Day 107 / 2017 - Bourke to Broken Hill

After 3 day's in Bourke it was time to head off again. Our Route will take us firstly south to Cobar then turn west to Broken Hill which is just shy of the South Australia and New South Wales border.

The road to Cobar was surprisingly good, we also had a tail wind which helped the 160 km of distance pass quickly. The road was reasonably flat for most of the way. Pulling into Cobar we made our way to the only caravan park in town. We would have like to have used the free camp but unfortunately the fridge still wasn't working on gas. We had phoned a caravan service agent in Broken Hill to organise repairs, but will need to stay in parks or at least at a powered campground untill then. The Cobar Caravan Park was at the end of town on the main east-west road which put us at the right end of town when leaving. One of the downsides of being the only park in town is they can charge what they like, no competition. It was a bit expensive compared to other parks of similar quality we had stayed in previously. We had planed to stay 2 nights but decided instead to only stay one. 

After parking the van, we headed off to the Tourist Bureau and Heritage Centre. The lady behind the counter was very helpfull and directed us to a few of the attractions around the town. Our first stop was the lookout above the The New Cobar Mine. Looking over the edge we could see the mine had started as an Open Cut but at about the 200 metre level changed to underground where it continues on down, 1400 metres below the surface. Down the walls of the open cut you could see uncovered tunnels, from original minning activity. The main ore mined now is copper and zinc but Gold and Silver has also been mined in Cobar over the years. From the Mine lookout we drove back around to the eastern entrance of the town where there is a big concrete wall with the name Cobar in steel letters attached to it. There were also metal cutouts representing miners accross the top. This bough memories back for Anne when she had visited as a young child. 

Next stop was the Heritage Centre where there is loads of history about the life of Cobar. This building also had special meaning for Anne as she remembers being there when she was around 7 years old, when her father worked there. She remembers running across the balcony but as they stayed in the motel across the road, so doesn't remember the reason she was there. There were a number of rooms with displays depicting past and present life in the town of Cobar, and how mining made the town what it is today. It was an interesting read but as usual to much to take in one day without going into information overload. Anne had been hankering for Chinese for a number of months. Someone had recommended the chinese resturaunt in the RSL club so that evening we decided to go out for dinner. It lived up to expectations. 

Leaving Cobar the next day, we headed further west towards Broken Hill. We had planned a week in Broken Hill mainly because that was the earliest we could be scheduled for a van service and fridge repair. We chose a week as the caravan park offered a stay 7 nights for the price of 6. We were still a few days early for a week stay as we wanted to coincide leaving Broken Hill with our service day. Halfway between Cobar and Broken Hill is Wilcannia. Wikicamps recomended the caravan park closest to town by the river, describing it as a reasonably priced, quiet spot. Wilcannia the town historically didn't exactly have a good reputation but all the reports on Wikicamps said it was a safe stop for a day or two, the price included power and water.  Pulling in we were greeted by the caretaker who gave us a key, which is used to access the toilet block and laundry which included a free washing machine. We weren't on our own, a caravan was already there and another van pulled in not long after us. Later in the day a truck and toyota Hiace van towing a trailer also pulled in next to us. We found out they were acrobats and had been performing at the Adelaide festival and were on there way back to Queensland. They were originally from WA but had moved up to the Atherton Tablelands a few years prior to live. 

There is not much to the town of Wilcannia now, originally it was an important hub for commerce, boasting 13 hotels. Wilcannia sits next to the Darling River and was a stop for Steam Paddle river boats, dropping off supplies and pickup goods from the surrounding stations, such as wool. The Darling River was an important transport link in the early 1900's untill rail and road transport came, which was more reliable. The boats travelling the Darling River was a cheap way of transporting goods and passengers but was suseptable to droughts and floods preventing the river boats from navigating the waterways.     

Leaving Wilcannia we headed west along the Barrier Hwy to Broken Hill. We made a base at the racecourse about 5 km out of town. Showgrounds and sporting grounds are a good alternative to the sometimes more expensive caravan parks. It is basic camping but they normally have a grass area with power and water. We were backed up to the racetrack itself and use to watch the horeses being train both morning and night. There wa a lot of permanent infrustructure considering they only have two meetings a year. 

There are a number of attractions located around Broken Hill. Starting from the Tourist Bureau you can do a heritige walk around the centre of town. There are many old buldings built around the previous turn of the century and early into the eary 1900's. Most have been restored and the walk describes the history of the building and what they were originally build for. 

Just next to the town on top of the waste dump from the mine, is a memorial dedicated to miners who had lost their lives working at Broken Hill mine. There are over 800 miners listed here with one as young as 12. They died from various injury's from mishaps such as falls and asphyxiation. In the early years there were many lives lost per year but as safety improved over time you can see the numbers get less and less each year. Broken Hill is the birth place of BHP and owned the mine until 1939, when BHP interests diversifed into other ventures. 

Pro Hart was a long time resident of Broken Hill right up to his death in 2006. He worked as a miner untill art became his main source of income. His gallery is located at his home and is open to the public. For $5.00 you can look at his works of art adorning the walls of his gallery. His painting studio is also on display looking as though he would be returning any minute to take up where he had left off on his latest piece of work. There are a number of public memorials to miners dotted around Broken Hill parks, commisioned by Pro Hart. We found his real name is Kevin Hart, but was known as the Professor Hart which was then shortened to Pro.   

Across the road from the Information Centre is the railway museum housed in the old Sulphide Street railway station. Here is a large collection of railway artifacts, including full size trains and locomotives, both steam and the more modern diesel versions, from early 1900's to 1980's, on display. You could easly spend a number of hour browsing through all the displays. you are allowed to walk through and climb onto the trains that are on display. Also described here is the only attack on Australian soil during WW1. Two Turks in an Icecream cart open fired with rifles upon a company organised picnic train. It could have been a start of a joke except for the tragic loss of life resulting in the attack.    

While in town we walked past the Palace Hotel and called in to look at the Murels adorning the walls and ceiling. This hotel featured in the 1994 movie "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert." There is a big stiletto shoe in the main foyer we though was from the movie but was infact an advertising prop for an up and coming cabaret show.  

Next visit was Silverton aprox 25 Km from Broken Hill. Silverton's mineral wealth was discovered before Broken Hill's and the town grew to about 1500 people. During this time the town considered itself establish and a number of civic brick buildings built. The town declined when the mineral wealth ran out and in what was considered bad timing for Silverton, Broken Hills mining started to flourish. The town recently had a resurgance thanks to the tourist industry, with the main attractions now museums and art gallerys. One museum is dedicated to the 2nd Mad Max film. The 2nd installment in the Mad Max syndicate movie was filmed around Silverton. There is quite a bit of film memrobillia on display inside, with a number of different styles of vehicles used in the movie, including the Interceptor driven by Max himself, displayed outside.  The Silverton Old Gaol Museum is also worth a look. We nicknamed this the museum that keeps on giving with room after room of artifacts from the well documented history of Silverton. The Silverton hotel is also a great place to stop and have a cold ale and meal. 

About 12 km from Broken Hill is the living Desert and Sculptures. The desert is a fenced off area where rehabilitation is underway. Within the electrified perimiter is native fauna and flora as well as Indiginious artifacts, which included amongst other things, shelters and tools. The living scuptures are located at the top of the hill above the Living Desert and were created by Artist's from around the world. This is a popular place by locals and tourists alike to come and watch the sun set over the rugged vast plains of the outback. 

The day we were leaving we dropped the caravan off for a service and repair the gas function of our fridge. While waiting we visited the Geo centre in the old bond store which contained a physical catalogue of all the rocks found within the area. There was also a short film on how the rich lode of minerals mined in Broken Hill, were formed over the millions of years. Before picking up the van we shopped for food at the local Woolworths to stock up the pantry, then stopped for a McDonalds treat for lunch. Picking up the van the service had gone well with nothing to report. They replaced the gas jet which I had convienently damaged. They also found the ignighter was earthing to the wrong area of the burner throwing the spark in the wrong direction, which is most likely why it wouldn't light properly. The most likely scenero is when I was cleaning out the wasp nest I must have bent it slightly. Oh well lesson learned.