Eight popular and essential watering holes you must visit in the Territory
The man behind the bar at Daly Waters Historic Pub is as iconic as they come. See the stories behind some other local watering holes.
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THE Territory is renowned for its fine selection of quirky, eccentric and refreshing watering holes.
A curated comprehensive guide is available online where you can learn about the history of Territory pubs and how the publicans stumbled into their ownership of these staple vessels of the community.
Here’s guide to learn about Territory pub history and how the publicans stumbled into their ownership of these staple vessels of the community.
As far as Alice Springs and all the way to the Top End, here is a must-do road trip list of eight popular and iconic destinations where you can sit and have a yarn with mates over a coupla quiet ones.
DALY WATERS
THE Territory’s most unforgettable pub resides 590km below Darwin and has some cool news to announce.
After more than 90 years of blistering days that have made their presence felt upon the old corrugated iron roof of the Daly Waters Historic Pub, the day of relief has finally come.
Daly Waters Historic Pub has installed a split system air conditioner behind the bar and now, for the first time ever, the eccentric pub bar – its ceiling adorned with countless bras – is the coolest it has ever been.
Owner Tim Carter said the small change to the business had “made a big difference” in attracting and retaining staff and kept customers in the pub for longer. “Instead of staying to have one quick drink they’ll have half a dozen,” Mr Carter said. “Not as cold as a Darwin pub but it’s a hell of a lot better.” Due to the doors and windows being closed to keep the cool air in, Mr Carter said the pub had to put signage out the front of the pub to notify people that they were still trading.
Once you turn off Stuart Hwy to see it for yourself, you will understand the hype around the Daly Waters Historic Pub and its eccentricities.
Travellers leave their mark by stapling their licenses to the wall, hanging their bras on the ceiling or any identifying item they have on them.
The man behind the mystery and mastery of this bizarre and popular joint is long-time businessman Tim Carter, who owns most of the town and its businesses.
A groupie-like entourage, consisting of a foal called Bonny, Polly the horse, Blackface the goat and Kevin the labrador follow him everywhere … even through the pub.
Mr Carter said he and his family moved from Coober Pedy to Daly Waters after he bought the then “run down” pub.
“We still have a business in Coober Pedy,” Mr Carter said.
“So when we bought it had only seven motel rooms, now we’re sitting on 65 so virtually we’ve been renovating it for the last five years flat out.”
“Since we’ve been here we’ve redone the bar and put the junkyard across the road which has been very popular.”
Mr Carter said the wilderness and freedom Daly Waters gives people was the reason people loved stopping in.
“You meet so many people, so many chilled people," he said.
“Some take a bit of convincing you know I just say ‘hey you’re in the bush, shit happens, there’s nothing you can do about it, you’ve just gotta chill back and let it roll’.”
The Daly Waters Pub has had a continual license since 1930.
“It was selling grog way before then but it was always sly grog,” he said.
NOONAMAH TAVERN
After starting in a farming background, Tony Innes describes his role as “the accidental publican”.
The Innes family moved from South Australia to the Territory with intentions of buying and farming land, but that came to a halt when they saw an opportunity which sparked their curiosity.
“We saw the pub for sale and it was supposed to be a three year plan and then go back to farming,” Mr Innes said.
Now, 17 years later, the pub is still a family run venue and is a formidable force of the south that has created its own pub “formula”, with events like rodeos, rockabilly and the ute-run.
Located about 40 minutes south of Darwin, Mr Innes believed the pub’s diversity was the cornerstone of its popularity and also the fact that “it’s just a good everyday place to stop in for a feed”.
“It’s still one of the last pubs with that bush character and a bush feel about it,” he said.
“I’m still a firm believer our best feature is our beer garden, there’s not too many you see in the Top End anymore – too much concrete I believe.”
After a long road trip on the Stuart Hwy, passing through Noonamah you will see a large boat sitting in a paddock and then to your right, you’ll see the iconic hydration station on your right, the Noonamah Tavern.
BERRY SPRINGS TAVERN
Quality, value and consistency is the cornerstone of the Berry Springs Tavern.
Run by Ian and Leah Sloan, the family pub is a gathering place and comes with quirks such as a small animal farm and proud NT News front page appearances stuck behind the bar.
The busy pub is the centre of the universe for many Berry Springs locals.
With the intentions of spending one year in Australia on a working visa from Ireland, Mr Sloan is still here years after meeting his wife Leah Sloan in South Australia.
They have taken the hospitality industry head on by running the eccentric and friendly Berry Springs Tavern.
Mr Sloan told some fibs to get his initial job behind the bar at Shennanigans in Darwin after arriving to Australia.
“He said he was an experienced barman but he actually wasn’t,” Ms Sloan said.
“So he was a barman there for a while and then he moved down to Adelaide and was running the Shenanigans down there and that’s where we met.”
Eventually the couple moved back to Darwin and decided to buy the Virginia Tavern.
“I was at home with a newborn baby and no income and he decided to leave his permanent position to take on the pub (Virginia Tavern) that had only been trading just six months,” Ms Sloan said.
“The first night he worked, he came home and said ‘what have I done’ because we didn’t sell one meal.”
The pair ran the pub for two years and eventually sold it and managed the supermarket service station beside the next-door for a short period.
Things changed when old customers of theirs from the Virginia Tavern approached them with an enticing offer, they asked “if we build a pub, would you guys run it and take over the lease?”.
The rest is history.
“We’ve got a 30 year lease and I think we’re down to about 23 years left now.”
While enduring the pandemic, Ms Sloan said the business diversified to cope with the unprecedented loss of business due to the looming pandemic.
“We put a coffee machine in the back of our commuter van and, and we did branch out a little bit more into catering because people were holding events at home more than going out,” she said.
“So we have grown that side of the business.
“And I’m sure Ian will want to continue to build his menagerie and get more animals, so that’s probably his goal.
“Ian comes up with some crazy things so there could be anything coming.”
PINK PANTHER HOTEL WAYSIDE INN
After driving hours of seeing not much on the Stuart Hwy, 500km south of Darwin you will find an unconventional pub with a large pink panther out the front.
How does a pink panther find itself in the middle of the Territory outback?
With a long history of running caravan parks and pubs, Steve Baldwin purchased the Larrimah Wayside Inn, also known as the Pink Panther Pub, in December 2018.
Mr Baldwin said the previous publican started the pink panther phenomenon.
“I think there was a leak out in the front lawn, a water leak and it stayed there for a year or two and someone put a pink panther out on a chair with a fishing rod and it sat there for years,” Mr Baldwin said.
“The pub owner then painted the pub pink and replaced the toy panther with a larger structure.”
Mr Baldwin spoke of the rich and rarely told the WWII wartime history of the area but called for more NT government help in telling the stories.
“The Territory Government has done a great job of military history in Darwin but nothing for anywhere else and it’s important,” he said.
Regardless of whether the area receives government help or not, Mr Baldwin said he had big plans for sharing the wartime history of the small town.
“We want to do a big sound and display, covering across the town, not just inside the pub,” he said.
“Educational, historical, it will be a show, you press play and it goes through the whole process, lights flashing and bombs going off to re-enact it.”
While creating a reason to stay at night and see the educational light display, it will give travellers a reason to stay in the small town for the night and “so they don’t just take a picture of pink panther and drive away”.
HOTEL DARWIN
A ONE off opportunity of owning an iconic Darwin pub landed on Perth businessman Mike Rasheed’s desk and he couldn’t resist.
At the time, Brett Lubicz was working for Mr Rasheed managing a pub in Perth, so when he offered Brett a good gig in Darwin and presented an opportunity to manage and partially own the historic Darwin Hotel, he could not refuse.
With a fruitful offer up for grabs, Mr Lubicz and his “life partner and work partner” Penny Phillips relocated to Darwin to run the charismatic old pub, which sits on the corner of Mitchell and Herbert St in the Darwin CBD.
With the last six and a half years under their belts, the business power-couple have no plans to go anywhere.
“Certainly keen to stick around and get this town back to where we need to get it back to,” Mr Lubicz said.
He said the previous owners ran the pub differently to how it was now.
“There used to be a strip club where the sports bar was. Over that seven years we’ve renovated pretty much the whole building in big ways and small ways,” Mr Lubicz said.
“The beer garden didn’t look anything like what it does now. We have a lot more of a food focus.”
The Hotel Darwin ethos is to make sure all ages feel welcome.
The pub even had 101-year-old Brian Winspear visit for a meal while he was in town for the 80th Bombing of Darwin anniversary.
“It is appropriate for people of all ages, that’s a big part of what we make sure we can cater for people of all ages,” Mr Lubicz said.
“We have pool tables, Keno, Pokies, great food, TVs with sport on it, a beer garden and a front veranda to sit and watch the world go by – there’s a lot of things you can do here.
“Instead of having the age demographic targeted at 18 to 25, we’ve opened it up to all ages.”
Mr Lubicz said he was always on the lookout for new opportunities to expand to heighten the quality of the customer experience.
“There’s quite a few pubs in Darwin that are a bit more modern but it (Hotel Darwin) certainly is one of the real characters of Darwin, regulars love coming here,” he said.
The business duo treasure the pub’s history and strive to preserve it.
“I think we hold onto a lot of the history that the pub has – way back into the 1940s,
its been here for a very long time and we are very aware of that history and certainly understand and appreciate that history,” he said.
“A lot of people come in here with stories from when they used to work here or visit here or live here and people remember certain parts of the pub and where things used to be.”
The couple would eventually “love” to purchase another pub in Darwin and create more spaces for Territorians to enjoy.
TODD TAVERN
When an opportunity arose in Alice Springs to take over a lease for the charming and historic Todd Tavern in 1998, Diane Loechel signed the contract and managed the pub.
It wasn’t until two years later when she bought the free leasehold and continued to run the pub until 2004 when it was leased to a consortium from Adelaide.
Last year, Ms Loechel took back the freehold and the leasehold back.
She said Alice Springs was a different town to what it was when she first began managing the pub.
“It’s a slow process to try and rebuild and bring things back, the restaurants, accommodation and all those things need some work,” Ms Loechel said
Since Covid entered Australia, Ms Loechel expressed business as a bit like an “up hill battle”.
“It makes people uncertain and we can’t get staff but that may now change because international borders have reopened – it has been very difficult to get people to try and work,” she said.
Ms Loechel said herself and staff were working hard to get the pub back on track to how it once was.
“I guess you’ve got to change perception and take people on the journey with you and you’ve gotta have faith in what you’re doing and stick to the course,” she said.
She spoke of the rich history of the old pub and how the female galvanised force for good Mona Minahan who was the first licensee of the pub and had a seismic positive impact on the town.
“I think it is such an iconic building, it was designed by one of the great architects of the time,” Ms Loechel said.
“A lot of people from bygone days would remember and think that the Todd Tavern is something that should be treasured.”
DUNMARRA ROADHOUSE
A roadtrip fuelled with a desire to find the perfect roadhouse is how Gary Frost stumbled upon his dream Dunmarra Roadhouse in 2004.
“I was up here doing a roadtrip looking for a roadhouse to buy and I heard this one was on the market,” Mr Frost said.
Eighteen years later, “I turned up on the front doorstep and I’m still here.”
Mr Frost enjoys the challenges that come with running a roadhouse and takes pride in his work.
“I enjoy everything about the business, the challenge, the customers, truckies, and the relationship with the customers, it’s all a part of it,” Mr Frost.
He said the quality of his service and dedication to helping customers was why his roadhouse was so popular and well-loved.
“I’m always ensuring customers are adequately looked after and have a comfortable stay,” Mr Frost said.
“We’re always available if the phone rings after hours, we’ll still accommodate.”
Mr Frost said he had big plans to expand the business in the close foreseeable future.
RENNER SPRINGS DESERT INN
Once a lawyer in the city, now he is a publican in the middle of nowhere, or what Alan Frost likes to describe as a central location “ideally located between a series of large towns”.
His purchase of the Renner Springs Desert Inn was inspired by a client when he was a lawyer in Brisbane.
“He reckoned he knew where Lasseter’s Reef was and he told me I should come have a look at the roadhouse over there because it’s got your personality,” Mr Frost said.
“So I came up and checked it out and bought the roadhouse.
“I just fell in love with it, I like the feel of the place.’
Alan and Christine Revell run a tight desert ship – the pub is central for many surrounding properties and cattle stations, “the location is important”.
The busy Stuart Hwy business has a solid variety in products and hospitality, offering a caravan park, motel, bulk petrol and more.
“There’s not many people you can’t cater for here,” Mr Frost said.
With six employees, like a well-oiled machine the roadhouse takes care of travellers, people working in the area and locals.
“Renner Springs is always an exciting place,” he said.
“We spent over $100,000 doing up our swimming hole, it looks like a roman bath, there’s a lot of marble, it’s 25 metres long and 17 metres wide.”
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Originally published as Eight popular and essential watering holes you must visit in the Territory
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