Some More Legendary Territory Waterholes ( hellholes )

Continuing on with the theme of hellhole climates and the symbiotic relationships with legendary drinking exploits of Northern Territorians

Casey's Store, Berrimah.
Yep, was just a simple store at the Berrimah crossroads about 8 miles south of the City of Darwin. Centrally and convienently sited near a large Navy Base, a new ( back in the day ) industrial sub division, a large itinerent Blackfella camp and a Leper Hospital, Caseys once held the record for the highest liquour sales of any Licenced grog outlet in the Territory. On any day of the week, hundreds of blokes would decend on Casey's, and sit out in the gutters along Berrimah Rd necking Green Cans. Casey's was just a shed with a coupla fridges and a petrol bowser surrounded by a tyre repair shop, a scrap yard and some other shops back towards the intersection.
Lunch times we could duck over the road and squeeze in a coupla quick ones before heading back to work. The Blackfellas drank over the road on a vacant lot under a big shady tree and provided all with countless hours of entertainment fighting/punching on. Only ever got serious if a shovel nose spear was produced, then the Coppers would turn up and they'd all scatter into the spear grass.
About once a month the Leprosarium at East Arm would let the Lepers out and they would come to Casey's for a drink or 10. It is a real skill for someone to open a beer can and roll a smoke with no hands.....
The nearby Berrimah Hotel hated Casey's for taking away trade from them and lobbied for 20 years or more to have the place closed, and shock/horror, they even employed barmaids without clothes on to serve drinkers in an effort to win patronage.....
Casey's about 1979 in amongst that cluster of buildings at the crossroads.

Patrons about the same date

Climate data from the old Darwin Post Office, rainfall from Berrimah Farm.




Noonamah Hotel
Used to be the first stop south from Casey's where one could buy a drink. About 27 miles south of Darwin, Noonamah has always been renowned far and wige for its feral population, both animal and human.
On any weekend there are dusty or mud spattered (depending on the season ) Toyota 4wd's in the carpark, and more Harleys out the front than in the whole of Milwaukee.
Truckies, bikies, fishermen, pig hunters, ringers, blockies with buried shipping containers full of hydro and or / meth labs all call the Noony 'home'.
The Green Tree Frog Race Day is a good excuse to get on the piss out there, as is the Noonamah Rodeo, part of the Northern Circuit.
www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/frog-racing-at-noonamah-tavern/image-gallery/f7bf363d11bce5cc9c3714675c2498e5
www.abc.net.au/local/videos/2012/11/07/3627967.htm
www.sportingshooter.com.au/latest/168-9kg-boar-wins-pig-and-pussy-competition
Noonamah in 1963

And nowadays

Being inland from Darwin, a bit warmer for max temps and cooler mins.


.303 Bar, Adelaide River.
Adelaide River township has a long and colourfull history or hard working, hard drinking pioneering men and women dating back to the days of the Overland Telegraph Line, the opening of the country to the pastoral industry, the railways and mining. The town and surrounding hills were heavily fortified during WW2 as a line of defence after the massive Jap air raids of 1942. Large operational airstrips were established and bombers based here raided into Jap occupied SE Asia. The Adelaide River Hotel is set amongst lush tropical gardens and I make it a regular stop for a refreshing ale or 6 after a big day out fishing/hunting etc.
I've stayed at the Pub ( and played up some ) many times for work on various nearby construction jobs back into the early 1980's. Adelaide River Pub is like Vegas.... what happens here stays here...lol !
The town also is the final resting place for Aussie servicemen and women ( and civilians ) killed in action defending Australia on Australian soil during the 63 Jap air raids between Feb 1942 and Nov 1943. I attend the ANZAC Day Dawn Service most years at the War Cemetery, a somber peaceful place sited on the banks of the river. After the Service everyone ( usually several thousand ) adjournes to the Showgrounds and Pub for a Gunshot breakfast, a few beers and rums and play some two-up. As my kids got older, I learned it was a good idea to bring them with me so they could drive me the 110klm home safely......
northernterritory.com/articles/adelaide-river-in-wwii
www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/2023510/Adelaide%20River%20War%20Cemetery/
Dawn Service

Two-Up at breakfast.

Front bar of the Pub


Climate of Adelaide River




Grove Hill
Deep into the Territory badlands ( ie a fair way to Darwin 160klm and from the nearest Coppers at Pine Creek and Adelaide River ), Grove Hill was once part of the thriving Territory Goldfields region. Gold was discovered in 1872 during the construction of the Overland Telegraph, and rush to Pine Creek commenced, including thousands of Chinese miners. The region is still littered with thousands of artifacts, abandoned towns etc, machinery and shafts.
There are still modern working mines in the district today. I did a 12 month stint during the construction of the Brock's Creek Gold Mine in 1995-96. We were only 10klm from the pub at Grove Hill, so a fair bit of my wages went accross the bar...haha.....work hard/play hard, especially 25 years ago when I could still cope with 12 hour days and 12 bottle nights.
In the mid '90's there were still old hermit prospectors ekeing out a living scratching around for alluvial gold in the hills. a small lease, a small plot of weed, and Stan the Publican had a set of scales on the bar and accepted gold in exchange for grog. 
the Pub itself was built in 1935 beside the old Darwin-Larrimah Railway Line and was a wellcome stop for weary travellers between Katherine and Darwin.
it is simply a corrugated iron shed, no frills whatsoever, no mod cons at all, no mobile phones, simply a shed that sells piss. The whole place is a preserved working museum, looking exactly the same inside and out as it would have don in 1940. dunno how old Stan the publican is now, but he'd have to be pushing 90. he's been trying to sell the place for years, has closed the doors and reopened them several times in the last few years.
My former lady friend and I liked having a few drinkies here on a weekend.....
www.katherinetimes.com.au/story/5705479/iconic-grove-hill-hotel-to-close-for-real-this-time/






Climate from nearby Pine Creek and because there's only 11 years of records at Pine Creek, some data from Douglas River.






Heartbreak Hotel, Cape Crawford.
Isolated Pub/Roadhouse 870klm south east of Darwin at the junction of the Carpentaria and Tablelands highways. About 100klm from Borroloola and 45klm from Macarthur River Lead/Silver/Zinc Mine. So ( you guessed it ) I worked on several project at the Mine, and yes indeed, the old work hard/play hard reared its ugly head on more than one occaision. We would have every second Sunday as an RDO ( rostered day off ), so Saturdays nights were a big night at the bar, drinking, fighting with the local ringers ( Aussie cowboys ), chatting up the European Backpacker chicks working the bars and kitchens, then the Pub would put on a big Sunday BBQ and Beer recovery session. Truth be known, I mostly needed until about Tuesday to recover from the RDO Sunday....haha. Later on, running a coupla Road train trips out to some projects in the district, I would always pull into Heartbreak for a feed and rest from the road.
Good spot for a session and if the timing was right and all the planets and stars aligned, a tourist bus full of Eurotrash would turn up, and they found bullshit artist Aussie construction workers irressistable... or was it the Aussie bush Champagne, Bundaberg Rum and Coke ? I suspect the latter.....lol !


Stopped for few beers a coupla years ago...

Climatically ? yes a hellhole, brutally hot and humid in the 'wet'. Gets surprisingly chilly on 'dry' season nights