Travel Guide Daly Waters

Located 7 km west of the Stuart Highway, Daly Waters is a village of 50 inhabitants with only a few houses and a pub. But what a pub! Thirsty travelers do not fail to stop there and it does not take long to understand that humor as well as dust are omnipresent in this deep Australia. Nevertheless, Daly Waters has a long history. The place was named in 1862 by the explorer Stuart, in reference to the spring he discovered during his 3rd attempt to cross Australia and in honor of the South Australian Prime Minister, Sir Daly. Stuart is said to have carved a large S on a trunk during his visit. You can go and see the tree, Stuart's Tree, even if the mark on the tree is hardly visible. The historical information is interesting, however. During the construction of the Overland Telegraph, a 460 km horseback route, the Pony Express, connected Daly Waters to Tennant Creek to transmit overseas mail. The telegraph line was completed in 1872. The remoteness of the area meant that telegraph employees had to travel twice a year to Roper Bar, 400 km to the east, to take delivery of their food and ammunition from Adelaide by ship. In 1930, Qantas built an airfield to resupply fuel for long-haul flights from Sydney to London via Singapore. In 1942, the RAAF established a rear base to refuel its bombers.