Humpty Doo, Northern Territory

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Humpty Doo's Big Boxing Crocodile.

Humpty Doo is a small town in Australia's Northern Territory. It is situated just south of the Arnhem Highway, approximately 40 km from Darwin.

The locality of Humpty Doo is named after the station originally called ‘Umpity Doo’. Origins of the name are uncertain. Three derivations have been suggested:

from "the Army slang term "umpty" used in 1917 for the dash when reading Morse code" (however, the station name was in use in 1910)
from a colloquialism to describe "everything done wrong or upside down"
the place was known as "Umdidu", an English language corruption of an Aboriginal term which meant a popular resting place."[1]

The town is known for agriculture experiments that have occurred there. In 1954, after some experimentation by CSIRO, a joint Australia-U.S. company called Territory Rice Ltd. was put together with a plan to irrigate the subcoastal plain of the Adelaide River in order to commercially produce rice there. The plan was a complete failure due to several factors, including an invasion of various types of hungry animals, soil that was too saline and an insufficient amount of drainage. After failing to find someone else to take up their leases, they gave up the land to the government in 1962. The Rice Project was actually 20 km east of the present town on part of the Humpty Doo Station where the name "Humpty Doo" was first used. The irrigation dam, called Fogg Dam, is still there and a great place for bird watching.

A more successful agricultural experiment was the growing of mangos. Top quality fruit from Humpty Doo is picked earlier than Queensland mangos and fetches a top price in southern markets.

The town has a High School - Taminmin High School - that takes students from a wide area, as well as a Primary School and a Pre-school.

The Humpty Doo Hotel is well known and features in several bush ballads. Another tourist attraction is the large boxing crocodile outside the Bush Shop. Tours from Darwin to Kakadu stop to inspect it.

The town has seen much commercial and residential development in recent years, including the construction of a shopping centre, fire and emergency services station, as well as new schools and housing subdivisions.