the ‘Where’s Wally’ car for the second time heading south like me.
My first stop for the arvo was Mataranka, capital of the never never. The name Mataranka comes from the local Yangman Aboriginal language, meaning “home of the snake”. Matarankais largely known for two things. It has well known thermal hot springs nearby. It was also the setting for the classic novel ‘We of the Never Never’ written in 1908 by Jean Gunn and adopted into a film of the same name in 1982.
It had a pub, and I was to be the only white guy in the pub, apart from the barman. Not that I minded, this is all part of the “territory” experience. I saw what I thought was a dummy sitting in the chair at the end of the bar. I nearly took a photo, it was so lifelike. Then he woke up and moved!
Larramah
My next stop was Larramah, officially the highest bar in the Northern Territory. One of the goals on this trip was to visit some classic outback pubs and I was definitely getting what I had hoped for. Each pub I visited was different and they all had something special about them the defined them as ‘outback’ pubs. Larramah Wayside Inn was just weird. It featured a giant Darwin Stubby a piece of Australian folklore that has sadly disappeared. There was also a pink panther sitting next to the Darwin Stubby enjoying the sun.
Most of the outback pubs featured XXXX signs out the front even though I did not find one that actually sold XXXX. A few sold XXXX Gold, but I don’t consider that to be the same thing as the original XXXX Draught. The only place I have found it this year has been the Breakfast Creek Hotel in Brisbane.
Daly Waters
The town of Daly Waters is pretty much built around its iconic pub. The owner of the pub is a guy named Tim. Soon after checking into my room I met Tim, without knowing who he was, as he zipped up and down the dirt road outside the pub and a gradious electric wheelchair saying hello to everyone. Over the years he and the pub has collected a huge collection of ‘junk’. Inside the pub itself was a collection of bras, license plates, and bank notes.
Evening at the pub included live music and a Beef ‘n’ Barra special. Tim acted as MC for the evening giving his account of the history of the area and his own role in the town. It was interesting, but I would note the language was pretty derogatory towards woman and non-whites. I guess you have to expect that out in the country. It is after all a pretty look at how Australia once defined itself and it would be a shame if we lost that completely.
