A popular outback roadhouse in the Northern Territory has put on a free barbeque for truckies stranded as a result of the recent wet weather and flooding.
Located at the junction of the Stuart and Barkly Highways in Warumungu – around 24 kilometres from Tennant Creek – Threeways Roadhouse has been run by Nigel and Anne Stevens for the past 15 years.
Each day, depending on the time of year, it sees anywhere from 40 to 80 trucks stopping by – predominantly road trains. With plenty of parking, great home-cooked food and accommodation options, it’s become quite the popular place to stop.
Threeways has 30 rooms available, along with 60 camping spots, and according to Nigel, the most popular meals he serves are the burgers, steaks and steak sandwiches.
But with recent heavy rain and subsequent flooding, major freight routes like the Stuart and Barkly Highways have been impacted by road closures, leaving many truckies stranded.
And so, Nigel and Anne decided to host a free barbeque last night (Monday March 25) for those truckies caught in the midst of it all.
It’s not the first time they’ve done this either, the couple did something similar at around the same time last year – for the same reason.
“This is the second time we’ve done it. It’s not their fault they’re stuck here – it’s completely out of their hands – so this is a way for us to give back to the truckies who support us,” said Nigel.
Though he added that conditions are slightly worse this time around than they were in 2023. “Since March 20, we’ve had about 300mm of rain, which is really unusual in only six days,” he said. “All up, since it started raining just after Christmas, we’ve had something like 900mm of rain.
“It was pouring down this morning from about 1am. This is the worst we’ve seen it.”
Yesterday the Barkly Highway was being opened up in short three hour windows to allow trucks to pass through. “They opened the highway up from 5-8pm last night from the Barkly Homestead and then this morning from 7-11am.
“But as soon as it opened up last night, two trucks got bogged. We’ve heard that where the road is flooded, there are potholes up to 300mm deep.”
Last night, the roadhouse hosted about 25 truckies, who enjoyed a complimentary feast, before setting off on their way when the highway reopened this morning.
Though more rain is forecast, Nigel just takes it in his stride, “Without water there is no business. Up until Christmas 2023, we were having water carted in from town for four years because we just had no water. Now all our dams are full.
“You get used to it when you live up here, if it’s not fires, it’s floods!”
This doesn’t look like 3 Ways Roadhouse NT because when approaching the Stuart highway on the Barkly from the east the roadhouse is on the left on the corner facing west .