Owen Springs - Self Drive

Information Sheet

Welcome! 1. Milners Hut Wildlife Watch The Owen Springs Self Drive This area (now the Ranger station, takes you along a 50km stretch emergency contact only) became Red-tailed Black of road, steeped in pioneering the site for the new homestead Cockatoos flying history. You can either start from after the old homestead was overhead and head south, abandoned in the 1950s. All that Reptiles like the Central- or begin from the Stuart stood here in the early days was netted Dragon sitting on Highway, and make your way the hut, a bore and water troughs an old wooden post north through the Reserve. Each for the cattle. Betty Thompson and point of interest is clearly marked her husband Ron worked here in Euros on the rocky on the map, and the drive takes 1950. Ron was a ringer, and Betty slopes of Lawrence about 1½ hours one-way to looked after the hut. Betty says, “I Gorge complete. would not see anyone for 2 weeks Budgies flying at high or more at a time….during the day speed in the open For your safety I pumped water so the cattle could grasslands A 4WD is essential to drive drink, collected wood for the A Perentie sunning itself through the Reserve. The track stove, and looked after my one on the warm track contains some sandy sections year old baby”. Conditions were that may be difficult to pass, very basic compared to today's Major Mitchell particularly after rain. Please standards. There was no electricity Cockatoos perched up ensure you are aware of how to and the kitchen comprised of a high on an Acacia Bush operate a 4WD, and carry wood stove, a bench, a Coolgardie If you’re really lucky appropriate recovery gear. safe, a 44 gallon drum of flour and you might even see a a cast iron kettle for boiling water. well camouflaged Introduction to the drive Betty slept on the veranda, Australian Bustard As you drive through the although she was used to sleeping Reserve, you will be immersed in on the ground, so the hut was the Manager at the time, “The the stories of those who helped “like a mansion to me”. floods in 2000 were pretty open up the Territory. Travel the scary…we lost everything, cars, path taken by explorer John furniture, everything went”. The McDouall Stuart, who made his water level rose 6 to 8 inches way up the Hugh River on one of (15-20cm) through the buildings his 3 epic expeditions to cross and Shane had to evacuate his from south to north. family in the early hours of the Visualise the endless kilometres morning to higher ground. of wire of the Overland Telegraph Line (OTL), as the 2. Aboriginal Stockmens morse-coded messages snaked Quarters their way through Lawrence Milners Hut 1950 The two old tin buildings by the Gorge. You can almost smell the The last family to manage Owen Hugh River were used by the sweat from the horses and hear Springs as a cattle station was the Aboriginal stockmen and their the rumble of hooves as a mob of Brumby family (1965 to 2002). In families. The buildings here cattle is rounded up into the old 2000, floods devastated Central include living quarters, a shower yards on one of the earliest cattle Australia, and all of this area was shed and a toilet. Aboriginal stations in Central Australia. under water. Shane Brumby was people have worked on cattle

Parks & Wildlife Commission of the Regional Office - Arid Zone Research Institute, Tom Hare Building South Stuart Highway, NT 0870 PO Box 1120 ALICE SPRINGS NT 0871 Ph: (08) 8951 8250 Fax: (08) 8951 8290 A/10/2007PWCNT Owen Springs - Self Drive Information Sheet

stations across the Northern 5. The Old Homestead plants and animals. The river Territory from the very early days In 1873 two log huts were built on presents visitors with ample of the pastoral industry, and this site by William Gilbert... the wildlife spotting opportunities. without them, the industry would first homestead in Central Some of the more common birds have struggled to survive. Just Australia. Since Gilbert, two you might see include Rainbow like old Milners Hut, living names synonymous with the Bee-eaters, Port Lincoln Parrots, conditions for the Aboriginal pastoral industry have owned Kites, and Red-tailed Black families were very basic in the Owen Springs Station. Sir Cockatoos. Other animals that early days, with none of the Thomas Elder and Sir Sidney you may spot while driving modern household comforts that Kidman both owned the station in through include Red Kangaroos we now take for granted. the late 1800s, with Elder and the occasional Black-footed attempting to breed horses for the Rock Wallaby. Those with a keen 3. The Airstrip Indian Army. The Hayes family eye will glimpse a lizard here and The airstrip was built in about bought Owen Springs in 1907, there on the track or on a nearby 2000. It was used fairly regularly sold it in 1930 and then re- rock catching some of the sun's for work on and around the acquired it in 1936. William and warming rays. More common station (a plane was hired from Mary Hayes first came to Central species include the Central-netted Alice Springs). The Alice Springs Australia in 1884 transporting Dragon, and the Long-nosed Aero Club also used the airstrip wagon loads of steel posts to Water Dragon. Sand Goannas and for flying training and made replace the timber ones on the the largest lizard in Australia, the regular landings and take-offs OTL. Another horse breeder of Perentie, are also found in the from the airstrip. The land east of note in this area was Jim Reserve. the fence line is now used by the Cummings (the great uncle of NT Government to trial initiatives horse trainer Bart Cummings) who to improve the productivity of the raised horses on nearby Ellery cattle industry. Creek Station for racing purposes. The stone buildings here today Central Netted Dragon 4. Down the road… are thought to have been built All the old yards and fence posts during 1886-1887 just after Elder In the days before Owen Springs that you can see scattered purchased the station. became a Reserve, it was not throughout the Reserve uncommon for settlers to look to (including the bronco branding 6. A river somewhere wildlife to supplement their food yard just north of the old Over time, the Hugh River's supplies. Bustards and homestead) were made from the usually dry creek bed has slowly Kangaroos for example would hard mulga wood growing around chiselled out a path, providing have made good eating. Once in the surrounding country. It was water and refuge for a range of 1950, when Betty Thompson ran only later that steel yards were out of food for the ringers built. Much of the vegetation you working on the Station, she can see along the roadside was cooked up a meal of ‘bush eaten by cattle. In dry times, cattle chicken’. When asked by the men will often eat bark and leaves off where she had found a chicken shrubs and trees (known as out here she confessed that the topfeed). Species of topfeed meat was actually from some include Mulgas, Whitewoods and Galahs that she had shot the day Eremophila species. before.

Australian Ringneck

A/10/2007PWCNT For more information see our website: www.nt.gov.au/parks or contact Central Australian Tourism on (08) 8952 5800 Owen Springs - Self Drive

Information Sheet

7. Haunted Tree Bore Parliament, and supporter of his camps around the station. “An This site was used as a cattle expedition, William Owen. average day you'd be up at 4.30 in camp for drovers, who sometimes the morning, and you'd go all day encountered trouble while It was only on his third attempt and if you got back for lunch you'd camped here with their stock. The (1862) in crossing the continent be lucky. But it was daylight till cattle always seemed to be from the south to the north that dark”. All the work was done on spooked, although there was no he actually succeeded. He was horseback, in all extremes of apparent reason for it, hence the paid £2,000 pounds for his weather, “It didn't seem to make a name Haunted Tree Bore. Bores efforts. Unfortunately his health lot of difference because you were like this one are essential sources suffered as a result of the there, you were in it all the time, the of water in land that only hardships of his experiences and heat and that. We didn't have air receives 300mm of rain on he died at the age of only 50 in conditioned vehicles and stuff like average each year (that's less 1866. His funeral was attended that, I guess you just grew used to than a coke can!). Bores were by seven people. it”. Shane Brumby. scattered throughout the station and water was originally pumped Much of the OTL was surveyed Further reading: to the surface using wind power. along Stuart's original expedition ‘Explorations in Australia: The Now pumps are powered by path. The line was constructed Journals of John McDouall diesel engines, and underground between 1870 and 1872, with Stuart.’ (1984) Hesperian Press. water is still used to supply the telegraph poles (firstly timber ranger station. The bore and from alongside the path of the Thomson, A. (1999) ‘The Singing water tank that sat here were OTL, but as this got eaten by Line: The story of the man who destroyed by the same flood that termites they were replaced with strung the Telegraph across inundated the station homestead metal poles) placed every 80 or Australia, and the woman who in 2000. Look closely at some of so metres along its entire length gave her name to Alice Springs.’ the trees in the river and you will (36,000 poles in total!) How Chatto and Windus, London. notice the height of the debris, many trees can you see that indicating the level of previous have the potential to become Bailey, J. (2006) ‘Mr Stuart’s Track: floods. telegraph poles? The forgotten life of Australia’s The service track along side the greatest explorer.’ Macmillan 8. Stuart and the OTL became the main road to Australia. Overland Telegraph Line Alice Springs. It wasn't until Stuart's expeditions across the 1898/99 that the OTL was re- www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/ centre of the continent ultimately routed through at stuart.htm paved the way for the Alice Springs, and the old line construction of the Overland passing through Owen Springs For more information about people Telegraph Line (OTL) and then was dismantled. such as Kidman, Elder and Stuart the expansion of the pastoral visit http://www.adb.online.anu. industry as more land became 9. Redbank Yard: edu.au/adbonline.htm available. He first visited what he Life on a Cattle Station later named Owen Springs on the On average the Brumby's ran A fact sheet about Owen Springs 11th of April, 1860. The waterhole 8000 to 10,000 head of cattle, and Reserve is available from Parks and he camped at was not in fact a sometimes as many as 16,000. Wildlife or Central Australian spring, rather a temporary The workers would spend three Tourism. waterhole in the river. He named to four months each year away it after an SA Member of from the homestead in stock

Parks & Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory Regional Office - Arid Zone Research Institute, Tom Hare Building South Stuart Highway, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870 PO Box 1120 ALICE SPRINGS NT 0871 Ph: (08) 8951 8250 Fax: (08) 8951 8290 A/10/2007PWCNT Owen Springs - Self Drive Information Sheet

★

4 km 2 ★ 1 (emergency contact only)

3

13.8 km

4* * = No designated stop

★ 5

5.4 km 6*

★ 7

2.7 km ★

8*

17.8 km

★

4 km

★ 2 km 9 ★

A/10/2007PWCNT For more information see our website: www.nt.gov.au/parks or contact Central Australian Tourism on (08) 8952 5800