Broken Hill

Agfair is on, short for Agricultural Fair, a biannual event attended by hordes from all over the place, not just the area around Broken Hill. Luckily we brought our tent as every room in town was booked out long ago, but we knew that before we got here. And it will be good to catch up with Dinah who has come from Ballarat for the fair.
Wearher forecast is good, and proves true. Tent goes up and down dry as a bone. Coming into town we are struck by the amount of road kill we pass, there seemed to have been a dead roo every few feet.  Then there were the emus.. couple of large groups and quite a few pairs and singles. Just across the NSW border we stop for a cuppa at a tiny truck stop where a local isn't surprised by any of this and we will apparently see plenty of goats and maybe a pig on the way into town. Dead right . No pig but plenty of feral goats.
We got the tent up in time to glimpse a beautiful sunset and hope for the same tomorrow.  Caught up with Dinah who kindly provides dinner which we enjoy with a Clare Valley Reisling in her motel room.  We are following our time honoured tradition of camping with virtually nothing but a tent and bedding. There's always a cafe within reach.. We have gear and could cook, etc if we wanted to..

Where better for coffee the next morning than the cafe and Memorial overlooking the town. Surprise! Shut for refurbishment.  The Memorial is still accessible and testament to just how difficult life was in the mines. Cave-ins, bad air, explosions, falls, septicaemia, and more.  Main Street and the Heritage trail and coffee at last.  I think there are a lot of hotels, but when we see old photos they were in much greater supply in the past.  In its heyday Broken Hill was really buzzing. The larger mines are gone, but there is still silver coming out of the ground round here.
The controversial photography  exhibition of full size nudes is certainly worth a look, some straightforward,  some confronting but all interesting.  I cannot recall the artist's name but will check it.  Deborah Kelly.   A second exhibition of videos tantalises us but it doesn't open until the evening. 

Rob found an ad for an interesting milk bar or rather soda fountain so that's obviously the place for lunch. It is a wonderfully preserved place where original syrup recipes are made up in small batches to flavour the sodas and spiders. The kitchen and living quarters at the rear have been turned into a museum. Authentic 50s and with excellent free Wifi. 

We missed the Royal Flying Doctors in Alice Springs but not again. Video and a look at the planes with  lot of encouragement to check out the shop. It was more interesting than I make it sound.  

There are many sculptures in the living desert outside town, and the time to see them is at sunset we hear.  They would have looked absolutely wonderful I think in a brighter sunset but once more that eludes us. They are wonderful in their own right so we enjoy them just a little envious of the bus tour we encounter who have brought their own wine and snacks. 

 Silverton is a town about 30km from Broken Hill which was once a thriving metropolis but is now just a remnant of its former glory. Among other films, tv shows and advertisements, Mad Max 2 was filmed in the area and memories and memorabilia abound.  The pub is full of photos of crews and behind the scenes shots and it was good to come across one of a much loved former workmate tucked in behind the main cast.


I would rather forget Silverton - when we arrived back in Broken Hill I couldn't find my keys and realised that the loud clatter we heard a few kilometres from Silverton was the keys falling off the roof of the car.  We drove about 20km back and lo and behold there they were, run over, a little broken up but still looking as though they will work.  Phew.

Little worried about the forecast rain and because he cannot find his Rob buys a raincoat and we drive out of town towards Menindee.