Take me to the Barkly

Hi everyone and welcome! 

This week we will be taking you to the Barkly Tablelands of Australia. Our purpose here at Barkly & Co is not only to kit you guys out in seriously cool gear but to showcase our amazing country and what it has to offer. 

So let's get to it...

The Barkly Tableland is a rolling plain of grassland running from Eastern Northern Territory over to Western Queensland. It is one of five regions in the Northern Territory and encompasses 283,648 square kilometres, yeah! that much... equating to 21% of the Northern Territory. 

Barkly Tableland Region - Northern Territory 

A bit of history for you all...

William Landsborough was the first non-indigenous person to explore the tableland and named it after Sir Henry Barkly who was at the time the Victorian Governor. 

In 1877 the overland, Nathaniel Buchanan and Sam Croker crossed the Barkly Tableland opening new land for settlement. 1870's saw the region become more settled with the introduction of leasing arrangements for the purpose of pastoral activities. 

In 1883, Harry Redford (mini fact: Harry Redford was one of the inspirations for the literary character "Captain Starlight") drove a mob of cattle to the Barkly essentially establishing Brunette Downs (formerly named Corella Creek) for Macdonald, Smith & Co.

Nathaniel Buchanan

Into the nitty gritty...  

The Barkly Tableland rises more that 1,000 feet at the Queensland & Northern Territory border. Black soil plains cover the majority of the region and rainfall averages 350mm annually. The Barkly Tableland is exposed to extreme weather events being wet season being November to March and dry season being April to October. 75% of the region is under pastoral lease with 17% being indigenous freehold and 1% is covered by conservation reserves. 

The Barkly Tableland includes the Mueller Plateau and Sandover-Pituri Platform. The region drains into the Gulf of Carpentaria via the Flinders River while the south western plains drain into Lake Eyre via the Diamantina River or into the Simpson Desert via the Georgina Tarrabool Lake and the part of the region surrounding Mt Isa drains to the Leichardt River.  

Lake Eyre - 2019 (courtesy of Wilpena Pound Resort)

The Barkly Region has a total population of 5,900 people, believe it or not it probably sounds like a fair few people however, the Barkly has the lowest population of any region in the Northern Territory. The majority of the population is around Tennant Creek and has a diverse economy including agriculture, fishing, and defence with the main source of income being Pastoral (yep cattle.. beef cattle to be exact). The Barkly Tableland is considered to be some of Australia's best cattle grazing country.

The Barkly Tableland is a subregion of the Mitchell Grass Downs Bioregion. The Mitchell Grass Downs Bioregion stems from the Northern Territory through to Queensland and is the largest sub-region of the total eight sub-regions that make up the bioregion. 

Mitchell Grass Downs Bioregion - Australia

Cattle country...

Some of the largest cattle stations you'll find within the Barkly Region and our clothing range include: Alroy Downs, Avon Downs, Brunette Downs, Eva Downs, Helen Springs & Newcastle Waters along with many others.

Total cattle numbers for the Northern Territory combined are estimated at 2.1 million with a large majority being centralised to the Barkly Tableland. 

Wallhallow Station - Barkly Region NT 

The majority of properties in the region are breeder operations with some properties also having finishing country.  The average size of a property in the region is around 6,750 square kilometres however most corporate properties tend to be larger is size. 

Cattle herds are around 70% Brahman with the other 30% being made up of Santa Gertrudis, Brahman cross, composite breeds, Angus and Wagyu. 

Cattle at Newcastle Waters Station - NT 

Explore the Barkly and Surrounds...

Visitors to the Barkly are around a whopping 103,000 people every year! Yes you heard that right. Some of the most visited areas of the region include: 

• Barkly Homestead 
• Connells Lagoon Conservation Reserve 
• Brunette Downs Race Meeting 
• Karlu Karlu (Devil's Marbles) 
• Tingkkarli (Lake Mary Ann) 
• Iylwelepenty (Davenport Ranges) 
• Kunjarra (The Pebbles)  

Iylwelepenty (Davenport Ranges) National Park  

Karlu Karlu (Devil's Marbles)

Brunette Downs Races 

The Barkly Tablelands, one of Australia's beautiful and resourceful regions. Put it on your visiting list! you won't be disappointed!