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101:, and the new Northern Territory flag was raised. Several other marathon sits were conducted, often to raise money for charity. These included a 12-day world record that was set in 1980, although this was jeopardised on the 11th day when an official complaint was made to the Northern Territory Police Commissioner concerning drinking in a public space, prompting police to visit the sitters and take the names of all people sitting at or visiting the rock. Also in 1980 the rocksitters held their first sit on the inaugural flight from
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45:, its members practised rocksitting, the practice of sitting on rocks and drinking beer for as long as possible. The group were awarded an official world record for longest rocksit in October 1978 and then again in 1980, shortly after which rocksitting declined due to the enforcement of public drinking laws.
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A memorial plaque to the Darwin
Rocksitters Club was first put in place at East Point in 1987 by foundation member Beat Erismann (photographer) in honour of their 10th anniversary. This was later damaged and replaced in 2001. In the 1980s, the original rocks used by the club were broken up by a
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Rocksitting, sometimes known as rock sitting, is the practice of sitting on rocks and drinking beer for as long as possible. The rocks they sat on would be a metre underwater at high tide. The Darwin
Rocksitters Club began in 1974 when a group of journalists gathered on the cliffs at
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Two popular stories of the rocksitters are that two people once met at the rock and went on to get married and that many other former sitters have had their ashes scattered on the rock. Rocksitting declined with the enforcement of public drinking laws. The club was debated in the
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on a
Saturday afternoon to drink beer, tell stories, and watch the sunset. This soon became a regular event and the club began to meet every Saturday. One of the members of the club, Robin Davy, said of it:
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The group attempted to break the world record by sitting for five days; their success was ignored by an official record-keeping company for drinking too much beer. However, other clubs formed in
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125:) were affecting the Northern Territory's image in the rest of Australia, and that "down south many people think Territorians to be backward, drunken country hicks".
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In May 2024 members of the Darwin
Rocksitters club met in Darwin to celebrate their 50th anniversary and at the meet up former Northern Territory politician
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You have to remember, in those days Darwin was smaller, nobody was watching TV, no iPhones, none of that. We had to make fun and that was the way we did it.
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said that: "hen I was a member in parliament … I wanted to find people who were kind, articulate, intelligent and charming and I found the
Rocksitters".
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365:"Rock sitters, East Point, Darwin [Northern Territory 1970s] [picture] / Michael Jensen – Catalogue | National Library of Australia"
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and the first rule was "there shall be no funny business on The Rock". The third, fifth, seventh and twelfth rules were simply "o funny business".
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lightning strike and further damage was done to the remaining rocks during heavy swells in 2012. Their 40th anniversary was celebrated in 2017.
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Darwin won the title back with an eight-day sit in
October 1978, which was run to commemorate the passing of the
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328:. Vol. 53, no. 15, 728. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 14 October 1978. p. 3
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665:"'One big party': Darwin Rocksitters recall 50 years of friendship, mishaps and world records"
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443:"Reliving the rocksitting religion where no funny business was allowed"
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240:"Reliving the rocksitting religion where no funny business was allowed"
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in 1978, with concerns being raised that the club (and events like the
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Sitters, soon broke their record when they sat for six days.
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568:"Flag Raising and Plaque Unveiling 2001 | Rocksitters"
274:. International, Australia. 17 October 1977. p. 8
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475:. Darwin: Northern Territory Legislative Assembly.
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73:The group grew rapidly and published a list of
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33:was an Australian rocksitting club. Formed in
25:Darwins Rocksitters Club at East Point in 1977
98:Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978
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336:– via National Library of Australia.
282:– via National Library of Australia.
148:Rocksitters at East Point (Darwin) in 1977
16:Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia club
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119:Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
41:in 1974 by a group of journalists at
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743:Recurring events established in 1974
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75:Official Rules for a Rock-sit-athon
68:Robin Davy, ABC Radio Darwin, 2018
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728:Culture of the Northern Territory
723:Clubs and societies in Australia
713:1974 establishments in Australia
628:Brain, Caddie (8 October 2017).
592:Byrne, Conor (28 January 2012).
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293:Brain, Caddie (21 March 2021).
502:"Beat returns to fly new flag"
390:"Rocksitters getting sympathy"
320:"IN BRIEF Rock-sitting record"
88:and the New Zealand club, The
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271:Papua New Guinea Post-courier
398:. 16 October 1980. p. 3
266:"Darwin's 'rockers' get off"
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733:Darwin, Northern Territory
418:"Milestones | Rocksitters"
353:. 30 June 1978. p. 2.
295:"Darwin Rocksitters Club"
535:"Sitters notch a decade"
469:"Debates – 08 June 1978"
635:Northern Territory News
599:Northern Territory News
395:Northern Territory News
350:Northern Territory News
123:Darwin Beer Can Regatta
109:and also held a sit on
31:Darwin Rocksitters Club
347:"Rock call of honor".
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630:"Forgotten territory"
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748:Alcohol in Australia
594:"Smashed by the sea"
541:. 20 February 1984.
369:catalogue.nla.gov.au
508:. 12 January 1997.
325:The Canberra Times
39:Northern Territory
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539:Territory Stories
506:Territory Stories
473:Territory Stories
449:. 10 October 2018
246:. 10 October 2018
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738:Drinking culture
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299:caddiebrain
134:Dawn Lawrie
107:Los Angeles
86:New Zealand
707:Categories
191:References
56:East Point
43:East Point
90:Parua Bay
669:ABC News
447:ABC News
402:12 March
304:11 March
244:ABC News
178:See also
82:Victoria
66:—
649:8 March
613:8 March
577:8 March
552:8 March
519:8 March
486:8 March
453:8 March
427:8 March
374:8 March
332:8 March
278:8 March
250:8 March
217:8 March
49:History
37:in the
675:23 May
103:Sydney
35:Darwin
111:Uluru
677:2024
651:2024
615:2024
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554:2024
521:2024
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