Broken Hill

Broken Hill has been somewhat of a conundrum to me. Albeit an extremely surprising and pleasant one. I knew it was a mining town for Silver and Zinc and was in Western NSW but little else. It is closer to Adelaide than Sydney. It is on Central time (SA) rather than NSW time and most of the town supports AFL, yet all the number plates are yellow. It is literally the middle of nowhere yet it is central to any traveller heading from SA into NSW or QLD or someone from QLD or NT heading on south or west.

Syndicate of 7

The history is fascinating and at times tragic and confronting. Mining is on the decline in the area. Prices are lower and the cost of extracting the minerals from the earth more expensive. Tourism is healthy as I mentioned and it seems one of the ways forward if it could be developed more. As I type the Top Tourist Park we've been staying at for the past 3 nights is nearly full. Most people we talk to are interested to learn more about the area and spend at least a day or two investigating. The park is really well maintained, shady and the facilities are good with a pool and playground for the kids. Not that we've had much time for using those.

To get a sense of the town and its history we went on the Larrikins, Heroes and Heroines walking tour of the town from the fantastic visitors centre. The people here are really proud of the town and couldn't be more helpful. Daphne Coffey was our guide. She was 70 plus and it was genuinely an effort to keep up with her. She set quite a pace. (Not sure if she was any relation Paul? - she said she did have a grand-daughter in Brisbane). It must have taken quite some vision for the syndicate of seven that founded BH. I wonder if they envisioned what it would become. We toured too many sites to mention but highlights for me were the Mining Union offices (a very grand building), Police station and courthouse and basically lots of insights from Daphne into the sacrifices, sadness, determination and greed, is a strong word, but it's the only one that comes to mind, of the early mine owners and their approach to wealth creation.

The Headframe - miners elevator

Union headquarters

Life in the mines was tough. Most started when they were 8 years old and didn't make it to 40. Daphne lost her father to lead poisoning but rather than be bitter she said that she could "see both sides" of what it took to build the industry here.

Our first afternoon was spent a few km's out of town at the Living Dessert Art Museum. In 1993 sculptors from around the world congregated on a hill top and over a couple of months, carved some really interesting works which are now on display. The best time to view them is at sunset when the sun really brings them to life.

A living desert sunset 

We visited the Old Daydream mine which is about half way between BH and Silverton down a windy, dusty track. We took an underground and above ground tour of the mine complete with hard hats, battery packs and headlamps. It wasn't too physically demanding but you certainly had to crouch a few times to get through. We had quite a large group and the Kearneys were bringing up the rear after coming in a little hot in a cloud of dust (read: the tour had to wait for us). Dad was "Tail end Charlie". The kids quite enjoy calling me that now. Basically Charlie is last in the group that makes sure all people have come through and lets the guide know when all have arrived. A very important and esteemed position indeed! The tour took about an hour and really did provide an insight into the incredibly tough conditions miners in the late 1800's and early 1900's had to endure. Most miners started when they were between 8 and 12 and died before their 40's. It was quite an eye opener for Lachlan.

Tail end Charlie and assistant!

Next on the trip was Silverton, which is an old mining town about 20km's out of BH. We visited the old school house, Gaol, Mad Max museum and the Silverton Hotel. The school house was really unique in that it was tiny (no bigger than a current 25 head classroom, but it sat over 100 kids at it's peak. They used grand stand type desks which was quite clever. The kids had fun doing 'homework' on the chalk slates. The Hotel has been the scene of many cinematic masterpieces including Mad Max II and Razorback, not to mention several tv commercials. XXXX Gold is the preferred beer on tap:-)

Old school house

Mad Max's Mad Beetle - he used this while the Interceptor was in the shop!

We also visited the Pro Hart Gallery. Pro was a miner, artist (arguably one of Australia's most famous) and a collector of Roll Royces. He was truly prolific in his work from classic landscapes around Broken Hill to his 'masked' portaits of mining owners and managers to his love of Banjo Patterson. We saw a wonderful example of the 'Colt from Old Regret' as well as picking up some original etchings of the Waltzing Matilda story - very special. The visit was even more special as it was the day of a dear friends mum's funeral who passed from motor neurone disease, which coincidentally, was the same disease which Pro passed from. The gallery manager even stopped a documentary which was playing to play the kids the old DuPont carpet ads. "Oh Mr Hart, What a Mess!!" We all got a giggle from that. Caitlin was so impressed she asked if she could 'borrow' the spare piece of marine carpet I had in the garage at home and did eBay sell 'Paint Cannons'!!! Oh dear...



The Dragonfly!

I should mention our visit to Bells Cafe, a genuine 50's milk bar. We had hotdogs and soda. Spiders, fizz's it was very yummy. Dad had the double Sars - took me back to days at the 'pub' with dad and grandad. They'd have a pot of XXXX and I'd have a double sars.

Bells Cafe'

Last but not least we visited the top of the slag heap or original silver mine. This holds a function centre, restaurant and memorial for lost miners. The view over the city was great. We all took a photo of the oversize park bench which was fun.

Songs from the Big chair

Miners Memorial - for over 800 have lost their lives in the area

Our time at Broken Hill was at an end. Menindee Lake was calling. What a terrific town BH was. We weren't expecting much but it certainly delivered and we'd highly recommend it to anyone.

Take Care and Love to all