Day 14. Broken Heel.......
What a place Broken Hill turned out to be. We did not think we would be able to fill in our whole day, but just like that, it was over as quick as it began.
We started the day off, kids in the pool, Osky recovering from his 24 hour illness watching tv and us adults doing chores......clothes washing. Given it's summer and were in the outback and is was 38 degrees by 10 am, the washing was sure to dry quickly.
Leaving the washing to dry, we headed up the old stockpile to visit the Miners Memorial of Broken Hill. It was a very interesting read dating back to the late 1800s when mining first begun in Broken Hill. It is amazing to read the circumstances in which many of these mines passed away, from simple things like tetanus, falling down shafts and heart failure. Tens of men have deceased from heart failure - the youngest being a 18 year old only last year???.... It boggled our minds as to what was causing all these men to prematurely die from heart failure working in those mines. Research to be undertaken by myself to answer my unanswered questions. Never the less, we paid our respects, adminered the memorial and wandered around the exhibits admiring the blood, sweat and tears these men have and still do put in to mine for our everyday needs.
Leaving the miners memorial, we headed over to the Broken Hill Royal Flying Doctor Headquarters. What a great experience. The tour of the museum and the actual planes in the hangar were fantastic. We were told how in one year, the RFDS fly enough air miles to go to the moon and back 38 times!! simply stagerining. But after travelling just a tiny part of the NSW outback, we can appreciated that without this service people would die trying to access health care of all domains.
A drive out to Silverton and the Mundi Mundi planes was next.
Silverton is famous for the MAD MAX II movie and houses a museum for all things Mad Max. What a great place this turned out to be. The owners are mad fans of the show and we learnt that at the end of the filming for Mad Max II, after the old compound was blow up in the movie, they simply buried the wrecks of the cars, all the rubbish into the hole that was left behind after the explosion. The owners of the Museum go out on the private Aboriginal land (with permission from the elders of the land) regularly and dig up what they can and exhibit it for all to see.
From there it was onto the Mundi Mundi lookout. WOW WOW WOW, what a view to be had. Simply amazing view of the planes stretching out for hundreds of kilometers. Photos do not do this view justice.
A visit to the Palace hotel was on the cards in the late afternoon for a cold beer and a look. For those who aren't in the know, the move Priscilla Queen of the Desert was filmed right here in this pub.
Before sunset we headed out to the Living Desert Sculpture Trail. We were not sure what to expect, and were advised by the caravan park owners the best time of the day to view these sculptures was at dusk. So we headed out after dinner, the eldest child staying behind the immerse himself into the BBL Cricket. Upon arrival we were in awe! The sculptures were just spectacular; and as the sun began to set and the red earthy tones of the dirt and the sun reflected off against the sculptures, the scene was simply breathtaking. If you are ever out this way, we can not recommend highly enough that you come and experience it for yourself.
And just like that the day was over, with a pack up and prep for tomorrow's departure.
Blond, Kids and I decided that if we made an early start and managed to get to Cobar by 2pm or so, we would push on to Dubbo (covering 770 kms ) and pick up an extra two days in our trip.
Fingers crossed the road, weather and kids all align to allow this to happen.
See you all tomorrow.
We started the day off, kids in the pool, Osky recovering from his 24 hour illness watching tv and us adults doing chores......clothes washing. Given it's summer and were in the outback and is was 38 degrees by 10 am, the washing was sure to dry quickly.
Leaving the washing to dry, we headed up the old stockpile to visit the Miners Memorial of Broken Hill. It was a very interesting read dating back to the late 1800s when mining first begun in Broken Hill. It is amazing to read the circumstances in which many of these mines passed away, from simple things like tetanus, falling down shafts and heart failure. Tens of men have deceased from heart failure - the youngest being a 18 year old only last year???.... It boggled our minds as to what was causing all these men to prematurely die from heart failure working in those mines. Research to be undertaken by myself to answer my unanswered questions. Never the less, we paid our respects, adminered the memorial and wandered around the exhibits admiring the blood, sweat and tears these men have and still do put in to mine for our everyday needs.
Leaving the miners memorial, we headed over to the Broken Hill Royal Flying Doctor Headquarters. What a great experience. The tour of the museum and the actual planes in the hangar were fantastic. We were told how in one year, the RFDS fly enough air miles to go to the moon and back 38 times!! simply stagerining. But after travelling just a tiny part of the NSW outback, we can appreciated that without this service people would die trying to access health care of all domains.
A drive out to Silverton and the Mundi Mundi planes was next.
Silverton is famous for the MAD MAX II movie and houses a museum for all things Mad Max. What a great place this turned out to be. The owners are mad fans of the show and we learnt that at the end of the filming for Mad Max II, after the old compound was blow up in the movie, they simply buried the wrecks of the cars, all the rubbish into the hole that was left behind after the explosion. The owners of the Museum go out on the private Aboriginal land (with permission from the elders of the land) regularly and dig up what they can and exhibit it for all to see.
From there it was onto the Mundi Mundi lookout. WOW WOW WOW, what a view to be had. Simply amazing view of the planes stretching out for hundreds of kilometers. Photos do not do this view justice.
A visit to the Palace hotel was on the cards in the late afternoon for a cold beer and a look. For those who aren't in the know, the move Priscilla Queen of the Desert was filmed right here in this pub.
Before sunset we headed out to the Living Desert Sculpture Trail. We were not sure what to expect, and were advised by the caravan park owners the best time of the day to view these sculptures was at dusk. So we headed out after dinner, the eldest child staying behind the immerse himself into the BBL Cricket. Upon arrival we were in awe! The sculptures were just spectacular; and as the sun began to set and the red earthy tones of the dirt and the sun reflected off against the sculptures, the scene was simply breathtaking. If you are ever out this way, we can not recommend highly enough that you come and experience it for yourself.
And just like that the day was over, with a pack up and prep for tomorrow's departure.
Blond, Kids and I decided that if we made an early start and managed to get to Cobar by 2pm or so, we would push on to Dubbo (covering 770 kms ) and pick up an extra two days in our trip.
Fingers crossed the road, weather and kids all align to allow this to happen.
See you all tomorrow.
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