22 Jan 10 - Broken Hill

By Lou: I really enjoyed Broken Hill. What anyone was doing in this part of the world in the first place to discover silver is beyond me. But this is a (relatively) huge town plonked in the middle of nowhere. Sunset at the Sculptures was beautiful and accessible

Nearby is the town of Silverton which has enjoyed a recent tourism revival and we enjoyed seeing the old rock and sandstone buildings despite the 44 degree heat and dust storm. Like Lightning Ridge, it looks like a ghost town and when you see a sign saying ‘open’ you’re pretty sure they’re just tricking. But no, you walk into an airconditioned tardis and voila the old gaol is a labyrinth of a museum with oodles of historical bits and bods. Also a few galleries and a café in town. A small committee of volunteers have decked out the old school with school-related things (funny that) and we got a run down from a local on the history of the school. At one point there were 1 teacher and a teacher aide looking after approximately 120 pupils. I tell you, those old folks had it so easy. It was quite a thriving community for a time but then the silver mining industry in Broken Hill usurped Silverton and people literally moved their houses back into Broken Hill (thanks to 14 camels per house) and the town died. Of particular interest to Craig was the Silverton Hotel, complete with black V8 Ford Interceptor parked out the front commemorating the making of films such as Mad Max II, Town Like Alice and Razorback. By Craig: Broken Hill I guess you could say in a lot of ways was a typical mining town, reasonably large as country towns go with a long way to get anywhere, so don't be in a hurry. I enjoyed seeing the old mines presented to travellers by proud locals and Sam enjoyed pawing over some of the equipment although I wasn't to sure about the chair he chose to sit at for lunch.