We set off for Broken Hill just after 10am.
The last time I travelled along this road and visited Broken Hill was in 1972.
Wikipedia suggests the population is only just over 17500 but it feels much larger.
The distance between the two towns is 335km and it was a quick trip due to the fact that there is nothing in between them. There are a couple of very humble rest areas. There is/was a road house about half way along but that appeared to be shut.
We arrived in Broken Hill around 1.45pm.
We went to Cafe Alfresco where we had a great lunch and coffee.
Then we went for a walk around the town which is full of very pretty buildings.
Broken Hill is a mining town established in 1883. Broken Hill Proprietry ( BHP ) originated here. It is famous for its ore deposits. It has one of the world's largest silver, lead and zinc deposits including a relatively new mineral Nyholmite.
Broken Hill was discovered by Charles Sturt and became a city in 1883. Apparently Charles called it Broken Hill as he saw a hill which was bisected. This has long since disappeared presumably due to mining activity.
A famous nurse by the name of Vivian Bullwinkel went to High School there and studied nursing in Broken Hill. She was in WW2 as were both of my parents. My mother was a nurse and knew Bullwinkel as she used to describe her. I can recall her visiting Mum at home when I was a small child.
After walking around the town we drove up to the Line of Lode Miners Memorial which provided a great view although a guy rope was almost necessary due to the strong winds !
From there we drove to a particularly delightful group of sculptures called the Living Desert Sculptures.
This comprised a series sculptures from a group of international artists which was stunning and made more so by the beautiful backdrop of the local landscape.
We decided we had enough time to see Silverton which was around 30km away.
This turned out to.be a delightful little town which had a great olden days feel epitomised in the pub.
It has been used as a location in over 140 films. It has a Mad Max museum which is privately owned.
We saw a camel ride returning, donkeys, plenty of emus, goats, sheep and cattle.
For more pix, click here.
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