Broken Hill

Broken Hill, aka ‘The Silver City’, was founded in 1883 when silver ore was discovered in the area. It’s still a mining town today and while we were here we visited the Line of Lode Memorial, built in remembrance of individuals killed in the mines, a both moving and impressive sight, located at the top of a mountain of discarded mining rubble overlooking the town on one side and an active mine on the other.

We enjoyed the Living Desert, a series of rock sculptures on a hill outside of town and a visit out to nearby Silverton, a dusty outback town with a population of 48 (not including the 4 resident donkeys that roam the town) and a famous pub which has featured in multiple Hollywood movies. Back in Broken Hill for the afternoon, we made sure to boost our sugar levels with milkshakes, spiders, ice cream sundaes and waffles from the 1950s Bell’s Milk Bar, where we chatted to a lady in her 70s who was sipping on a lime spider and had been visiting the milk bar since her childhood. Apparently it hasn’t changed!

In the evening the kids were excited to feed animals yet again at our campsite, this time highlander cows, alpacas and a cute little shetland pony named Johnny.

On our way out of town the following morning, we were stopped by police following a head-on collision on the road ahead and ended up camping out on the highway for 6 hours (feeling relieved to be alive) before we were again on our way east.Read more