Broken Hill - not what we expected

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We drove through from Turlee Station on Thursday; a bit further than I had expected but the alternative free camp was not a real option when we got there. We made a booking at a caravan park as we had seen a lot of vans on the road and it was getting on in the afternoon. We were advised that we had to be there by 6.00 pm as that is when they close! Nothing like a bit of good old fashioned customer service…no, nothing like that. We did forget that they are on Central time and that gave us another 30 mins grace.

We set off to investigate Broken Hill, and the first point of call was the tourist info centre, there is nothing like a bit of local knowledge. They have a very extensive ‘Heritage Trail’ around the town and we chose to do that as a good starting point. cryptic cross words have never been our forte, and Margaret had never had the experience of the motor treasure hunt, so there were several late turn, u-turns and around the block to get onto the right track. A stop at the GeoCentre interactive museum helped us get orientated - perhaps it was just getting out of the car and taking a deep breath. Orientated, we took off and got to grips with following the HT signs.

The trail takes you through a Broken Hill that seems to have developed from the mid 1800’s until the 1920’s. Whilst it is a fascinating tour, it seemed strange that there was no new development evident anywhere, apart from Aged Care Homes. One of the many other features around BH is the Sculpture Symposium and the Living Desert just out of town. Margaret thought it would be a good break from the ‘heritage trail rally’, and so we headed off to see that. There are 2 options to getting to the sculptures, walk in or drive in. We chose the walk option (silly us) not understanding that there was a very large hill involved, and not being totally prepared for a walk in the heat. The sculptures are on the top of the hill with a good view all around, but it was hot sweaty work to get to them. Marg had to have a dip in the pool at the park to cool off, while Geoff went to wash the mud and locusts off the truck. He was directed to the VERY DIRTY truck washing bay! We decided to treat ourselves out to a meal and went to the BH Musicians Club which served a typical club type meal.

Saturday, and we visited Silverton which is about 20 k from BH and somewhat of a ghost town these days with only the old building from the early days. A place not to be missed however is the Silverton Gaol Museum. For $3.00 entry (or $3.00 for seniors!) it is the best money that we have spent on any of our trips. The place is absolutely jam packed with history and memorabilia from the early mining days around BH and Silverton and bits a pieces from just about everywhere; it was a truly outstanding collection. In a different vein, a replica of the Mad Max car is outside the pub (as this is where they shot a lot of the MM 1 & MM 2 movies, and there are many old buildings, art galleries and further out of town the Mundi Mundi lookout the view from which the horizon is so expansive that the curvature of the earth can be seen. As you look out there are no bumps to disturb the horizon and it really is possible to see a slight curve. We then went to Daydream mine, which is not currently working and Geoff took a mine tour - seen one seen enough is M’s opinion.

When we got home Geoff had to set about repairing the caravan. That bumpy rutted dirt road to Mungo and Turlee had made all the seating around the table come adrift from the walls and it had to be screwed back. The micro wave holding screws had also come adrift and even fallen out! That sure was a shocking road.

Tomorrow, Monday, we will head for Menindee for a day or two. The good news is that we probably will not be posting another blog until the end of the week 

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Comments

[Prof]

Loved the blog.Keep them coming. Michele and I went there over 30 years ago.It must be time to go back.I can't remember any of it. Menindee should be interesting.I think the lakes have just had a refill. Prof