Daly Waters Northern Territory
The front of the famous Daly Waters Pub
Daly Waters
Coordinates	16°15′44″S 133°22′45″E / 16.2621°S 133.3793°E / -16.2621; 133.3793[1]
Population	55 (2021 census)[2]
Established	1927 (town) 4 April 2007 (locality)[3][1]
Elevation	212 m (696 ft)[4]
Time zone	ACST (UTC+9:30)
Location	620 km (385 mi) S of Darwin 273 km (170 mi) S of Katherine 407 km (253 mi) N of Tennant Creek
LGA(s)	Roper Gulf Region[1]
Localities around Daly Waters: Birdum Birdum Birdum Birdum Daly Waters Birdum Birdum Birdum Birdum
Footnotes	Adjoining localities[5][6]

Daly Waters is a town and locality in the Northern Territory of Australia, located about 620 kilometres (390 mi) south of the territory capital of Darwin at the intersection of the Carpentaria Highway and the Stuart Highway.^[7] In the 2021 census, the locality of Daly Waters had a population of 55 people.^[2]

The area's traditional owners, the Jingili people, believe the Dreaming tracks of the Emu and the Sun travelled through here on their way to the southern parts of the Northern Territory.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[8] Stuart named the springs after the new Governor of South Australia, Sir Dominick Daly.^[9]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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,^[10] the original Qantas hangar still stands, housing exhibits of photographs and equipment from the area's aviation past.^{[citation needed]}

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 30,000 square kilometres (11,583 sq mi). The Federal Court of Australia had a special ceremonial sitting on nearby Newcastle Waters Station to commemorate the occasion.^[11]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Other services are available at the Hi-Way Inn roadhouse, at the junction of the Carpentaria Highway.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

• 
  The Daly Waters "traffic light"
• 
  Government Bores, Overland Telegraph (OT) route. Water tanks, windmill, packing up camp onto the buggy.
• 
  Daly Waters Telegraph Station

Climate

Daly Waters has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh) with two distinct seasons. There is a sweltering, humid and extremely uncomfortable wet season from November to March and a hot, generally rainless dry season from April to October. The wet season is highly erratic – for instance only 192.4 millimetres or 7.57 inches of rain fell between November 1899 and March 1900, but as much as 588.3 millimetres or 23.16 inches in January 1895 and 612.4 millimetres or 24.11 inches in January 2009.^[12] In the wet season roads are frequently closed by heavy rainfall, which has exceeded 150 millimetres or 6 inches in a day from tropical rain depressions on several occasions, whilst heat discomfort is extreme as wet bulb temperatures average 24.6 °C or 76.3 °F on typical January and February afternoons. Temperatures actually peak just before the wet season begins in October and November at around 38 °C or 100.4 °F but discomfort is less extreme due to lower humidity. In the dry season, cloudless skies and comfortable morning temperatures make for much more pleasant conditions.