Exploring Broken Hill

We have spent a couple of days exploring Broken Hill, while camping at Nine Mile Station. Daytime weather varied between warm, sunny and 23 degrees, to windy, cloudy and 17 degrees. Nights were cool, about 4-6 degrees. We have no control over the weather, we will just have to make the best of it. I am now wearing long plants and a long sleeve top, but Theo is still bravely wearing his shorts and thongs, either clinging to the hope of warmer weather or trying to encourage it.

The first couple of days camping at Nine Mile, there were lots of caravans spread out, camped on the dry riverbed, but by Tuesday, they had all had moved on and we were the only van there. Greg the owner, said that he had 50 vans here 4 days prior to the Mundi Mundi Big Gig.

We have been happy to use Nine Mile as our base while we have been exploring Broken Hill, as it is only about 14 kms (9 miles) from town. There is plenty of wood around and we have had a campfire every night, while enjoying the beautiful sunsets and the starry skies, and we have cooked dinner every night on the campfire.

As the nights have been quite cool we have had the diesel heater on inside the van, and also two doonas on the bed. We have been warm and cosy and have slept really well.

Monday was a quiet day, we went to the Line of Lode Miner’s Memorial, which is located high on a hill overlooking the city. It pays tribute to the 800 miners who lost their lives working in the mines at Broken Hill since mining commenced in 1883. listing the cause of death for every fatality. The youngest death I saw was 14 years of age, back in the 1880’s.

We then drove out to the Living Desert and Sculptures which were about 10 kms out of town. We have been there before but thought we would do it again while we were in town. Entry fee was $10 at a self-serve kiosk.

In 1993, artists from around the world began work on 12 sandstone sculptures and completed them within 6 weeks. One of the sculptures, titled, ‘Under the Jaguar Sun’ is depicted on a lot of Broken Hill and outback tourist brochures. The sculpture represents day and night. The jaguar takes the sun in its mouth at night to protect it. Best time to take a photo of this sculpture is at sunset with the sun setting in the mouth of the jaguar.

Back in town, we walked up and down the main street, looking at the shops. It has been ages since we have seen a town with proper shops and not just outback servo’s with a small range of groceries. Found a little cake shop and stopped for coffee/hot chocolate and cake.

Tuesday, we booked a tour of the historic Day Dream Mine, about 28kms out of town, on the road to Silverton. The old township was a Cornish silver mining settlement and once had a population of approximately 500. This was established before Broken Hill. Today no-one lives there, it is purely a tourist mine.

We were in a large tour group of about 23, and we went down into the mine, wearing hard hats and lamps. Glad we were wearing hard hats because the ceiling was very low in sections, and I kept bumping my head, and the ground was quite uneven. Luckily, there were handrails to hold on to.

When we got down to the third level, the guide lit two small candles, and asked us to all turn off our headlamps, to show us how much light the miners had to work with. He then blew the candles out, and it was pitch black. Hard to imagine the harsh working conditions back then. Not recommended if you suffer from claustrophobia. Back in the day miners worked 12-hour days, six days a week, and most miners suffered failing eyesight and respiratory diseases.

When we finished the tour, we enjoyed some fresh baked scones and a cuppa in the teahouse, then went to the nearby Silverton Hotel for lunch.

After lunch, we went to the Mad Max 2 museum in Silverton. Theo is a fan of the Max Max series, but it is not exactly my cup of tea, but even Theo said he was disappointed. It seems that every bit of prop, panel, costume, movie script, photo, vehicle, nut, bolt and screw were on display. A replica of Mad Max’s V8 Interceptor is at the museum. When it was filmed in 1981 in and around the Broken Hill area, apparently a lot of locals had at least a walk on role in Mad Max 2.

Silverton’s unique landscape has drawn filmmakers from around the world. A few of the movies/scenes filmed here are – Dirty Deeds, Mission Impossible 11, Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, A Place to Call home, Alice to Nowhere, The Long Way Home, Razorback, Hostage, A town like Alice, Wake in Fright, The Long Way Home and many others.
Also, apparently a commercial is shot in Silverton every few months, some are Panasonic, Landrover, Telstra, Coca Cola, Dove Soap, Ampol, etc

Also learnt that BHP (Broken Hill Proprietry) was founded in 1885 in Silverton (not Broken Hill), with mining in silver, lead and zinc, and is now in 90 locations worldwide with its headquarters in Melbourne.

Another outback sunset by the campfire, toasting Loretta and Jenny who both have a birthday today with Baileys, their favourite drink.

Not sure exactly what we will do tomorrow.Leggi altro