Cooma car club

"It's just part of the story of the Northern Ter,ri,tory - a place that you ought to see....." so the jingle to the NT's tourism commercial goes. 

And if you've never been, then you're missing out on the what this place keeps turning up. 

Just like the NT News which is renowned for its wild and wacky front page headlines like..."Topless heroine puts out hotel fire"; "Our dog ate my G-string"; "Man arrested after cops spot suspiciously small package in undies"; and the best..."Why I stuck a cracker up my clacker".  All true front page headline news and only in the Territory.

The iconic Daly Waters Pub (1930) is another Territory gem. It served as the principle waterhole for soldiers stationed along "The Track", as the locals refer to the Stuart Highway, during WW2.  Which gave way, some 25 years ago to the entrepreneurial couple, Lindsay Carmichael and Robyne Webster (who just happens to be the writer's brothers sister in law), who excelled with creative eccentricities to firmly position THIS watering hole as one of the counties bucket list visits. Choppers sitting on the roof or set up to resemble a drive unit for a clothesline. Old vehicles catch the eye like an original Territory bull catcher. Let alone the 'discovered' infrastructure around the bush left over from the war years. And, more recently now that Lindsay and Robyne sold the pub in 2017 to an  equally eccentric outback SA businessman. 

New owner, Tim, is a massive man in more ways the one. He's not only built up a reputable business empire but he manages his pub dressed in his "Jackie Howe" blue singlet from a mobility scooter decked out with buffalo horns.

But it's "Tims Junkyard Shed" that adds to the quirkiness of the Daly Waters Pub. Forget the bras and undies hanging over the bar and head for the Shed that's tucked under the Hibiscus alongside the fuel bowsers. Here is a special collection of vehicles, motorcycles and memorabilia that "just happened to fall into Tim's hands" And he's just built a large shed alongside this collection to bring up the remainder of his stash from Coober Pedy. So the collection is about to expand.

The happy snaps here don't do it justice. Every item has a story and as a collection, presents a significant array of motoring history. (If you can access the pics electronically, then zoom in and study some of the items.)

For example:

- The fire engine is a "Dennis" and was, until recently, the Daly Waters back-up fire unit.  Note the early Holden instrument housing, too.

- Then there's this beauty, A "FWD" (Four Wheel Drive) from WW1 and in front, a BSA Airborne Paratroopers bicycle.

- The 48-215 FX in its vehicle wrap was owned by Gosford Classic Cars (GCC) and spent 30 years as a promotional unit for GCC in a number of countries throughout Europe before returning to Australia to be sold with the rest of the GCC collection.

Another FX, just to keep the Holden enthusiasts happy! But look at the dust. Window down. The inevitable Territory dust is everywhere. Certainly not where you would expect to see such classics....dust or not.

- The Kombi was a service vehicle at Wakefield Raceway. Then up of the mezzanine is a 1935 B31. With a side shift which I assume was added later. My B31 (1958) is a pig of a thing to shift with the foot so I can understand the mod being done. And the stuffed boar mount with police hat? Fits right in at Daly Waters. And the back end of the other bike is a 1938 BSA 600 single with the orange Board Track Racer being a Flying Merkle.

- On the wall behind the cop car is possibly "the worlds largest collection" of barbed wire. And the 1938 Douglas twin under the buffalo skull is just magnificent. The cop car was the actual cop car used in the film "Wolf Creek 2" and the Ariel on the shelf is a 1928.

But there's more... 

- The final 3 pics show a collection of 'Harleys' and 'Indians' but its was the 1912 Indian Twin Board Track Racer that just screams to be ridden,

Phil Turner

04 April 2021