Broken Hill - not only a city of hotels and clubs?

In the city centre there are numerous hotels and clubs and very few people on the streets.   But there is so much more here. 

A tourist's haven:  the historic town of Silverton, Living Deserts and Sculptures, plus numerous art galleries and museums.   It is also a beautifully laid out city with plenty of parks.

Last time we were here we visited Jack Absalom's Gallery, Pro Hart's Gallery, plus Silverton and the Living Deserts and Sculptures Park.   

This year we visited a few places that we missed last time.   However, it was a little difficult as it rained heavily last night and this morning.   Yes, it rains out in the outback.   And when it rains things get very sticky underfoot.   Our beautiful new vehicle is no longer in pristine condition.

We also spent quite a few hours at the laundromat, firstly to do a bag of washing that we collected over a few days of travelling, and secondly to wash all the bedding on the bed in the pull out section.   My bed in fact.    Walter sleeps in comfort on the lounge extension in the caravan.

I woke this morning to find a third of my bed very wet, due to the rain leaking through the roof.   I can assure you it was not me!   Luckily I was unaware of the situation until I went to get out of bed.   I was sleeping in the dry part.   I did wonder why Piper jumped onto my bed in the morning, lay there for a few minutes and then jumped off again.   Of course she could not tell me.

I realise this is another problem that Noel's Caravan should have attended to, but from what I have read pull outs/slide outs on caravans are notorious for leaking during rain storms.   I have noticed that all new caravans have covers on the top of the slides, and this is what we intend to buy when we return home.  However, the caravan people can also put plenty of sealant on the roof.  

But other than that the caravan has been excellent, and we are still happy with our purchase, and more so once we waterproof the pull out part.   

The roof lifters are excellent, except when one of them gets caught in the roof when lowering it.   This has happened twice.   You would think we would have learnt after the first time.  Pushing them in with a broom is crucial.

We had a great trip from Burra to Broken Hill, in perfect weather, plus a great vehicle to drive, and an easy caravan to tow.    We only saw goats at the end of the trip, all alive, and standing at the side of the road.  I do not want to repeat the experience of driving over a dead goat, which adhered to the back of the car and caravan!   

Interestingly, there were grain fields, not ploughed or sown yet, as far as Peterborough.   Obviously there are better varieties of grains now, that can grow in dry areas.

We are staying a little way out of Broken Hill, at the Racecourse/Regional Events Centre.   Still the same price as a caravan park but more space and freedom.   We are in front of the Derby Stand.   The photo was taken before the rain.

The race track!  But no horses on this day.   I did see one early in the morning.   Training appears to involve the owner driving his ute, with the horse running beside the vehicle.   Very lazy.

A building from the past.   The local delicatessen.   The white car looked a bit out of place, and spoiled the photo somewhat.   

I took Piper for a walk, while Walter watched the washing machines.   The person who planted the grasses and surrounded them with a concrete edging, painted white, was a little bit of a fanatic.   They even raked the concrete.   All the other frontages in the street were overgrown.

There are hundreds of cute little old cottages in Broken Hill, with corrugated iron walls and roofs.   

Also some very grand looking houses, which still had corrugated iron walls.  Some people  had put cladding over the corrugation.   Corrugated iron was the only building material available one hundred or more years ago.

We drove up onto the Line of Lode reserve to see the memorial to the people who died in the mines.   The reserve sits on top of slag and waste heap which is behind the city centre.  The Line of Lode is one of the world's largest mineral bodies, containing the silver, lead and zinc that made fortunes in Broken Hill.

The memorial gave all the names of the people, plus how they died, and there were some gruesome deaths; rock falls, lead poisoning, suffocation plus many more.   All in the name of a few people becoming very rich.

Cages that were used to lower the miners into the mine.

An excellent view of Broken Hill.

After visiting the laundromat today we travelled to Silverton, what else can a person do on a wet Saturday, where the shops close at lunchtime (Saturday trading time in the country) and our caravan filled with drying throw rugs and a duvet.

Silverton was once a booming mining town, but now a tourist centre, with beautiful old buildings, a thriving art scene plus the centre for filming Mad Max movies.   When we visited last May, it was during the filming of the latest movie, so was very busy.   On that day it was overcast and very cold, and this year it was cold and raining.   Probably the sun shines at all other times.

We ate lunch at the pub, as we did last year.   In order to warm up.   Heaps of atmosphere and good food.

The bar, with plenty to read on the walls.

Walter looking very relaxed as he waited on his hamburger.

The donkeys moving around restlessly outside the pub.

I love the outback dunny, painted appropriately.  It was too wet to get out of the car, hence the rain specks on the front windscreen.

We walked down the deserted main street this afternoon.   The beautiful town hall, built about 1890.

The kitschy but fascinating entrance hall of The Palace Hotel.   This was used in one of the scenes from the movie 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'.   

Tomorrow we head 300 km north to Tibooburra, which is on the edge of the Sturt National Park.   There is also a bitumen road all the way to Tibooburra, which is interesting in itself, as there is nothing up that way, except for outback desert.   I believe there are many rich graziers who insist that they have a decent road to transport their livestock.   This can only happen in the rich states of Queensland and NSW.   But let us not be too judgemental.  

At least we are not travelling on a corrugated road.

Also the sun will shine for the next week.   No rain forecast.