Daly Waters, Northern Territory

History

The name Daly Waters was given to a series of natural springs by John McDouall Stuart during his third attempt to cross Australia from south to north, in 1861–62. Stuart named the springs after the new Governor of South Australia, Sir Dominick Daly.

Stuart's first attempt, in 1860, had reached Tennant Creek. The second, in early 1861, pushed further north but again Stuart turned back. The third journey left Adelaide in October 1861 and reached Daly Waters on 28 May. The party had been pushing through difficult lancewood scrub and harsh terrain at a little over a kilometre a day. This journey was successful, reaching the north coast near modern Darwin on 24 July 1862. Stuart's Tree has an 'S' carved into it by Stuart during his journey.

The Overland Telegraph Line reached Daly Waters from the north in June 1872 and for two months a 'pony express' carried messages the 421 km to Tennant Creek via Renner Springs.

Daly Waters Airfield was a refuelling stop for the London to Melbourne air race of 1919, a refuelling stop for early Qantas flights to Singapore, a World War II Airforce base, including a field hospital, and more recently an operational base for joint military manoeuvres. Although the aerodrome was closed to commercial traffic in 1969, the original Qantas hangar still stands, housing exhibits of photographs and equipment from the area's aviation past.

The traditional owners of the area became the fourth Indigenous group in the Northern Territory to gain native title over both the townsite and ten surrounding pastoral leases covering an area of 30000 sqkm. The Federal Court of Australia had a special ceremonial sitting on nearby Newcastle Waters Station to commemorate the occasion.

Trivia

The main attraction for tourists is the famous Daly Waters Pub, which is decorated throughout with banknotes and other memorabilia left by visitors from every corner of the globe. The historic pub was licensed in 1938 to service passengers and crew from the nearby airfield.

Other services are available at the Hi-Way Inn roadhouse, at the junction of the Carpentaria Highway.

Gallery

File:Daly-waters-traffic-light-northern-territory-australia.jpg|The Daly Waters "traffic light" File:Horses and carriage.jpg|Government Bores, Overland Telegraph (OT) route. Water tanks, windmill, packing up camp onto the buggy. File:Daly Waters Telegraph Station.jpeg|Daly Waters Telegraph Station File:Harry Birtwhistle 058.tif|Daly Waters in January 1955

Climate

Northam has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSh) with two distinct seasons. There is a sultry, oppressive wet season from November to March and a cooler, extremely sunny dry season from April to October. The wet season has highly erratic rainfall due to the El Niño Southern Oscillation. For instance only 225.9 mm of rain fell in 1952, but as much as 634.8 mm in December 2015. Meanwhile, the dry season is consistently dry, with significantly cooler nights, lower humidity and greater sunshine.

| Jan record high C = 43.7 | Feb record high C = 42.4 | Mar record high C = 43.2 | Apr record high C = 40.8 | May record high C = 38.6 | Jun record high C = 36.3 | Jul record high C = 36.2 | Aug record high C = 37.8 | Sep record high C = 40.9 | Oct record high C = 44.0 | Nov record high C = 44.5 | Dec record high C = 45.6 | year record high C = 45.6 | Jan record low C = 16.8 | Feb record low C = 12.8 | Mar record low C = 11.4 | Apr record low C = 9.1 | May record low C = 4.8 | Jun record low C = 1.3 | Jul record low C = 0.8 | Aug record low C = 2.3 | Sep record low C = 4.3 | Oct record low C = 8.4 | Nov record low C = 12.5 | Dec record low C = 13.0 | year record low C = 0.8 | Jan dew point C = 18.9 | Feb dew point C = 19.3 | Mar dew point C = 16.7 | Apr dew point C = 12.7 | May dew point C = 8.9 | Jun dew point C = 6.6 | Jul dew point C = 4.3 | Aug dew point C = 3.3 | Sep dew point C = 4.8 | Oct dew point C = 8.8 | Nov dew point C = 11.6 | Dec dew point C = 15.5 |access-date = June 16, 2024

References

References

1. "Place Names Register Extract for Daly Waters (locality)". Northern Territory Government.
2. {{Census 2021 AUS
3. "Place Names Register Extract for the Town of Daly Waters". Northern Territory Government.
4. {{BoM Aust stats
5. "Daly Waters (locality)". Northern Territory Government.
6. (29 October 1997). "Roper Gulf (map)". Northern Territory Government.
7. Hema, Maps. (2007). "Australia Road and 4WD Atlas". Hema Maps.
8. (8 February 2004). "Daly Waters". Fairfax Media.
9. (1858–1862). "The Journals of John McDouall Stuart". Adelaide University.
10. "Spirits of Ansett". Jim Haynes.
11. (27 June 2012). "Locals gather to celebrate Native Title ruling". [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]].
12. "Home".
13. "Daly Waters Airstrip Climate Statistics". [[Bureau of Meteorology]].