6. Broken Hill / Silverton

Mutawintji National Park

Leaving White Cliffs we headed out the west route toward Broken Hill. There was plenty of open space and the dirt road was about 30 feet wide and in excellent condition. Short sections of road where the water washes across were paved. Running the Pajero in 4WD with the center diff unlocked (AWD mode) was sufficient to drive with confidence. In the heat of the day there was little in the way of visible wildlife, though we did see some magnificant and majestic Wedge Tail Hawks.

We also noted a flock of wild Emu about 100 yards off the road in an open field. We stopped and were able to observe them for several minutes until someone opened a car door and they all took off running. The kids continued to be fascinated with the skeletons of cows and kangaroo we encountered along the way.

As the hot midday gave way to afternoon we saw more of the lizards. I think this one is a bearded dragon. I got in one photo and then it disappeared in the blink of an eye. The other lizard was a bit slower. Actually it didn't really move at all from the middle of the road. I think this one is known as a Sleepy or Stumpy Lizard.

I'm told that a favorite Aussie Outback event is the sleepy lizard races where a number of these slow moving critters are numbered and put into a circle. The race starts promptly at 1 PM with participants and spectators passing time cooling their parched outback throats with some of Australia's finest lagers. Round about 5 PM as the shadows grow longer the the heat of the day passes, the first lizard makes a move. Sounds like the perfect way to spend an afternoon to me!

This fellow fascinated the kids as they got a real close up look and touch. The lizard was a good sport by letting us know when it was done being handled - it let loose its bowels and revealed its apparent diet of salt bush and bugs - BOY DID IT STINK! So we put it on the side of the road in the shade of a bush. We shall forever and fondly know this docile creature as "Stumpy Poo Poo".

We pulled into the Mutawintji park for our lunch break. Being a little later in the afternoon, we were treated to a multitude of various monitor lizards, Australian parrots such as Cockatoos and Galahs and even a mob of rock wallabies. The mangos were very ripe and sweet and we enjoyed them. This site is a bus tour destination from nearby Broken Hill and features ancient aboriginal spiritual sites and art. Most of the sites require a park ranger to lead the tour and interpretation.

Around Broken Hill

Broken Hill was an interesting place for us and we made this our base for a few days while we explored the surrounding area. We found numerous art galleries, the historic district, museums and a little shop that sold riberry ice cream and local free range beef burgers which had a distinctive more gamey flavour due to their saltbush diets.

We found some stuff for the kids to do at a railroad museum and some stuff for mom and dad at the Pro Hart and other art galleries.

There were also mine tours available of the big mine, but we didn't make any of these. The mine rig pictured is a reconstruction at a museum park.

Pro Hart and Mates

The Pro Hart gallery was one of our destinations for this trip. We'd seen and heard so much about this famous Australian artist on TV shows and from friends that we just had to stop and see.

The gallery was stunning featuring not only paintings, but all manner of sculptures and multimedia art forms. Some of Pro Hart's larger sculptures were on display in a public park. The time of day and sheer scale of the art made photography with our little Kodak DC215 challenging, but here are two that turned out sort of.

The Living Desert

A worthy short trip just outside Broken Hill is the Living Desert which is an international outdoor art garden on top of a knoll overlooking the vastness that is the Australian Outback. Wear comfortable walking shoes, a hat, and bring water. There is a short but steep hike from the parking area to the top of the hill. Many of the sculptures are influenced by the artist's home country. The one on the right has an Aztec influence.

The Pubs of Broken Hill

Broken Hill is also known as the town in Australia with the most pubs per capita population. I think they numbered around 100 or so. I tried, unsuccessfully, to convince my wife that I needed to photograph and sample a beer at each of them.

The Gladstone Hotel is the oldest one and was built in 1877. Its located in the historic district on the east side of the hill.

Silverton

The old Silverton Hotel is famous for having been in many Australian films including Max Max with Mel Gibson. There is a local horse that is free to wander in and out of the pub. This old wreck of a build is an abandoned or at least unused art studio, but at one time in its colorful past seems to have been the massage parlour. At the top of the hill in an old 1800's building you'll find the Peter Browne Gallery which features paintings about Australian life by this eccentric artist that are really funny. We're told that when the artist is in residence, visitors to the gallery may return to their cars to find they've been 'signed' by the artist with his signature emu depiction.

This was one of the best mine tours we'd been on and also one of the most primitive. We all were fitted with helmets and battery packs and were led to a hole in the ground - literally. Once inside the old silver mine, we got a pretty realistic taste of what mining is like - there were no stairs, lights and convenient cement walkways in that hole. The ceilings were low all over any my 6 ft frame is not well suited for these tight quarters. The kids were real troopers - my daughter who was 4 at the time being the bravest among us for facing this unknown. They really earned their adventure patches this day.

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