With the incentive of a £3,000 bonus, "Little Energy" as he was praisingly nicknamed and his team of around 128 men left Port Adelaide on the "Moonta" 27 December 1868 and dropped anchor in Darwin Harbour on 5 February 1869. He selected the site on Fort Point near Port Darwin, and nearby townships to be named Daly, Southport and Virginia. They began the work in 1869, completing all four in 18 months. Goyder returned on the "Gulnare" to Adelaide in November 1869 with around thirty men, the greater part of his party returning in October 1870, though many (Dr. Robert Peel, George MacLachlan, John Packard, Alfred and Frederick Schultze included) remained to fill positions in the town. Others, including Dan Daly and Paul Foelsche, were to return within a few years.