A town with so much history. Now that we are north of Three ways, we have been to most of the points of interest, but it’s still nice to make a stop and see what’s changed. And Newcastle Waters didn’t disapoint. They have had so much rain and floods around these Northern parts, the landscape is lush and has plenty of bird life.
The old store and pub have had a bit of a tidy up, whilst still maintaining their historic features. Newcastle Waters was a stopover town for the Drovers taking their cattle up the Centre. When the droving days stopped, the town became deserted.
The memorial park has had a couple of new signs and a statue of a Drover added
We walked around town, then down to where the river runs through town. A few days earlier the town had been cut off. We met the school Teacher with his class of 8 pupils. that day, (7 were away attending a funeral ) they had been down to empty their yabby trap. They were so happy with their catch, that was to be cooked for dinner that night.
We were offered some of their catch. I said no thanks, as I would have to cook them, One little girl of about 7, then decided to give me a cooking lesson, and vinegar, must put vinegar on them, cause it makes them taste better.
Whilst they were down the river, a couple of the boys found an (almost dead) bird, they had it wrapped up in one of their hoodies and told the teacher they were going to make it better. With my cooking lesson over and the yabbies left in the care of the teacher, the kids, off down the road, making a detour into the old church. We and the teacher amused that it would take more than divine intervention, for the bird to survive. We didn’t find out what the church stop was for, but next they went into the school grounds next door.
We stayed talking to the teacher about life and kids in these outback places, and of course the lesson that afternoon would be looking up what kind of bird they had found. I presume the next days lesson would be organising a funeral 😪 what an interesting morning. And Education these kids get.
We drove further North to a roadside stop and stayed the night. Moving on, early next morning, our next stop was the Historical town of Daly Waters. We lined up and were given a good spot in the camping area ,then booked our Beef “N” Barra dinner for that evening.
The donkeys and horses roam free around the park and streets, getting treats from the the owner of the Pub as well as the visitors. The whole area is one big happy family atmosphere..
As well as the animals there is other interesting bits of junk to look at
Some pretty birds , some rather ugly birds.
Some nasty critters, with unusual signs on their cage.
Other signs worth reading, and others to give you a laugh.
Inside the pub ,the walls are covered with all sorts of clothing and stickers. We couldn’t find the Jodies Inspiration sticker we left there some years ago.
The Donkeys and horses also lined up at the bar, till the girl behind the bar told them to get out. Bit unfair as it was a hot day.
Our Beef “N” Barra, that night was very yummy, we sat out under the stars, ate our dinner and listened to a great country music show. Most pubs have entertainment at least 4 nights a week in the top end. It provides an income for the travelling musicians as well as more income for the pubs. The travellers like nothing more than a good feed , cold drink and a sing-along at the end of a hot day. A lot of the retires live this lifestyle between 3 to 6 months of the year.
On the move again ,the next day, we drove out to the Daly Waters Aerodrome and had a look around the WW11 hanger. The airstrip is still being used for small planes.
Further North is Larrimah, a town made popular by the disappearance of a local bloke, back in 2017. Believed to have been murdered and last seen at the Larrimah Hotel.
We had some lunch there and took some photos. The pub is now known as the Pink Pub, and lots of pink paint used to brighten the place up.
There is another one of those interesting critters in a cage out the back. It wouldn’t be hard to get rid of a body around these parts.
That night we stopped in to the Territory Manor. A big park with plenty of spots available. We ended up staying for 4 days . Mataranka is a handy stop as it is not far from some of the popular thermal springs, and where the Author of ” we of the never never ” was written in a tribute to the women, who did it so tough in the early 1900s.
I am still in a lot of pain with my back, I think the massage I had in Alice Springs did more harm than good ,and by the time we travelled to here, the mussels in the lower back were going into spasms and I could hardly move. So the next three days I floated around in the thermal pools, on a noodle ,it seemed to help.
While trying not to do too many rough roads, we still got to see some of the points of interest around the area. Crossing over an old bridge, there was more evidence of the recent floods through the area .
We visited the old town of Elsey, and the historical cemetery there. The gravesites tell the story of the early settlement and the people of “we of the never never.”
The Cemetery is well presented and maintained so a nice place to wander through.
We were enjoying our stay at Mataranka, with its water, birds wandering around the camping areas and nightly country music show.
We decided to stay another day and go to the markets in the park, last Sunday
The next day we moved on to Katherine. Chris insisted I go to outpatients and have my back checked out. Nice young Doc !! And he and I agreed that it was continuing stress to the mussels doing all the Gorge rock climbs, day after day, that was causing the pain. Some strong painkillers and try to avoid strenuous exercise for a few weeks should fix it.
We are now at a lovely farm stay ,about 20 Min out of town . Just what the doctor ordered. Yes the back is feeling a lot better. The painkillers do work.
