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Published: September 18th 2014
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Renner Springs Outback Pub Bar
Bras and T-shirts seemed to be the go here, as well as messages written on every space of the wall. We had intended to leave early at 8.30am but saw the jewellery lady, Jo, and her husband and got talking so it was after 9am when we got away.
We drove straight to Renner Springs and stopped for a break. What a surprise – there was an Outback Pub, where you could buy food, drinks and fuel. We each had an iced coffee and shared a piece of chocolate cake. We sat down to eat it and couldn’t stop looking around all the walls, ceiling and bar. There were old hats pinned all over the ceiling and hanging from the bar, funny labels and pictures, personal IDs and signatures with messages of support literally written all over the walls. There wasn’t a spare spot anywhere.
The dining room was set up like an old fashioned hotel dining room except that one of the tables was occupied – by a large group of Teddy Bears and Shrek. The Ladies’ toilets had lovely flower pictures and a large mural on the wall. Both the Men’s and Ladies’ toilets had signs saying what they were in many languages plus three English terms (Blokes, Gents and Males and the same type
Renner Springs Outback Pub Dining Room
Note who's having dinner in the corner! for the females). Even the counter in the shop had a laugh, with a wicker basket containing a sign “Boneless Boiled Chicken – 60 cents” over some hard boiled eggs! I like it!!
Having finished our snack and our exploration of this funny place, we set off again.
Our next stop was Dunmarra Wayside Inn, where we filled up with fuel and had a pie for lunch. It had been a World War 2 Military Camp site and had kept supplies of plane spares for maintenance. We sat outside and ate, where we could see a Great Bower parading about and the usual Apostle birds chattering away. We also had a look around their snake collection, mostly pythons but some venomous snakes, all inside a special area in glass tanks.
Further back quite a way we had been stuck behind a triple trailer Road Train, carrying round hay bales, that was spreading enormous amounts of red dust all the way down the road. It was like driving in a dust storm. It took more than ten minutes before the air cleared and by that time he was well ahead of us.
When we had arrived at
Sailing Along the Highway
We passed lots of over-sized loads but this was my favourite today! Dunmarra, there parked along the edge of the forecourt was the same truck. Right next to him on the grass verge was an unrestrained water buffalo grazing contentedly, which we hadn’t expected. We were both watching it for a while and then he took a handful of the hay from one of the bales and gave it to the buffalo. It took a bit and chewed half-heartedly then let the rest drop and went back to the nice green grass. We both laughed and I went over to talk to him. I mentioned that we had been following after he’d turned onto the road and how dusty he was. He said he had to drive 6kms on dirt road before getting to the highway and the dust gets into the hay bales and that it can take up to half an hour to clear. He then gave the buffalo a drink and we said “Goodbye” and I joined Barry to continue the journey.
We ended up at the Daly Waters Pub, which we’d been told was worth a visit. It had been opened originally in 1930 as a Drover’s Store by Bill and Rita Pearce and it didn’t look
One Very Dusty Road Train
We saw this road train, a triplet, as he exited a red dirt road and then spread dust along the highway for about 10kms. as if much had changed on the front.
We went in to pay for the night and were told to look for Mike on the bike and he’d direct us to a site. We’d just gone into the entrance, when sure enough – Mike appeared out of nowhere on a kids bike with a hobby horse head on the front. He was covered from head to toe in dust, which was hardly surprising as it was an absolute dust bowl and had a large number of vans all arriving at the same time raising it all. We were on the last row and it wasn’t long before it was full. Mike gave the orders about where and how close to park and was too busy to take fools kindly – he expected to be obeyed! We were soon in place and set up for the night. I checked out the toilets and was pleasantly surprised to see very new looking fibreglass unisex ensuites (except they were in a row at the back not next to us) – with the toilet and shower in the same unit.
We went to have a closer look at the bar we’d seen
A Tasty Morsel from the Truck Driver
He pulled a bit of hay from one of the bales on his truck and fed it to the Water Buffalo outside Dunmarra Wayside Inn. on arrival. It was even more quirky than Renner Springs. Here there were bras hanging all the way around the top of the bar itself; T-shirts with messages written on them pinned up along the lower walls; cloth badges and photo IDs on the upper walls, as well as monetary notes from all over the world, also with signatures and messages on them. Coins had been glued to the pillars; jokes and cartoons were interspersed wherever there was a spare corner and, hanging out of the manhole above the bar, was a stuffed pair of trousers wearing socks and shoes.
Outside the front door was a free standing set of traffic lights glowing red, bearing the sign, “Australia’s most remote Traffic Lights” and a game of street skittles if anyone wanted to play. Just opposite was a tin shed with a very battered helicopter wearing military colours but no rotors, amongst other things, on its roof. Next to the door was a sign saying, “Scenic Helicopter Flights Cancelled! Due to periodic maintenance and refurbishment.” (Funny that!!)
Next to this was another tin shed that had the name Daly Waters Servo – and did have working fuel pumps outside
Daly Waters- Flight Anyone?
The sign under the awning said Flights Cancelled as the chopper was having ongoing maintenance! Can't think why! it. There was also a small art gallery opposite with a few nice paintings of scenery. We also saw a couple of other 1950s buildings but they weren’t anything special.
We’d heard that the pub was famous for its Barra and Beef meal so we ordered one each (mine was just Barra) and were told to come for the second shift at 7pm.
While we waited, we decided to have stroll to look at the “Stuart Tree” - supposedly bearing an “S” carved into the tree by the explorer John McDouall Stuart, who crossed the continent on six different expeditions and was instrumental in exploring the Centre and North. His sixth expedition took him from Adelaide right up to Chamber’s Bay, near the current Darwin and back. On his way, he spent 14 days fishing and resting at Daly Waters in May 1862, , which he named for the new Governor of South Australia, Sir Dominic Daly. The original Ghan train later followed the route he took, although the new one doesn’t. The carving of trees was something he was known to do when he stopped for long at any place. This one, though, was so damaged on
Daly Waters Pub, NT
This is just a tiny part of all the weird things hung up in this pub. Note what's in the top left corner. the dead tree stump that it was almost impossible to distinguish from the trees bark markings.
As we walked along the track we encountered a little Agile Wallaby, very cute.
We got back in good time for our meal and sat outside in the covered meals area, where there was more strange stuff hanging about. They had Akubra style hats hanging from the rafters of the roof, hundreds of old thongs (flip flops for the Poms) pinned to the posts and a small stage made of corrugated steel, where a country singer gave us a wide range of old time songs from the 50s to the 70s.
The meal was very nice and I especially enjoyed the wonderful crispy fresh salads with the grated carrot and cheese being the stand out. The Barra wasn’t as sweet as we’d hoped but it was very tender, as was Barry’s beef. We stayed for a while afterwards, listening to the music until he finished at 8.30pm.
We didn’t feel like going back so we fetched some torches and went for another walk looking for some wildlife. We caught a glimpse of a couple more wallabies and a few little bats flew into our beams. I was sure I heard an owl, too, but Barry didn’t.
It was a lovely walk but we were starting to get cold so we headed back for a nice hot shower and a coffee. Overall, it had been a day full of fun and surprises
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