Tennant Creek Population 3,500
Tennant Creek is on the Stuart Highway, 24km (15 miles) south of the junction
of the Barkly Highway. It is 507km (314 miles) north of Alice Springs,
and 675km (419 miles) south of Katherine.
Climate
As with most outback towns, Tennant Creek has two seasons, the Wet (November-March)
and the Dry (April-October). Average temperatures: Dry Season max 35C
(95F) - min 10C (50F); Wet Season max 43C (109F) - min 26C (79F).
Characteristics
The country of the Warumungu People centres on Jurnkurakurr, the focus
of many dreaming tracks and a place of spiritual significance for several
tribes. In 1860, John McDouall Stuart passed by the same spot, and named
the creek there Tennant Creek, after John Tennant of Port Lincoln, South
Australia. In 1872, an Overland Telegraph Line repeater station was built
at Tennant Creek.
From hard beginnings, the town has steadily developed. Townsfolk worked
hard to get facilities that people 'down south' took for granted.
In the last 50 years, people from all over the world have settled at Tennant,
and today it is a multi-cultural and harmonious township, where everyone
is encouraged to participate fully in community affairs. Tennant Creek
has grown from a small and dusty outback settlement, to a busy community
and a vital part of the Northern Territory.
How to Get There By Bus
Greyhound Pioneer stop at Tennant Creek on their Darwin/Alice Springs routes.
By Road
From Adelaide and Darwin, via the Stuart Highway.
From Mt Isa, via the Barkly Highway.
Tourist Information
Tennant Creek Visitor Information Centre, Battery Hill, Peko Road, can
be contacted on (08) 8962 3388 or emailed at info@tennant creektourism.com.au.
The website is www.tennantcreektourism.
com.au
Accommodation
Here is a selection of the available accommodation, with prices for a double
room per night, which should be used as a guide only. The telephone area
code is 08.
Caravan Parks
Outback Caravan Park, Peko Road, 8962 2459. (No dogs allowed) 150 sites,
spa, pool, barbecue, good facilities - powered sites $20 for two, on-site
vans $50 for two.
Tennant Creek Caravan Park, 208 Paterson Street, 8962 2325. (Pets allowed
on leash) 90 sites, barbecue, pool - unpowered sites $18 for two, cabins
$40-65 for two.
Eating Out
Fernanda's Restaurant, 1 Noble Street, 8962 3999.ΚΚΚ
Tennant Creek Chinese Restaurant, 63 Patterson Street, 8962 3347.
Points of Interest
Near the Visitor Information Centre, there is a Celebrity Walk, where famous
people who have passed through the town have left behind prints of their
hands and feet.
From Anzac Hill, in Davidson Street, there is a good view over the town,
and on the top there is a War Memorial, and seats.
The Church of Christ The King, in Windley Street, was built at Pine Creek
in 1904, and trucked to Tennant in 1936 to serve the growing town. Major
restoration work was done in 1986, and the church is classified as an Historic
Building by the National Trust.
The National Trust Museum building was constructed by the army in 1942,
then used as the Outpatients Clinic until taken over by the National Trust
in 1978. Items of interest include: the old gaolhouse; reconstruction of
a miner's camp; archive collection; and early photographs. The Museum is
hopen during the Dry season from 4-6pm daily, and during the Wet Season
by appointment only, 8962 4257.
The Old Australian Inland Mission was built in 1934, and is the oldest
building constructed here. It is a good example of the early corrugated
iron buildings, most of which have not stood the test of time. The Mission
is next to the Uniting Church in Paterson Street.
The Aboriginal Mural, in Paterson Street, was a community project, and
it encompasses Aboriginal mythology and contemporary life. Many local Aboriginal
artists participated in its planning and painting.
The Civic Centre and Public Library are in Peko Road. The Civic Centre
has a gem collection and an art display, as well as the Council Chambers,
and is open Mon-Fri 9am-4.15pm. The Library houses the Tennant Creek Collection,
written material about the region, and is open Mon-Fri 10am-4.15pm, Sat
9am-12.15pm.
The Government Stamp Battery is further along Peko Road. Number 3 Battery
is the last of the Government batteries still operating in the Territory.
It is used to crush and treat free milling or easily freed gold ores. Interesting
things to see include an operating 10 head 575.6kg stamper, various displays
of historic artifacts, and the former battery site and buildings. Guided
tours are available, and the Visitor Information Centre can advise on times
and costs.
Continuing along Peko Road you come to One Tank Hill, Tennant's main lookout
point. There are plaques set into a semi-circular wall that provide distance
and direction markers for 11 significant sites. Nobles Nob, on Peko Road
16km (10 miles) east of the town, was the richest gold mine in Australia.
It was discovered in 1933, and produced $64,975,256.00 worth of ore by
the time it closed in 1985. It was an underground mine, but the crown pillar
collapsed in 1967, and the mine was converted to a huge open cut. The pit
is 283m (930ft) long, 146m (480 ft) wide, and 82m (270 ft) deep. Work continues
at Nobles Nob with gold from the White Devil Mine being processed there.
There is a tourist lookout, from which visitors can see the crushing and
mill buildings, and tailings dam, as well as good views of the eastern
region.
Mary Ann Dam is 3km (2 miles) north of Tennant Creek, and was built in
1980 as a recreation lake. It provides excellent swimming and boating (non-power
boats only), and has covered picnic tables and seats, barbecues, boat ramp,
toilets, showers and playground equipment. There is also plenty of bushwalking
available in the Honeymoon Ranges, and a bike track connects the dam to
the town for people with that form of transport. Camping is not allowed
at the dam.
The Old Telegraph Station, 10km (6 miles) north of town, was completed
in 1876 as part of a network stretching from Adelaide to Darwin. Only 4
of the original 11 buildings still remain, and they are the oldest in the
Territory. They were used by linesmen and telegraph station operators until
the transfer of communications to the Tennant Creek Post Office in 1937.
Between then and 1986, the area was leased to various pastoralists, but
it now forms part of a conservation area and is being restored as a museum.
The old buildings in their pastoral setting provide an insight into the
lives of early pioneers.
There are two interesting isolated graves to the west of the station. The
northernmost one is that of Tom Nugent, who established Banka Banka Station,
and who had apparently in his younger days been a member of the Ragged
Thirteen, a gang of cattle duffers (rustlers) who roamed the Territory
at the turn of the century. Another member of the Ragged Thirteen was Harry
Redwood, who built Brunette Downs, and was immortalised in Boldrewood's
novel Robbery Under Arms as Captain Starlight. The other grave is not his,
though, it belongs to Archibald Cameron, an OTS linesman who died around
1918.
The Devils Pebbles are an interesting granite rock formation scattered
over a large area. To see them drive 11km (7 miles) north of Tennant Creek
on the Stuart Highway, then turn left on a dirt road for a further 6km
(4 miles). The best time to visit is at sunset when the rocks seem to come
alive as the sun's rays strike them. The area is inhabited by various wildlife
species including rock wallabies. There are barbecue facilities.
Festivals
May - Goldrush Festival with street pageants, gold nugget finds, bogout
competitions, music and more.
October - Desert Harmony Festival, a week of arts activities. There are
theatre productions, bands, cabaret, arts and crafts displays, fashion
parades, Aboriginal dancing and cultural displays.
Facilities
Olympic swimming pool, golf course, lawn bowls, squash, tennis and fossicking.
Car Hire: Budget Rent A Car, 8962 2402; Herz Rent A Car, 8962 2459; Rocky's
Taxi Service, 8962 2522.
Devils Marbles
Located 108km (67 miles) south of Tennant Creek on Stuart Highway, the
Marbles are huge rounded boulders, incredibly balanced on each other.
Some of the boulders seem to have been cleanly sliced in half, but in
fact, their shape comes from millions of years of erosion. Sizes of the
boulders vary from half a metre to six metres, and some weight thousands
of tons. Aboriginal people say that these formations are the fossilized
eggs of the Rainbow Serpent, and the site is sacred to them.
Facilities include wood barbecues, picnic area and basic toilet facilities.
Camping is allowed, but there is no water.
Devils Marbles Tours operate out of Tennant Creek and can be contacted
on 8962 2718 or by email info@devilsmarbles.com.au
Wauchope
Wauchope, which incidentally is pronounced 'walk up' is 113km (70 miles)
south of Tennant Creek on the Stuart Highway.
The settlement is actually a pub, offering accommodation, fuel, food, ice
and souvenirs, etc. It is good base for exploring the Chinese diggings
in the Murchison Ranges. Each July visitors come from miles around to attend
the 'Wauchope versus the World' cricket match!
Wycliffe Well
A well stocked store and recently modernised pre-war roadhouse, Wycliffe
Well is 136km (84 miles) south of Tennant Creek. The Well was worked
by a lady called Doreen Crookes in the 1920s. She married a man named
Bill and founded the well-known property, Mt Doreen Station, in Central
Australia. She then became interested in heritage and founded the NT
National Trust.
There is a licensed restaurant, shop, motel units, swimming pool (guests
only), takeaway food and tourist information. Shaded picnic and barbecue
areas are available.
Barrow Creek
The tiny township of Barrow Creek, population 12, is 224km (139 miles)
south of Tennant Creek. It consists of the historic Barrow Creek Telegraph
Station, and the oldest roadhouse on 'The Track', 'The Barrow'. The Telegraph
Station was built in 1872, and is preserved as a memorial to Johns Franks,
a linesman, and James Stapleton, the station master, who were killed
in a surprise attack by Kaytej tribesmen in 1874. It is open to the public.
The Barrow is the ultimate in outback pubs, in that it is exactly as
those portrayed in movies of the outback, with real outback characters
as patrons. The pub in itself is worth the long drive, and offers accommodation,
a bar, dining room, shop, swimming pool (guests only), 6-hole golf course,
showers for travellers, takeaway food, ice and fuel, 8956 9753.
North of Tennant Creek
Three Ways
Situated at the junction of the Stuart and Barkly Highways, 25km (16 miles)
north of Tennant Creek, Three Ways is the major intersection in the heart
of scrub country. There is a roadhouse, and a motel, tourist information,
licensed restaurant, swimming pool (guests only), takeaway food, souvenirs,
fuel, and usually, lots of people. The roadtrains pull in here, and hitchhikers
wait here for a lift in one of the three possible directions. Nearby
is a large stone cairn commemorating the Reverend John Flynn.
Attack Creek Historical Reserve
The reserve is 70km (43 miles) north of Tennant Creek, and there is a monument
to John McDouall Stuart, whose first attempt at crossing the continent
from the south ended here in 1894 when the party was attacked by Aborigines.
An inscribed plaque tells the story.
Churchill's Head is 10km (6 miles) further north, and is a rocky outcrop
on the Old Stuart Highway, whose shape closely resembles the head of the
British statesman. During the war some American soldiers stuck a log in
the 'mouth' of the rock to act as a cigar.
Camping in the area is allowed, and there are picnic tables and wood barbecues.
Renner Springs
Renner Springs, 94km (58 miles) north of Tennant Creek, is a wayside inn
that is completely surrounded by the Helen Springs Cattle Station. The
roadhouse offers accommodation, and good homestyle food, 8964 4505. The
building is an old army hut, and it has a small museum of historical
objects. Nearby, at Lubra's Lookout, there is a marker peg for the change
from arid to sub-tropical zone.
Elliott
The town of Elliot is 187km (116 miles) north of Tennant Creek, and approximately
half way between Alice Springs and Darwin. It has a population of around
600, and is the second largest settlement in the Barkly. The town had
its origins in World War II when it was a staging camp for troops on
the move between Darwin and Alice Springs, and it is named after Captain
Elliot from Adelaide, the officer in charge of the wartime camp.
There is a hotel/motel, and camping areas, and the hotel has a licensed
dining room, 8969 206.
North of Elliot, and 3km (2 miles) west of the Stuart Highway, is the old
droving township of Newcastle Waters. The small town is situated at the
intersection of the Murranji and Barkly stock routes and near the intermittent
waters of Newcastle Creek. If features historic buildings, and a Drovers'
Memorial Park. During the Bicentennial year 1988, the Last Great Cattle
Drive began here.
