"Historical Telegraph Station & Roadhouse" Barrow Creek by AlbuqRay

Barrow Creek was the first stop that Zig (1+1) and I made on 24 Aug 2010 on our way from Alice Springs back to Darwin. A historical telegraph station is located there. The Wikipedia page on Barrow Creek is quite good. It is a nice place to stop now but there is a lot of sadness in Barrow Creek's history. The relationships between the white people and the local Aboriginal people were not good in the past.

Barrow Creek Roadhouse

The roadhouse at Barrow Creek does not look like much from the outside but it is very interesting on the inside. The roadhouse is a popular stop for travelers along the Stuart Highway and the hotel-pub portion contains a large collection of memorabilia and items of interest which have been gathered over the years. Evidently only 11 people live at Barrow Creek and they all work at the roadhouse. There is also a caravan park. Historically, there have always been water shortages at Barrow Creek. Both the quantity and quality of groundwater supplies have been a problem. Today, the only good water at Barrow Creek is rainwater and that is limited due to the arid climate. Maybe that's why the public toilets were not open when we were there.

Trophy for Winning 2010 Battle Boat

When we went into the roadhouse, Michael (the hotel manager) noticed my Henley-on-the-Todd boat races cap from Alice Springs. It turned out that he was the guy in the orange shirt on the winning Buccaneers Battle Boat! He showed us his trophy.

• Pros:Happy to see a fuel stop
• Cons:The public toilets were not open
• In a nutshell:Interesting historical location in the middle of nowhere