DAY 17 – Renner Springs – Daly Waters Pub

Good Morning Renner Springs!
 
Low 12°c (54°F) – High 33°c (91°F)
245km
 
A warm glow for this morning’s sunrise and another early start!  Given how quickly sites were filling we decided it would be best to get to our next destination as quickly as we could since we haven’t been able to make any calls to book ahead.  We figured the majority of people travelling around this area would likely stop at Daly Waters Pub.  It’s become a standard stopover for us each time we’ve been up this way – kind of a must do - so we were on the road by 8.30am again – the biggest struggle to get a certain sleepy doggie up and in the car.
 
We’re seeing a lot more cattle on the sides of the road now and, unfortunately, a few casualties no doubt from recent nights.  There is a lot more roadkill generally which isn’t pretty and is cause for slow going to avoid the remains and the birds that gather around to dine on it.  Mostly wallabies and smaller kangaroos along this stretch but also, sadly, a few eagles.  In addition there have been many army trucks heading south – none of them carrying much of a load that we can see but still – quite a few vehicles.  When we were heading to Darwin in 2016 we were overtaken by dozens of army vehicles, including large trucks transporting tanks, and wondered if perhaps Darwin was the place we should be at that time.  Apparently it was a large training operation back then, so we discovered on arrival. 
 
We refuelled in Elliott and reminisced about our stay there in 2016.  What a TERRIBLE caravan park it was – dodgy power, equally dodgy amenities and a really strange manager.  Fuel is about the only thing appealing about this place today but a muster of peacocks added a bit of interest as they wandered up the main street, not really concerned about vehicles or people, they just went on their merry way.  In trying to figure out what a “group” of peacocks might be called we discovered that they can also be called a “Pride” or (probably our favourite) a “Ostentation” of Peacocks.  They are pretty ostentatious so I guess it works!
 
We stopped for a quick look at the memorial for Sir Charles Todd and the construction team who completed the overland telegraph line between Adelaide & Darwin and then on to Daly Waters Pub.  We were very glad we had left early this morning because by the time we reached the pub, paid for our site and drove to the entrance, we found ourselves at the very back row of the park with what appeared to be not very many vacant spaces left and it was only 11.30am!
 
Daly Waters was Australia’s first international airport.  The airfield just up the road from the pub was a centre for the London to Sydney air race of 1926 and was a refuelling stop for early QANTAS flights to Singapore. During the 1930s, the growth of international air travel meant the airport became a busy hub, despite its isolation and rudimentary facilities.  The airfield was served by QANTAS, Australian National Airways and Guinea Airways as well as being an important connection point for MacRobertson Miller Airlines flights to Western Australia.
 
During World War II, the airfield was used a waypoint for operations between Australia and Java.  It was a staging base for aircraft from Cloncurry, (Queensland) and then up to Darwin area airfields. The RAAF requisitioned the airfield and on 15 March 1942 it became RAAF Base Daly Waters; and operations commenced on 15 May 1942.
 
The 64th Bomb Squadron of the US Army Air Force was based at Daly Waters from 16 May until 2 August 1942, flying B-17 Flying Fortresses from the airfield. The squadron made numerous attacks on Japanese shipping in the Dutch East Indies and the Bismarck Archipelago.  
 
In late 1943, the RAAF base was wound down as the war proceeded north, and the airfield was returned to civil use.  Commercial traffic continued at the airfield until 1970.  Ansett Australia and Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) operated one flight a week with TAA flying south in the morning and Ansett flying north in the evening. The last TAA flight took place on 1 April 1970 with Ansett concluding its operations a week or so later. The original Qantas hangar still stands, housing exhibits of photographs and equipment from the area's aviation past. The main runway has deteriorated but is apparently still serviceable.
 
The original Daly Waters Hotel was built in 1893 however today’s Daly Waters Pub started out as a store in 1930 and later got its jug license in 1938.  There are sections which make it one of the oldest buildings in the Northern Territory.  In the past the pub has witnessed murders, shoot outs in the main street, cattle stampeding through town and the odd drunken brawls. Station owners apparently threatened to burn the place down or buy it and bulldoze it to stop the local ringers from riding into town, hence the old bath tub & rail to hitch your horse onto. Then publican Bill Pearce not only kept travellers fed and hydrated, he also refuelled the planes at the airfield.  The combination of the springs, with reliable water, and the constant movement of cattle from Queensland across to the country to the north and west by drovers produced a regular clientele which, today, has changed to backpackers, coach tours and grey nomads. The modern pub is the tiny town's most prominent tourist attraction. Every night there is a beef'n'barra (ie. barramundi) barbecue which in our experience is always worth every cent with the all you can eat salad bar, but there is also usual pub fare on offer. 
 
The entertainment is generally good, with our last two visits having featured Lou Bradley & her husband Phil.  Lou has a quality voice and a really decent repertoire not to mention the amusing back and forth between these two who have been together for some 30 years.  Lou has released a four albums under her own label with her debut album having been nominated for an ARIA award in 2007 (Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia) which she often notes herself in live shows as being an ARIA award losing album.
 
Owner of the pub, Tim Carter, is a bit of a character.  A man of substantial size, he rides around the town greeting guests and also welcoming everyone to the evening’s entertainment on a motorized scooter bearing a large set of cattle horns on the front.  An interesting addition to this year’s introduction was bringing a horse, foal and two young cattle through the dining/entertainment area of the pub.
 
It was an entertaining evening, a great meal and a gorgeous night to walk back to the van and Miss Kitty who was happily sleeping inside with the air conditioner blowing.