Monday 27 May. Broken Hill and Silverton

 We started the day at the Tourist Information Centre where Pat, a lovely volunteer, gave us heaps of pamphlets, maps and ideas for the next few days. 

First stop was the Line of Lode (mullock heap) which dominates the town. From the top we could see the whole of Broken Hill. The miners’ memorial sits up there and shows the name, age and cause of death of the hundreds of miners killed throughout the years. There were some horrible deaths of very young men .

From here we headed out to Silverton which was only about a half hour drive. There were very few houses and I don’t think you could live there unless you were a pretty colourful character.  The Mad Max Museum was closed but the facade and front garden were pretty interesting. Fortunately the pub was open and we had lunch there while a few donkeys wandered past. There was a Mad Max VW parked out front, with an unusual love story attached.

Just 5 minutes beyond Silverton was the Mundi Mundi lookout. The view from there is enormous and the road seems to just disappear in front of you.

Back in town we stopped to look at the 1915 ambush site. A train load of picnickers was shot at by two Turkish camel drivers who were later hunted down and shot. A number of people were killed or injured in this, the only hostilities on Australian soil during World War 1.

Next stop was the beautiful Trades Hall building. The hall,inside was lovely and we watched a video about the history of the trade union movement in Broken Hill.

By now we were ready for refreshments so we stepped back in time at Bell’s Milk Bar. Renee had a Widgie’s Blood spider and I had a Mars Bar milkshake.

Our final landmark for the day was the Palace Hotel, famous in “Priscilla Queen of the Desert”. We had dinner there and “admired” the murals all over the walls and ceilings.