We finally reached the Stuart Highway and stayed overnight at the iconic Daly Waters Pub. A very popular (and busy) stop for travelers, established not far from where John McDouall Stuart camped for 14 days in 1862 on his way from Adelaide to Darwin. John McDouall Stuartgraduated as a Civil Engineer , left Scotland and landed in Adelaide in 1839, which had only been established 2 years earlier so a little rustic. His early explorations to find the route through the centre of Australia started as a surveyor/ draughtsman with Charles Sturt in 1844. In total Stuart led no less than 6 expeditions from Adelaide northwards but it was only on the last expedition in 1862 that he sighted the Ocean at a place called Chambers Bay not far from Darwin. In very poor health his expedition did eventually return to Adelaide.
Scottish explorer John McDouall Stuart (1815 – 1866), circa 1860. Stuart is best known for his explorations of inland Australia. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) 
Alongside the pub there is “Tim’s Junkyard” museum which is far from a junkyard. It has all sorts of collectable helicopters (usually crashed), trucks and cars and even a De Haviland DH-112 Sea Vernon jet. Most notable were the vintage motorcycles – Douglas, BSA sloper, an Ariel, 1000cc Indians and Harleys etc. with three 900 and 1000cc Kawasaki’s plus WWII memorabilia. Even the police car from the “Wolf creek” movie.
The pub boasted live entertainment all day, raucous bars, with the bra bar being central (just bras no topless stuff), goats and dogs at the front entry and yes the bloke who rides into the bar on his horse with cattle dog. I think all of NSW has turned up to this place – a big contrast to the current lockdown in Sydney.
So a little about John McDouall Stuart. He graduated as a Civil Engineer , left Scotland and landed in Adelaide in 1839, which had only been established 2 years earlier so a little rustic. His early explorations to find the route through the centre of Australia started as a surveyor/ draughtsman with Charles Sturt in 1844. In total Stuart led no less than 6 expeditions from Adelaide northwards but it was only on the last expedition in 1862 that he sighted the Ocean at a place called Chambers Bay not far from Darwin. In very poor health his expedition did eventually return to Adelaide.