The following is a contribution from Foundation Member of the Mates of the Murranji, Frank Dalton. Frank is well remembered as the mine-host of Frank’s Bar and Grill at Wave Hill and the convenor of the annual Wave Hill Cricket Matches.

Frank met, and married Lorraine, a Grand Daughter of the legendary ‘Boss Drover’ – Matt Savage. Ted Egan’s song (from his Overlanders album) Matt Savage – The Boss Drover is a fantastic tribute to the Man and other legendary Drovers of the Murranji Track.

I arrived in the Territory as a 19 year old, working for BHP on Groote Eylandt after which I travelled overseas before returning to Hooker Creek (Lajamanu) on the edge of the Tanami Desert.

I was working for a construction company building the health clinic and school and celebrated my 21st Birthday, sharing a Darwin Stubby with a mate, even though it was a ‘dry camp’.

It was there that I met Lorraine Carter (my future wife) who had traveled to help out at the store before returning to Alice Springs to pursue a career in Veterinary Science.

It was years before Lorraine returned to the ‘Alice’!!!