The Daly River - looking upstream from the crossing

Daly River (including Woolianna)
Small, sleepy outpost on the Daly River.
Located 224 km south of Darwin, Daly River is one of those outposts of civilization which seems to belong more in a novel than in real life. The river was discovered in 1865 by Boyle Travers Finniss, the first Premier of South Australia and Government Resident in the Northern Territory. Finniss named the river after Sir Dominick Daly, the Governor of South Australia. The region lay untouched by Europeans until 1882 when copper was discovered leading to the arrival of a wild mob of unruly miners.

The town was the scene of some particularly bloody exchanges between the local Aborigines and the miners. In 1884 three miners were killed. The miners in the town wreaked vengeance on the local Aborigines at a scale which was totally out of proportion to the perceived crime. A year later, probably aware of the tensions in the area, the Roman Catholics established a mission in the town.

Copper was shipped out of the area for processing until 1908 when the Northern Territory administration established a copper smelting works. This was short lived.

Throughout this century there have been a number of attempts to settle the town - none of them have met with any real success. In 1911 the Commonwealth Government tried to convince people to move to the town. By the 1920s there were people with grand visions of crops of peanuts and tobacco which came to nothing. In 1967 the Tipperary Land Corporation cleared large tracts of land around the settlement and started growing sorghum but their plans came to nothing and the whole operation was closed down in 1973.

Today the town is little more than a tiny pub with a few airconditioned motel style units, a police station, and a free caravan park. It is exotically located on the banks of the river a couple of kilometres from the beautiful Daly River Crossing. Removed from the main tourist route by a reasonable dirt road which runs 77 km from the turnoff at the Stuart Highway, this small settlement is a centre for visitors wishing to explore the beauties of the Daly River Nature Park and fishermen eager to catch that elusive king of fishes - the barramundi. There are locals who are prepared to declare that the best barramundi in the Territory are caught in the Daly River.

This is tropical North Australia as it is imagined by southerners. The park abounds in saltwater crocodiles, reptiles, spiders, cockatoos, wild pigs and buffalos. The foliage is a combination of mangroves, giant bamboos, pandanus and even Kapok trees.

On the road 5 km east of Daly River is a turnoff to Woolianna, an idyllic camping and caravan park on the banks of the river.

Things to see:  

Nauiyu Aboriginal Community and Roman Catholic Mission
Just before entering the town there is a turnoff to the Nauiyu Aboriginal Community and Roman Catholic Mission where Aboriginal artefacts are sold. A visit to the Nauiyu Council Offices, which are located near the elegant and historic mission chapel, is advisable. As is common in Aboriginal communities, the local council requests that visitors do not enter the residential areas and do not take photographs of the local residents.

	Hotels
	Daly River Roadside Inn Daly River Rd Daly River NT 0822 Telephone: (08) 8978 2418
	Caravan Parks
	Daly River Mango Farm Daly River Rd Daly River NT 0822 Telephone: (08) 8978 2464, 1800 000 576 Facsimile: (08) 8978 2331
	Woolianna On The Daly Tourist Park Wooliana Rd Daly River NT 0822 Telephone: (08) 8978 2478 Facsimile: (08) 8978 2634 Rating: *