# Daly Waters, Northern Territory

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. In the 2021 census, the locality of Daly Waters had a population of 55 people.
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.

## 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. Stuart named the springs after the new Governor of South Australia, Sir Dominick Daly.
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.
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.
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, the original Qantas hangar still stands, housing exhibits of photographs and equipment from the area's aviation past.
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.

## 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.
Other services are available at the Hi-Way Inn roadhouse, at the junction of the Carpentaria Highway.

## 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
* Daly Waters in January 1955

## Climate

Northam has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSh) with two distinct seasons. There is a sultry, oppressive wet season from November to March and a cooler, extremely sunny dry season from April to October. The wet season has highly erratic rainfall due to the El Niño Southern Oscillation. For instance only 225.9 millimetres or 8.89 inches of rain fell in 1952, but as much as 634.8 millimetres or 24.99 inches in December 2015. Meanwhile, the dry season is consistently dry, with significantly cooler nights, lower humidity and greater sunshine.
Climate data for Daly Waters Airstrip (16º16'S, 133º23'E, 210 m AMSL) (1939-2024 normals and extremes) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 43.7 (110.7) | 42.1 (107.8) | 43.2 (109.8) | 40.8 (105.4) | 38.6 (101.5) | 36.3 (97.3) | 36.2 (97.2) | 37.8 (100.0) | 40.9 (105.6) | 44.0 (111.2) | 44.5 (112.1) | 45.6 (114.1) | 45.6 (114.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 35.8 (96.4) | 35.0 (95.0) | 34.9 (94.8) | 34.1 (93.4) | 31.4 (88.5) | 29.0 (84.2) | 29.2 (84.6) | 31.3 (88.3) | 35.0 (95.0) | 37.5 (99.5) | 38.2 (100.8) | 37.5 (99.5) | 34.1 (93.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 24.1 (75.4) | 23.5 (74.3) | 22.5 (72.5) | 19.6 (67.3) | 15.9 (60.6) | 13.1 (55.6) | 11.8 (53.2) | 12.6 (54.7) | 16.8 (62.2) | 21.0 (69.8) | 23.5 (74.3) | 24.2 (75.6) | 19.0 (66.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 16.8 (62.2) | 12.8 (55.0) | 11.4 (52.5) | 9.1 (48.4) | 4.8 (40.6) | 1.3 (34.3) | 1.5 (34.7) | 2.3 (36.1) | 4.3 (39.7) | 8.4 (47.1) | 12.5 (54.5) | 13.0 (55.4) | 1.3 (34.3) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 167.3 (6.59) | 188.1 (7.41) | 110.0 (4.33) | 20.8 (0.82) | 6.2 (0.24) | 2.9 (0.11) | 2.6 (0.10) | 0.3 (0.01) | 1.8 (0.07) | 21.3 (0.84) | 52.9 (2.08) | 116.8 (4.60) | 695.6 (27.39) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 12.1 | 11.7 | 7.8 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 5.2 | 9.2 | 51.8 |
| Average afternoon relative humidity (%) | 45 | 48 | 41 | 31 | 29 | 27 | 24 | 20 | 18 | 21 | 25 | 35 | 30 |
| Average dew point °C (°F) | 18.9 (66.0) | 19.3 (66.7) | 16.7 (62.1) | 12.7 (54.9) | 8.9 (48.0) | 6.6 (43.9) | 4.3 (39.7) | 3.3 (37.9) | 4.8 (40.6) | 8.8 (47.8) | 11.6 (52.9) | 15.5 (59.9) | 10.9 (51.7) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 254.2 | 231.7 | 269.7 | 279.0 | 300.7 | 303.0 | 313.1 | 337.9 | 315.0 | 313.1 | 285.0 | 275.9 | 3,478.3 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 63 | 65 | 71 | 79 | 85 | 90 | 90 | 94 | 88 | 81 | 74 | 68 | 79 |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology (1939-2024 normals and extremes) ||||||||||||||