Broken Hill and back

Here's the last of three posts I've published about a Kodak-era road trip into the Australian outback. This post covers my time in Broken Hill, a place I'd dreamed of visiting as a child. My friend Enda and I spent two days exploring this iconic outback town in 2003.

After stopping for the night in White Cliff, it was on to Broken Hill. Along the way, we stopped to adjust our watches to Central Time, 30 minutes behind the rest of the state. Naturally, I couldn’t resist a classic tourist photo while passing into the new time zone.

Broken Hill was every bit as rugged and special as the mesmerising 35mm documentary film that inspired me as a child. As all good tourists do, we stayed at the Palace Hotel and booked ourselves into the hotel’s world-renowned Priscilla Suite. This unorthodoxly decorated room was made famous by the 1994 hit movie, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

 

The room’s walls and ceiling are covered in murals depicting classic Australian landscapes of streams, red dirt and gum trees. The halls and stairway leading up to the room are covered in more of these extraordinary hand-painted murals. An Indigenous artist from Port Augusta by the name of Gordon Waye painted much of what you see over several years.

However, despite its exotic decor, the room was fitted out in what could only be described as classic country pub sheek. In one corner sat a tiny TV on a varnished wooden shelf, floral duvets adored the bed, the floor boards creaked with every step, and an odd freestanding wash basin was installed midway along the wall. Thanks to a double-height ceiling, and a pair of balcony doors, the room did feel abnormally generous for pub accommodation.

We ate dinner in the bistro downstairs, then retired to our room. We sat outside for a while on the classic under cover wraparound balcony, soaking in the outback air. However, the temperature dropped quickly after dark from the mid-20s to about 18C so we soon called it a night. Bizarrely, we visited Broken Hill during a brief cool period. Daytime temperatures hovered around the mid to high twenties while we were there rather than the normal mid to high thirties earlier in the week.

While in Broken Hill we took time out to visit the Line of Lode Miners Memorial built on a ridge of mine tailing that towers over the town. Mining has claimed more than 800 lives over the years at Broken Hill, and the dramatic arching memorial is a poignant monument to them all. After viewing it you can sit on the Big Bench nearby and reflect on the lives lost. This colossal red seat is two and a half times the size of a regular bench.

We also took a mine tour which saw us don hard hats, enter an open cage and descend in into the depths of an abandoned mine. We were told that it continues to be maintained in working condition for the benefit of tourists. The tour gave us an excellent insight into the lives of miners and the risks they manage every day. We learned that the Line of Lode is one of the world’s largest bodies of ore, containing the silver, lead and zinc that's made fortunes in this remote outback city.

The following day we toured the Flying Doctors base and visited the town’s quirky monument to the lives of bandsmen lost in the sinking of the Titanic. Even though none of the bandsmen were Australian, their memorial in Stuart Park was completed less than two years after the disaster, in December 1912. It was a poignant reminder that tragic events impact every generation, each with its own 9/11 moment.

We then ventured out to the ghost town of Silverton. Once a booming silver mining town, its abandoned buildings and their restored facades are now renowned for starring in iconic Aussie films like Mad Max 2 and The Adventures of Priscilla. Most of the town's buildings are long gone.  However, a handful of lovingly restored structures dot an otherwise barren, gently sloping plateau. It's one of the oddest places I've ever visited in Australia.

After visiting Silverton, we drove to the nearby Mundi Mundi Lookout. Although back then it was called the Edge of the World, for good reason, as it sits on the rim of the Barrier Ranges. Beyond the hills the road winds down to a plateau that stretches to the horizon in an unbroken plain of barren red dirt. You really do feel like you’re standing at the edge of the world with eternity unfolding before you. I’ve since requested that a portion of my ashes be scattered here when I die.

From Broken Hill, it was onward to the Murray River. We drove into Wentworth and made our way to the confluence of the Darling and Murry Rivers in time to witness a spectacular sunset. Even now, decades later, I still consider the photo we took as one of my all-time favourites. We then stopped for the night in Mildura. 

The following morning, we booked ourselves a river cruise on the Paddle Steamer (PS) Melbourne. This vessel started life in Koondrook on the River Murray in 1912. Built for the Victorian Government as a work boat, the Melbourne was once fitted with a huge winch that was used for hauling fallen trees and snags from the river. This kept the main channel open throughout the year for other boats. 

The PS Melbourne was restored and converted for the tourist trade in 1996. Today it’s licensed to carry 300 passengers. Incredibly, as a flat bottom boat, it can safely navigate in water only four feet deep. However, our tour spent a relaxing two hours in much deeper channels sailing down through Mildura's Lock 11 and back. Along the way we passed the Melbourne’s sister ship, the Rothbury MV. 

Afterwards, we drove out of town to the local Yabbi farm where an enthusiastic farmhand gave a private tour. It was fascinating to learn how these freshwater crayfish are cultivated. They take two years to reach a commercial size of at least 10-15cm. The secret to optimal growth is to keep the water at a constant temperature between 23C to 25C year-round. Sadly, the farm at Gol Gol has long since disappeared.  I looked for it to no avail when Garry returned to Mildura in 2021.

From Mildura we drove directly to Wagga Wagga, stopping briefly in Hay and Narrandera to stretch our legs. This was easily our longest scheduled drive, taking more than six hours and covering more than 550km. However, Wagga was little more than an overnight pitstop on our way to Canberra.

The next morning we carried on to the ACT, stopping briefly in Gundagai to check out the famous Dog on a Tucker Box statue. This was my second visit to Gundagai. I'd first stopped here while driving to Portland, Victoria for an Easter weekend break in 1990.

Canberra was our final overnight stop. Enda and I did the usual tourist thing, visiting Parliament and venturing up Mount Ainslie to marvel at the city’s carefully planned layout. We then drove back to Sydney via Goulburn and its iconic Big Merino. In six days we’d driven more than 2,700km and ticked off many of New South Wales’s most iconic outback experiences.

I’ve never been back to Broken Hill. However, I am keen to return and drive north to Tibooburra. This remote town near the Queensland border has always captured my imagination. It regularly reports the state’s hottest daily temperatures. Hence, I’m dying to see what's out there. Tibooburra is also close to Camerons Corner, a roadhouse that sits on the tripartite border point for South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales. Watch this space!