WHERE THE TOP END COMES ALIVE

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE PULLING OFF THE STUART HIGHWAY INTO THE ADELAIDE RIVER INN, WHERE A COLD SCHOONER, A HEARTY FEED AND A FEW OF THE TOP END'S MOST INFAMOUS RESIDENTS ARE WAITING TO GREET YOU

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Rolling down the Stuart Highway after a long day on the road, I was glad to pull into the Adelaide River Inn. Perched about 112km south of Darwin and 200km north of Katherine, it's a welcome sight for travellers chasing fuel, food or just a cold beer. The bonus? There's a caravan park out the back, so you can camp up without leaving the action.

That's exactly what I did - grabbed a site and set about exploring what makes this pub one of the best-known stops in the Top End.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The place is buzzing. Trucks rumble in, tourists spill out of 4x4s and locals drift across from nearby properties.

The 303 Bar and Bistro sits at the heart of it all - air-conditioned and lined with Territory memorabilia. Out back, the beer garden sprawls with shaded tables, a small kids' playground and the familiar clack of a pool table.

Open daily from 9am to 10pm, it's the kind of place where you can settle in and feel part of the flow straight away.

CHARLIE, JOCK AND A TOUCH OF HOLLYWOOD

Inside the front bar stands the pub's most famous resident - Charlie the buffalo, immortalised in Crocodile Dundee. He's still pulling a crowd decades after his big-screen debut.

But Charlie isn't the only giant here. The Inn is also home to Jock the croc - a five-metre, 720kg saltie who once terrorised boats around Borroloola. He eventually met his match and has since been preserved, taking pride of place as another reminder that in the NT, nature always calls the shots.

HAPPY HOUR AND PUB LIFE