Travel: Stuart Hwy, NT

The story of the Stuart Highway, or 'The Track' is synonymous with the development of the Northern Territory

Today, the 1500km stretch from Alice Springs to Darwin on the northern half of the Stuart Highway, is almost as smooth and straight as the main straight on a race track – one of the reasons it’s such a popular route for grey nomads heading north in winter.

But in 1908 when Aunger and Dutton were the first to drive a vehicle from Adelaide to Darwin, the road was literally non-existent. Of the 3820km only 320km of it was road, and that was a poorly-formed dirt track following the Overland Telegraph Line (OTL). The way was often shown by camel pads and blazed trees.

In 1942, as a national emergency it was upgraded from a rutted, dusty, often impassable dirt track, and later to the high-speed highway it is today.

Apart from the major centres - Alice Springs, Katherine and Darwin – there’s a wealth of interesting things to see along the way…

The beginning

The Stuart Highway was named after and followed the path of John McDouall Stuart. Born in 1815 McDouall Stuart was surely one of the toughest and most determined explorers in Australia's history. He qualified as a civil engineer in Scotland and worked as a surveyor, but it was as an explorer and bushman that he earned immortality.

Between 1855 and 1862 McDouall Stuart made six trips north from Adelaide before breaking through to the north coast. In something like two years he spent all but a couple of months in the saddle. He died only four years after he returned.

There was commercial and parochial rivalry between Victoria and South Australia as to who would settle the north and prove or disprove the existence of an inland sea. Victoria, with its wealth from the goldfields and a population of 500,000, seemed well placed to finance such projects.

Burke and Wills were lavishly equipped: their expedition cost 10,000 pounds and included a dining table and chairs, whereas Stuart's success was due to travelling light.

Stuart actually arrived in Adelaide after having been carried, blind and near-death, for 600km - at the same time as Burke's bones were being transported via Adelaide to Melbourne.

Keeping in touch

The next drive towards development, and what really led to the formation of a road, was the announced intention by the British Australian Telegraph Company in 1870 to operate a cable from Java to Darwin, to connect in some way with the networks in Australia that had started in 1845.

Australia (particularly the major gold finds in Victoria) attracted investment and immigration from the UK, hence the need for better communication than was provided by ship-borne letters.

After much intrigue between the various colonies, in 1870 South Australia was awarded the contract to build 3000km of line by the end of 1871. The English astronomer Charles Todd was in charge of the mixed private and government contract, which began at Port Augusta and Darwin. After significant hardships the OT line was joined on August 22, 1872, 672 km south of Darwin.

The line closely followed Stuart's path, but north of Katherine it diverged a little west toward Southport and on to Darwin, whereas Stuart had maintained a more northerly path to Chambers Bay, east of Darwin.

Stuart clearly respected his friend James Chambers, after whom he named a stone pillar in Central Australia, a creek, the bay, and the Katherine River after his daughter. He must have been quite a man - it was said that he started his accounts and a bottle of Scotch at 6am and finished both by 9am. Sadly he died before Stuart returned finally to Adelaide.

While the OT was being built the workers discovered gold in the Pine Creek area and although a relatively minor field, it ultimately led to a railway that ran from Darwin to Larrimah and Birdum which was used until the mid-20th century.

Explorers and cattlemen

As you drive the road today one thing you learn to appreciate is just how important the places along The Track were for explorers and cattlemen; not only travelling south to north, but also to east-west traffic and vice-versa.

The OT line became a lifeline or place of relative safety for explorers. Forrest, Warburton, Giles, Gosse, O'Donnell and Carr-Boyd and Barkly either set out from the OT or reached it in a parlous or otherwise state.

The OT and the places along it were also important to stockmen. Giles bought a large mob of sheep from South Australia for Dr W. Browne to stock Springvale Station near Katherine (it’s well worth a visit today, as Tom Ronan is buried there).

Dr Browne also started Newcastle Waters, but his ventures failed when virtually all the sheep died. He lost about 80,000 pounds (perhaps $15 million in today's money) on this and other ventures. Cattle were the only livestock that ultimately succeeded, the vast majority of stations being settled from Queensland.

Into this story now rides a man that the Bicentennial Authorities considered as one of the 200 people who most influenced the development of Australia, and his name was Nat Buchanan. He was an absolutely outstanding man who succeeded in exploring, droving and living in a land where many died of thirst, accident or were killed - this was from about the time of Burke and Wills. Buchanan lived from 1826-1901 and within that time (from 1860-1896) made about 10 separate major expeditions from north-west Queensland nearly to Shark Bay in WA.

Adventure bound

Many places on The Track were vital to the adventures of Buchanan and others. A typical example was the original Newcastle Waters and then Newcastle Waters the settlement.

Buchanan was the first to overland cattle across the Barkly Tablelands and later the Murranji Track, the "ghost road of the drovers" (when he established Wave Hill Station). These two tracks were vital for the industry and both cattle and human lives were lost, as there was minimal or no water on these major stock routes.

In 1911 the Commonwealth Government took over the NT and in 1917 established a depot at Newcastle Waters for the construction of 13 bores across this waterless land (which took seven years to build).

The last big cattle drive across the Murranji was led by Les Little (buried at Timber Creek) in 1956. So the legendary droving feats begun by Buchanan in the 1860s went on for about 100 years until the diesel behemoths came to rule the roads and The Track.

Truck museum a must

Make sure to visit the Road Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs, where the contributions of people like Kurt Johannsen, Dave Baldock and Noel Buntine to the vital transport industry are recognized, and spare a thought (or perhaps forgiveness!) for them on your travels as their 'descendents' thunder down The Track.

It’s hard to imagine just how many or how few people lived and indeed died along The Track. At times there must have been thousands on their way to and from the NT or WA goldfields, but generally there were few.

Author of The Territory, Ernestine Hill, described a man who walked from Darwin down the OT Line/ Stuart Highway to SA in 1920. He counted 58 white people. The Australian Bureau of Statistics cites that in 1926 there were 40 residents in Alice Springs.

Travelling today

The Telegraph Stations established for the OT Line were at Palmerston (later Darwin), Southport, Yam Creek, Pine Creek, Katherine, Daly Waters, Frew's Ponds, Powell Creek, Tennant Creek, Barrow Creek, Alice Springs and Charlotte Waters.

The Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve marks the original site of the first European settlement in Alice Springs. Established in 1872 to relay messages between Darwin and Adelaide, it is the best preserved of the 12 stations along the Overland Telegraph Line.

Not surprisingly the stations at Alice Springs, Barrow Creek and Tennant Creek are a treat to visit, as are the pubs. They are like time capsules, with various attractions such as hundreds of hats, bank notes, jocks (as in underpants) and more taking pride of place.

Most of these pubs provide a range of reasonably priced accommodation from camping to motels.

Many have their "claims to fame", such as the springs and birds at Renner Springs, Wycliffe 'the UFO Capital of the World', Australia's first International Airport at Daly Waters (built by Hudson Fysh, who later started Qantas), and of Crocodile Dundee fame, Charlie the buffalo on the bar at Adelaide River, to name a few.

Maintained by the National Trust, Jones' store at Newcastle Waters is worth a look. Almost next to it is the derelict Junction Hotel where the drovers used to meet after weeks or months of enforced temperance.

Back then, a drink called a Rankine Bomb (eight ounces of rum and a splash of port) was popular. Actually, not much has changed - after a dry trip fishermen would drink double tequila and triple ouzo together - ah, the joys of youth.

WWII relics

Apart from historic watering holes, there are a lot of other interesting sights, such as the war cemetery at Adelaide River, a statue of a drover at Newcastle Waters and one of Peter (Sabu) Sing mounted on a quarter horse in Katherine.

Sing was of Asian-Aboriginal origin and was an expert bushman, stockman and station manager. His biography title, From Humpy To Homestead, eloquently describes his life. Judging by the list of people who contributed to the statue, Sing was a much respected and admired man.

From Banka Banka Station, south of Elliot to Darwin, there are WW2 sites; some are just signposts and foundations, but many airstrips have been maintained and look as though they could still be used.

It's a long trip from Alice Springs to Darwin, but it can be a very appealing way to spend a few days – no matter what direction you’re going.

Travel: Stuart Hwy, NT

Tags