Penny's news: Road Trip 2017 – Day 4 – Broken Hill & Silverton

We awoke to cloudy skies and a cool breeze this morning. Could this be the same town a s yesterday where it was still over 30 degrees in the evening? It certainly was and we were to encounter scattered showers throughout the day – not much though. We set off to the information place to set up our plans for the day and they were very helpful. Our first stop was a miner’s memorial, perched atop old mine remnants right next to the town. Every miner killed in the region was listed, right up to the present time. It certainly was a dangerous job and you can understand why the Trade Unions were so important here to improve safety for the workers. It was quite a sobering monument. There was also some old mining machinery on display as well as wonderful views looking over the town.

We then took a drive to Sturt Park where, quite randomly, there is a memorial to the band that played while the Titanic sank. It was placed there in 1913 by the bands of Broken Hill – there were four – to honour their colleagues. Wow, they certainly shared something special being band members! We wandered through the (very nice) park and then drove through the streets, passing a few more notable buildings, churches and so on.

We chanced upon a lookout which gave another view of the town and the Line of Lode – the ridge where the memorial is and where we started our day.

It was then off to the famous Bell Milk Bar, a fifties styled milk bar and museum, where we had a bit of morning tea and checked out the memorabilia. You know your old when you can point to every second thing on exhibit and say, ‘I had one of them!’

After some deliberation, we decided to drive the 30km or so out to Silverton. We first went to the Mundi Mundi Lookout where you look out over ground so flat you can almost see the curvature of the earth…well, maybe you can when it is a clear day. Regardless it was a good view and worth the trip.

Back in Silverton we spent a pleasant half hour or so browsing a gallery and then stopped in to the iconic (or so the sign says) Silverton Hotel for lunch. Nice pub, good atmosphere and tucker, and a fun game of draughts/checkers.

On our drive back into town I stopped to snap a photo of the Silverton Creek which is, of course, bone dry at the moment. This place must look so different when the waters come down.

At this point we decided we would split up so we dropped Kevin and Marion back at their car, grabbed a cup of tea, (and a snooze from Gaz), and headed back into town. We first stopped at the Silver Mint Museum and Shop which had A LOT of silver jewellery for sale – oh dear, what is a girl to do? A bracelet and earrings later, and a bit of a browse through the gallery and museum, and we were off to our next destination, the Pro Hart Gallery. I wasn't sure what to expect, but we were blown away. We spent quite a bit of time looking through the gallery and learning all about Pro, his life, and his art. Very fascinating! Gary got a great hat and I couldn't resist some beach towels, one with the famous dragonfly on carpet painting. I really loved his paintings. On the way out we were able to view Pro’s collection of Rolls Royce cars and sculptures – he was a very talented man.

It was time for a brief rest back at the ‘deluxe suite’ and I also managed to have a swim and a bit of time reading by the pool. It was still cloudy and fairly windy but the rain stayed away. We then met up again with Kev & Maz to head on out to the Desert Scupltures, timing our visit to coincide with sunset. Gaz dropped us at the bottom of a big hill and we walked up, meeting him at the top (with the car). It was a great walk but I’m really glad I didn’t have to do it in 40 degree heat! Once at the top of the hill, not only did we have some wonderful sculptures to view, we had a marvellous sunset to the west and a glorious full moon rising in the east. I almost got dizzy switching between the two. Regardless of the difficulty in choosing the most spectacular view, it was…well…spectacular.