26/07/2026
A Dry Season Day Trip by the Historical Society of the Northern Territory – 25 July 2026 By Bev Phelts
Members set off early to visit the granite rock carvings carved by Japanese sculpture, Mitsuaki Tanabe. Mitsuaki went back and forth between Japan and Australia for 10 years, carving insects and lizards into the granite. Unfortunately, he died before he finished his sculptures but his son continued his work.
Next stop was a drive along a bush rough track into the Snake Creek WW2 Armament Depot. Built with a 2.85 km rail loop, extensive service roads and infrastructure, and ammunition storage carved into hillsides, it was designed on a large scale and secrecy. At its peak, the Depot could hold thousands of tonnes of ammunitions and the whole complex was camouflaged against aerial observation. Its rail line was linked to the Adelaide River and Darwin railhead. Today, much of the infrastructure has disintegrated and is badly weathered.
We then travelled on to the Adelaide River War Cemetery which was established in 1943 for the service men and women who died in Northern Australia during the War. Among the 436 burials, there are 408 Australian soldiers with the others being British and Canadian defence personnel. Sixty-three civilians who were killed during the bombing of Darwin and the top end are also buried here. The Cemetery has ample informative signage and shows a short film about the bombing of Darwin which includes interviews by those who were there.
We then visited the Adelaide River Railway Station Precinct. The Station opened in 1889 and had staff accommodation and a refreshment room for passengers. Behind the Station, a reservoir and overhead water tank provided water for the steam locomotives working the line. During WW2, Adelaide River became an important military base, and a large field hospital was established near the railway station. A siding was added to serve the hospital train. Trains from the station delivered supplies to and from the Snake Creek Armament Depot and Darwin. During the War, the traffic on the line had increased eight times compared to the pre-war years and by 1943, it was servicing 247 trains per week. The Station closed in 1976, when trains no longer travelled to Darwin. The Station is managed by the NT National Trust and has been developed into a precinct which holds Sidney Williams Huts, railway carriages, and several displays including the Overland Telegraph Line and a history of the Territory railway.
Our final stop for the day was a late lunch at the Adelaide River Inn. The Inn was founded in 1873 and was a stopover between Katherine and Darwin. During WW2, it became part of an Army base and was put together by soldiers. its bar is appropriately named 303 and bullet holes from the soldiers “shooting up” can be seen. Today it is the home of Charlie, the buffalo which starred in Crocodile Dundee.
