Reached Broken Hill in 5 Months

Well we had a great time doing absolutely nothing on Saturday besides getting some shopping in.

Sometimes this moving on everyday gets a bit tedious. We filled in the day playing crib (Pat has won the last 4 games) & also doing stuff on the computer. For Pat the computer means playing poker on line – for me it is updating trip journal, downloading photos, backing up data & playing games on facebook....as well as checking/sending emails.

Sunday 4/10/09

Daylight saving started here today – the clocks went forwarded an hour & consequently we were a bit later getting packed up and leaving than normal. Not that that caused any real problem in the caravan park as it was only a quarter full. School holidays also started in NSW this week.

Destination is Cobar approx 170kms up the road. The scenery along this road was once again nothing to rave about.

We arrived in Cobar early afternoon & again went straight to the Visitors Information Centre. The information centre is called the “Great Cobar Heritage Centre” & use to be the Administration building for the Great Cobar Copper Mine - was built in 1910. Again we had a very helpful person who recommended (seeing as we were self sufficient) that we go & camp at the old reservoir. Before we went out there we took a wander around the heritage park which was opened in 2002 to commemorate the miners who had lost their lives in Cobar Mines. We also went & had a drink at the Cobar Bowling Club. This is another good bowling club.

After wandering around & stretching the legs we drove out to the “Old Res” as it is called. It was only 3 kms out of town. The reservoir used to be the main water supply for the town but in 1960 a pipelines was completed between Cobar & Nyngan & the town now gets all their water from that.

The reason for the pipeline being put in was that water supply is a problem for Cobar,

Anyway this was a lovely area – we camped about 10 metres from the water line. Around dusk it was good to watch the cows come down for a drink & listen to the birds. I also decided to get a bit of exercise in & walked round the reservoir both days (only about a 20 minute walk). Town folk come out to the area to do a bit of trail bike riding (& for some burn outs) plus a bit of exercise with their dogs.

Once we got ourselves set up we again decided to have another few relaxing days. We decided that we would camp here for 2 nights as it was such a peaceful area.

Monday 5/10/09

Nothing happening today – we are once again being slack & just relaxing. Not even going to leave the camp & have a look around the town – don’t think there is really too much to see & we can have a quick look when we leave tomorrow.

Tuesday 6/10/09

Before leaving Cobar we went & had a look from the Fort Bourke Lookout which looks out over the new Cobar Open Cut Gold Mine.

We didn’t actually find much around the place that we wanted to look at so hit the open road. The scenery is really one of drought areas. We are again camping out at a free rest camp. About 8 vans are parked around the site. This camp site has even a free gas bbq (very clean) & a kids playground!! Toilet is pretty smelly (thank goodness we have our own in the van).

Tomorrow we will continue on thru Wilcannia (don’t intend stopping here) & probably have another night on the road before getting to Broken Hill.

Wednesday 7/10/09

The next rest spot that we were hoping to stay at wasn’t worth looking at. It was right on the road side & had no shade or anything else on offer. So decision made we would continue on to Broken Hill. Looked up the Top Tourist Guide & they had a caravan park (dog friendly) so we made our way there. We have booked in for 3 nights at this stage.

Once we had set up we went off to the local Information Centre to see what the town has on offer. There is quite a bit to see around here so we might need a day or two more to fit it all in. We booked a City Sights & Heritage Tour for Friday & collected some pamphlets/maps that highlighted the things of interest around the place. Then it was off to get a bit of food shopping as we had had to throw out fruit/tomatoes/capsicums at a quarantine station about 5 kms out of Broken Hill. Also a change of time again – Broken Hill has their time the same as SA.

Broken Hill also called “Silver City” has a population between 19 & 20 thousand. Technically they are probably not a city anymore but they still like to call it one. Of that population about 1500 are Indigenous – the majority of them have moved here from Wilcannia. Broken Hill was a union run town from the early 20’s to around 1982. At one time they had over 71 pubs, 31 in the main street. now they have 17 with also 7 clubs. Their council has been run by an administrator for the past 3 years after all the councillors were sacked after many bad decisions. Most of Broken Hill population are happy to have this continue as things are being seen to be done but as it is law to have a council they have elections coming up on 15 December. Apparently most of the councillors that were sacked are standing for re-election!!! Go figure that. Some of the famous people either born or lived in Broken Hill are Chips Rafferty, June Bronhill & Pro Hart.

Another piece of trivia I read was about the time difference here to the rest of NSW. “When the NSW Government refused to give Broken Hill the services it needed, saying the town was just a pinprick on the map, the Barrier Industrial Council replied that Sydney was also a pinprick from where it was & Broken Hill would henceforth be part of SA. Since the town was responsible for much of NSW’s wealth there was an outcry, the federal government stepped in, & Broken Hill was told it was to remain a part of NSW. In protest, the town adopted SA time, telephone area code, & football, playing AFL from then on.” From talking to some of the locals around they still have the same sentiments about the NSW government.

The city reminds us a lot of Kalgoorlie. A lot of board/wrought iron cottages, wide streets, angle parking. (In fact a lot of the towns that we have been through recently have the really wide streets.)

There are basically three areas of Broken Hill – the North, South & Railway Side & they all have a bit of rivalry between them.

Thursday 8/10/09

Today we have driven out to Silverton. Silverton was a mining town from 1883 – 1899 but when Broken Hill’s larger mines were established Silverton started to fall into decline. There is a mine tour (not operational) that can be taken but our timing was out so missed out on that. There are many art galleries out there, but one of the main things this town is famous for is the movies that have been made there. They include Mad Max II, Dirty Deeds, Priscilla Queen of the Desert & numerous ads have also been made. The Mad Max car is usually on display in front of the pub.

Friday 9/10/09

9am pick up for the town tour. Our guide was a local person & gave out lots of information other than just the “tourist talk”. There are 2 golf courses here – one a dirt course with oiled greens & the other is a grass fairways/greens (using treated effluent water). I wouldn’t mind a game on this. On the tour a visit to the Miner’s Memorial, which is situated on the highest point of the Line of Lode overlooking the city, is a dedication to miners who have lost their lives in the mines. There is also a restaurant here. We also drove past the cemetery where Pro Hart is buried. I later took a walk from our caravan park back to it to have a closer look. His grave is massive – it takes up 2 rows across & 4 sites along. Not sure if this is going to be a family plot! If you ever visit Broken Hill this was one very worthwhile tour to do.

After the tour we came back for a bit of relaxation as we are off to see Wendy Matthews & Toni Childs in concert. Met some lovely people by the name of Phil & Di Anderson from Port Stephens courtesy of Kosta going visiting around the park!! Anyway Di suggested we visit Port Stephens on our travels so hopefully we will catch up with them along the way.

This afternoon we have visited the GeoCentre. This is basically a geology display but the reason I wanted to visit it was to see the “Silver Tree”. This ‘tree’ is nearly two-thirds of a metre high & weighs 8.5kg & made of silver.

Wendy Matthews & Toni Childs concert! The Entertainment Centre holds about 800 seats & I guess there were about 500 at the concert. I think I am (I know I am) getting old as I found it very frustrating that the music was so loud that it drowned out the singer. Toni Childs has a very strong voice but even she was hard to hear. Overall it was an okay concert as far as I am concerned.

Saturday 10/10/09

Well we have decided to stay another 2 nights. The weather is improving & is starting to be lovely during the day although nights still a bit cool.

A visit this morning to the Silver City Art Centre, Mint & Chocolate Factory. The main attraction is the “Big Picture”. This is the world’s largest painting on canvas. It is 100 metres long & 12 metres high & painted with nine tonne of paint. It took the artist, Peter Anderson, over 2 years to complete. You have to see this work to believe it. It is the most amazing thing to see. Neither of us is really into the “arts” but this was very impressive.

From here we then went to visit Pro Harts gallery. After reading some of the information on him I have a bit better understanding of his work. Pro Hart owned a number of Rolls Royce’s & 4 were still on display. One of them he has even been painted to his art style.

Camped next to us tonight are club members from Ulysses. They have the most beautiful 3 wheeled motor bikes & they have a trailer for their camping gear. One of the guys use to live in Dongara & we knew some of the same people from years back. Once again a small world.

I think we have just about covered all that we want to see around here so tomorrow will be a cleanup day & a watch of the “Bathurst 1000”.

Not sure where we are headed from here. More when we reach the next destination.

Oct 10, 2009

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