It is 150 years since a brandy bottle was smashed against a thin pole in celebration of what is now known as one of Australia's most seminal moments in history.
Black tea gushed out (why would anyone waste a bottle of brandy?), marking the end of a two-year operation stringing wire 3,200 kilometres across the continent — from Darwin to Adelaide.
It was a feat that took place through the forbidding and unrelenting centre of Australia with no machines, no vehicles and no paths. Just men on their horses, and whatever food they could carry.
On Monday 15-year-old Harry Pew, from Darwin, replicated the ceremonious moment as around 200 people watched on.
At a tiny, blink-and-you'll-miss-it rest stop on the Stuart Highway, miles from anywhere in both directions, they gathered to celebrate the day the Overland Telegraph Line was opened.
It is often cited as one of Australia's greatest engineering and logistical feats, allowing fast communication over long distances for the first time.
"It connected us to the world communication-wise. Instead of two to three month letters one way to London it meant we could get information in seven hours," Darwin historian Jarad Archibald explained.
"That changed everything."
But to the First Nations people who had been using the trail as a trading route for thousands of years, the Overland Telegraph Line took a gruelling toll.
Sacrifice remembered
Mudburra and Jingili man and traditional owner Harrold Dalywaters said generations ago, grandfathers in his family helped the linesmen navigate the bush, but it wasn't harmonious from the start.
"It was the first time they'd seen whitefellas," he said.
"They were upset, some of them got pushed away, but we've come a long way."
"They worked with the linesmen, showed them the waterholes, bush tucker and lead them the way from here to Darwin.
"It was pretty scary for them back then … they were scared, frightened, they didn't want to move away from their land, but they ended up working together."
Administrator of the Northern Territory Vicki O'Halloran used her opening speech to acknowledge "the great sacrifice of the lives and the land of traditional owners who lived here".
"Their knowledge of this country, the bush land and connecting waterholes was vital to the survival of those working to build the Overland Telegraph Line," she said.
"In so many ways the completion of this project would mean life would never be the same, certainly not for Aboriginal people from this region who had and would go on to witness this steady intrusion on their land."
Access improved
The crowd had travelled hours to witness the 150th anniversary, some camping along the highway overnight to break up the long journey.
For years, the memorial to Sir Charles Todd was just a blip on the highway, with miles of untouched outback on either side and nothing much to stop for.
But this year, the government has spent $140,000 on improving the paths to one of the last standing poles of the line.
Louise May, from Adelaide, was one of the people who trekked deep into the outback for the anniversary, wanting to mark a monumental moment in history.
She could remember a time her family on a station used Morse code to communicate, and later, listening in to next door's conversations — all made possible due to the line.
"Telecommunication was significant. We had the old party line where our phone number was a long and two shorts and we could actually pick up the phone and listen to the neighbours," she said.
