Daly Waters Hotel, Northern Territory

The Daly Waters Hotel is a famous outback pub. It was a popular watering hole for pilots during WW2 who used the nearby airstrip and a welcome stopover for hot and weary travellers.

In the early days, drovers stopped over for a well earned rest and to spend an enjoyable night with the boys around the bar before continuing on their way, often driving their cattle hundreds of miles in the hot, relentless sun.

Built in 1893 it's one of the oldest buildings left in the Northern Territory. The pub today is a tourist attraction with entertainment and a steak and barramundi barbecue every night.

Dennis had the Barra and I had the steak. We had a first time experience, when we opened the butter pattie to put on the bread, it had turned to liquid, and it was 7.30pm.

Tourists from all over the world have left a little part of themselves behind in the pub - photos, underwear, caps, shoes, t-shirts, flags etc - all on display. The sign under the traffic lights reads 'Australia's most remote traffic lights.

Darwin, Northern Territory

Why is the Northern Territory a territory and not a state? Any land within Australia that is not claimed by one of the states is called a territory. It was originally part of South Australia. Ten years after Federation in 1911, South Australia gave this part of their state to the Commonwealth Government and it became the Northern Territory.




Two weeks ago hundreds of people lined the streets of Darwin to welcome home 1000 Defence Force personnel who have been serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and Timor-Leste.




In 1978 the Northern Territory was granted self-government by an Act of the Commonwealth Parliament, but because it's not a State, the degree of self-government is limited. The Federal Government has kept control of several areas usually run by a State Government. These include Aboriginal land, uranium mining and industrial relations but the Northern Territory is regarded as a State for financial dealings between the State and Federal Governments. It's as clear as mud really.

Kites on the Adelaide River

Named after the famous English Naturalist, Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory. In its short history, this hot, isolated town in the top end has been flattened twice but has managed to come back bigger and better than ever.

Ferry to Mandorah

The first time was on the 19 February 1942 when the Japanese bombed Darwin and 243 armed forces personnel and civilians were killed, eight ships were sunk and 11 damaged. A section of the wharf was destroyed, killing 22 waterside workers.

Sunset Markets

Nineteen allied warplanes were destroyed on the ground at the RAAF base including six front-line American P40 fighters. Over the next 21 months, Darwin, Adelaide River, Katherine and Milingimbi in Arnhem Land were bombed 64 times.

Jumping crocodiles in the Adelaide River

The second time was Christmas Day 1974 when Cyclone Tracy hit the unprepared town with such force that sixty-six people died.

Road Kill Cafe

The devastation was so complete, the population had to be evacuated. Since then, building codes now require that every new building must be cyclone resistant and are referred to as 'built to code'. For people who don't live in a 'built to code' house, emergency shelters are available.

Supreme Court

So once again, the town slowly rose from the ashes and has continued to grow into a modern, multi-cultural city of 130,000 people with a very laid back and relaxed attitude to life.

Government House




Things in the Territory get done at a much slower pace up here, no worries mate. There are more than 50 nationalities in Darwin, including the area's traditional landowners, the Larrakia Aboriginal people.

Government Offices

Territorians hold the title of being the world's undisputed heaviest drinkers. The only nations that come close are the Irish and Czechs. In Alice Springs there was an 18 per cent drop since the government introduced restrictions on the sale of alcohol in 2006.

Parliament House

For most of us, it's just too hot to live up here, but for born and bred Territorians, they wouldn't live anywhere else.

Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory

Termite Nest

Lichfield National Park is 130 kms south of Darwin. Cool, clear water and no crocodiles!

Katherine School of the Air, Northern Territory

Covers 1.3 million square kilometres

Katherine School of the Air began operating on 12 September 1966. There was a need to educate isolated children living with their families on stations in the Northern Territory. Because it was impossible for children to attend classes at a real school, children would gather at home every morning and interact with their teacher through the Katherine School of the Air by a crackley, old fashioned radio.

Today they have IDL (Interactive Distance Learning) - it's all done with computers. Someone will fly out and install the satellite dish in one day, the only requirement being that the family promises to stay put for at least 12 months.

Every pin represents a student and colour denotes class

The IDL workstations include a P4 CPU with CD burner, 17" monitor, printer, camera, scanner, graphics tables, headphones and a modem. The computers are permanently connected to the Internet via high speed two way satellite

Currently there are 27 teachers, including the Principal, Assistant Principal, three Senior Teachers, a Special Education Teacher, a Teacher Librarian, an ESL Teacher (English as a second language) and 18 class teachers. There are also eight support/administrative personnel including a Technician, Registrar, Information Communication Technology Co-ordinator, Print Room Operator, Receptionist, two Mailroom Clerks and a Tour Operator.

What the student sees

The Home Tutor plays an important role, 80% are mothers, 10% are retired teachers who volunteer their services and the other 10% are usually young teachers employed by the owners of the cattle station.

Teacher giving class lesson

They carry out the teacher's instructions, liaise with the teacher, organise the classroom and supervise school work. They spend face to face time with the student and observe their day to day progress in the classroom. What an adventure it would be for a retired teacher to stay at one of these far flung stations for an extended holiday. Many of the students will later be sent away to boarding school and then go on to university. Only 20% of students are Aboriginal.

The annual school camp is held in August/September and it's a great time for students, home tutors, families and staff to get together and have some fun.

Katherine, Northern Territory

There are many Aboriginal drawings in the gorges

Robert Tudawali (centre) was magnificent as Marbuck

Katherine is famous for its gorges and the traditional owners are the Jawoyn people. Their indigenous company, Nitmiluk Tours, is the exclusive provider for touring the gorges and offer many different ways to see it. You can fly, hire a canoe, walk with a guide, learn about bush tucker, or cruise the beautiful Katherine river.







In 1955 they made a movie called Jedda. It's a great story about a rogue Aboriginal man called Marbuck who took a fancy to a shy, refined Aboriginal girl brought up by a white family. Even though he knows she is strictly forbidden as a mate by his tribe, he kidnaps her and the film is shot in the magnificent Katherine gorge area.

Kids enjoying the warm thermal pools in Katherine

At the end of the movie, Marbuck is finally pursued to the edge of a high cliff and at the last moment he grabs Jedda and they both plunge over the edge to their deaths.

Rosalie Kunoth

Today we saw Jedda's cliff. The story goes that the film was damaged on the way back to England for editing so they had to redo the final scenes again in the Blue Mountains, just outside of Sydney.




Jedda was played by Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, nee Ngarla Kunoth. She was born in 1937 at Utopia Cattle Station in the Northern Territory and spent about ten years as a nun in a convent

She is involved in several indigenous projects to improve education, health and housing of her people within the Northern Territory and still lives in Alice Springs.

Jedda's Cliff

Sabu Sing, Northern Territory

Sabu Sing and his horse Docs Leo

In the main street of Katherine stands a bronze sculpture of Peter Sabu Sing, son of a Chinese man and a Wardaman Aboriginal woman who was born on Delamere Station in 1940. He was fostered as a child by Tom Fisher, manager of Wave Hill station. Fisher never encouraged him to cut loose from his Aboriginal background, he always looked after his mother and employed his brothers, and half-brothers in stock camps.

Sabu Sing

By the age of seven Sabu was breaking horses and later became a legend, known throughout the Northern Territory for his outstanding stockman skills . He went on to be the first Aboriginal man to manage a cattle station. He died in 1993.

Archie St Clair

Former ringer and heli-musterer, Archie St Clair, was so inspired by his story that he agreed to sculpture a larger-than-life-sized statue which took 9 months to complete.

Kununurra, Western Australia

Kununurra is a hot, ancient place with scenery that takes your breath away. Now I know why they made the first part of the movie 'Australia' up here, you have to see it to believe it.

It's home to the Ord River Irrigation Scheme (ORIS). The Ord River was once one of the fastest flowing rivers in Australia in the wet season but in the dry, it was reduced to a series of small water holes.

It was decided that there was an urgent need to harness this huge amount of water rushing straight out to sea every year and that's when ORIS was born.

Opening in 1972, ORIS was a massive undertaking and took nine years to complete. That most precious commodity - water - provides irrigation to farmland, every day, all year round and the flow down the river is regulated by the opening and closing of gates.

Lake Argyle

This successful agricultural endeavour produces sugar cane, chickpeas, melons, pumpkins, mangoes, sandlewood and citrus and also generates power for the town of Kununurra, Wyndham and the Argyle Diamond Mine. Not surprising then that State and Federal governments have given the go ahead for expansion of the farms.

Lunch break

The dam created Lake Argyle which holds 18 times the volume of water in Sydney Harbour. It was named after the property it partly submerged - Argyle Downs, home to Dame Mary Durack, famous Australian author who wrote "Kings in Grass Castles".

She traces her grandfather's epic journey across the continent to WA, where he established pastoral stations in the 1890s. She also wrote about her father, politician Michael Durack in "Sons in the Saddle".

Water pours down here in the wet

The lake is regularly refilled by the monsoonal rains in the 'wet' each year and is home to abundant wild-life including 25,000 fresh water crocodiles.

Ivanhoe Crossing

Thanks to the foresight of the architects of this mighty project, the successful and productive agricultural farms in Kununurra will never experience drought ever again.