GORV - Digital Magazine Issue #42 | Page 63

RV TRAVEL There is a campground on offer with hot showers and, of course, cold beers and wine. Visiting and camping at Dalhousie Springs is on more than a few bucketlists, and dropping in at the pub before, during or after will give you something to dine out on for years to come. BARROW CREEK HOTEL Mount Dare Hotel’s décor cannot compete with a far more historic pub, the Barrow Creek Hotel, located 226km south of Tennant Creek on the Stuart Highway. The pub was built in 1926 and stands near an Overland Telegraph Station completed in 1874. The pub is adorned from floor to ceiling with messages and autographs from the many visitors who have passed through, along with over 10,000 business cards and photos. But the vibrations here are not all fun because the tiny settlement of Barrow Creek has been marked by murder from the start. The same year the telegraph station opened saw the murder of two men by members of the Kaytetye Aboriginal people, perhaps resentful of the intrusion on land they had occupied for tens of thousands of years. Retribution was swift, with the murder of 50 to 60 tribal members. In 1928, after a man was killed at Coniston Station, 70 Aboriginal people were slaughtered at Barrow Creek. Seventy-three years later, a terrified woman was delivered to Barrow Creek by a truck driver who found her a short distance away. Her boyfriend had been murdered and she had narrowly escaped the same fate. Outback 4WD wreck. The Barrow Creek Hotel has always helped people in strife on the Stuart, so drop in to say g’day and leave a message on the wall. / 63