About

ABOUT
ilovebrokenhill.com , was first published on 8 December 2011 by Jane Deany. My blog is all about the famous outback Australian National Heritage Listed City named Broken Hill, located in the state of New South Wales. I first visited #BrokenHill in 2002 and have returned many times since then. ilovebrokenhill.com will help you discover what's great about this historic mining city, where in the mid 1880's the line of lode, a rich ore body of silver, lead and zinc was found. You will find stories about anything related to Broken Hill.

Thursday 9 December 2021

10 year blog anniversary today - 8 December 2021

The heading says it all. December 8 is the blog's 10 year anniversary. I have not visited Broken Hill for three years. I did have two good trips in 2018 and spent about 5 weeks altogether then. The last two years obviously have been all too hard with COVID-19 issues.

You can see the published date as well as evidence of how many posts I have done over the last ten years, that being 343 posts.

I confess I have not blogged much lately, but overall, 34.3 posts per year on average is pretty regular, especially considering I live in Melbourne!



I'm keen to visit in 2022. See you soon I hope. 

Broken Hill is in the federal electorate of Parkes

When I first visited Broken Hill in 2002 and for years after that, the Silver City aka #BrokenHill was in the federal electorate of Farrer. Fast forward to the 2016 federal election and the electorate of Parkes included Broken Hill.

Mark Coulton is the local MP. He is a member of the National Party and has held the seat since 2007.

I mention all this as we have a federal election coming up in just under six months. And what have I been doing during much of the lockdown over the last two years? I've been following politics more closely than ever.

I am based in the Kooyong electorate. The local member is the federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg. I expect the next six months are going to be full of fun and games, for want of a better description.

The map below is still the current electoral map for Parkes.

There have been changes in Victoria where we have gained an electorate called Hawke (yes, after Bob Hawke). So Victoria now has 39 electorates. There have been quite a lot of boundary changes in Victoria with the redistribution process, as there has been population movement around the state.

WA will lose an electorate as Liberal held Stirling is disappearing. WA will therefore have 15 electorates rather than 16, from the next election.

NSW has no change in the number of federal electorates which remains at 47.



Tuesday 8 December 2020

Broken hill in the news lately

Broken Hill features in "The Saturday Age", Traveller supplement
Melbourne's "The Saturday Age" featured Broken Hill last Saturday, 5 December 2020,
on page 5, in the Traveller supplement. The article may have been in the sister publication "The Sydney Morning Herald" also, not sure about that as I don't have a copy.

I hope the article spurs more people to head up for a visit in the coming weeks and months, especially now the borders are open!

As an experienced visitor, three days minimum is a suitable time frame, preferably longer. You could keep yourself busy for a week or so without a problem. There's a lot to see and I still haven't seen all the attractions, and I've been visiting for years.

Here's a link to the traveller.com.au website which has the same article, which shows it was originally published back in October 2020.

The Barrier Daily Truth makes the news
Recently ABC's "Australian Story" explained the dire situation of Broken Hill's local newspaper, "The Barrier Daily Truth". The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the bottom line due to the loss of advertising revenue. The paper went from a six day per week publication Monday-Saturday, to a once a week offering from late March 2020. It is publishing on Wednesdays and Saturdays at present.

ilovebrokenhill.com
Today is the ninth anniversary of my ilovebrokenhill.com blog. The pandemic has kept me away this year. I look forward to visiting again soon. It's been two years since my last visit! In 2018 I enjoyed two visits, and spent a total of over a month in the city. And what a great city it is.

As my blog says, I love Broken Hill!

Friday 8 November 2019

Anniversary of first visit is today

My first visit to Broken Hill was seventeen years ago today. I have visited many times since then, but not so far this year. I intend to change that situation ASAP.

Mind you, I visited twice last year, and was there for about a month in total and had, as usual, a fab time.

I see that the Lifeline annual art exhibition is still on, and it's the 30th annual exhibition no less. The exhibition runs until 8 December.

Karrie Lannstrom has an exhibition via Broken Hill Art Exchange (BHAE), as does John 'Jacko' Alty.

Karrie's exhibition is titled "Ocean dreaming in the HeArt of the Hill. It's being exhibited in the Kitchen Gallery at BHAE.

Jacko's major work "River of Time" is displayed in the old saddlery of the Grand Guesthouse, which is presently part of the BHAE headquarters.

Both exhibitions finish this weekend.

See link to BHAE for further details.

Cheers, Jane Deany


Saturday 18 August 2018

Muriel Hunter a Broken Hill midwife in the making, and a 2018 Heywire winner

I learned about NSW indigenous Australian Muriel Hunter on a recent Landline episode on the fabulous ABC.

Muriel was one of the group of 2018 'Heywire' winners.

Her family background is from a large family in the Barkindji and Wonkamarra tribes in the Wilcannia and Bourke regions of north central New South Wales.

At age six, she, together with five of her six siblings, was taken into foster care in Broken Hill.

She poignantly says "I thought I'd done something wrong."

I won't spoil her story, which you can find by following this link to the story which appears on the ABC website's 'heywire' section 

http://www.abc.net.au/heywire/heywire-winner-muriel-hunter-broken-hill-nsw/9156412

I found her story inspiring and you may too. You can see her telling her story in a brief two or so minute clip, as well as read about her by following the above link.

After some challenging times, she is well on the way to realising her career dreams to become a nurse and midwife, so as to help her community.

I love stories like that.

Heywire has been running since 1998, so twenty years as of this date. It aims to give young Australians the chance to tell a story about their life in their regional town, and potentially 'win a money-can’t-buy experience' (quoting the ABC's heywire website).

Cheers,

Jane Deany

Saturday 12 May 2018

Broken Hill art gallery list updated on ilovebrokenhill ... see footer

A section of the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery
The Broken Hill (and Silverton) art galleries list has been updated on my ilovebrokenhill website.

See the footer below. 

Please scroll to bottom of the site for an up to date list of all the galleries in #BrokenHill and #Silverton.

There are over 25 galleries. There could even be more which you may stumble upon. New ones seem to spring up quite often.

As of this date, the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery is hosting several art exhibitions. The gallery has an active exhibition schedule. See their website for details.

The West Darling Arts at the Town Hall Facade space has a current exhibition and the Broken Hill Art Exchange (BHAE) has just moved to the Grand Guesthouse this week. The BHAE is just finishing setting up after their move, so not ready for visitors for a week or so. All three exhibition spaces are in #BrokenHill's main street - Argent Street. See my gallery list for the exact addresses.

Enjoy.

Jane Deany

Tuesday 8 May 2018

The beauty and colour of Broken Hill

Browne Shaft Headframe
Browne's Shaft Headframe at Junction Mine
I have just spent five days wandering around the heart of Broken Hill. The city is buzzing with energy and it's great to be back. My last visit was July 2017.

Renewable energy projects are on the go in a number of locations.

A water pipeline from Wentworth to Broken Hill commenced construction earlier in 2018, and when finished at the end of the year, will create water security for the city.

Many houses have new roofs courtesy of a hailstorm back in November 2016, so although a shock at the time, a lot of good has come out of that natural weather event.

There are lots of jobs too for the roofing crews. The pipeline project is said to create 150 local jobs, with a peak construction workforce of around 500 jobs. Mining related jobs are also cropping up, as there is still quite a bit of mine activity. Maybe more on that another time.

I came up from my hometown Melbourne to catch the tail end of the inaugural Heritage Festival which ran for two weeks.

It was fantastic to hear the fascinating talk given by Professor Simon Molesworth AO, QC on the final evening of the event last Friday. The setting for the talk was the historic Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery situated in Argent Street, Broken Hill's iconic main street. Prof. Molesworth was one of the key drivers in helping #BrokenHill to become the first National Heritage Listed City in January 2015.

I then took the opportunity to attend the biannual two day Agfair at the Broken Hill racecourse. With exhibitor numbers up on 2016, and coming from far afield and locally, my first Agfair was a lot of fun. There was a sold out fundraiser ball on the final night. The charity being the Royal Flying Doctor Service. I missed out on that one with all 500 tickets sold. Next time perhaps.

There seems to almost always be an event on in Broken Hill. That's one of the many reasons "I love Broken Hill."

There is so much happening in the city it is hard to know what to write about. So I will save it for another time.

I will just finish by saying that the weather has been glorious every day - low twenties. Sunny mostly, still, and beautiful clear starry nights.

This afternoon was yet again a fabulous opportunity to take some more photos. See my photo of Browne's Shaft Headframe at Junction Mine.

Cheers, Jane Deany

Saturday 17 February 2018

One month to go to the famous Broken Hill St Patrick's Races 17 March 2018

Every so often the St Pat's Races in Broken Hill, occurs on the actual day of St Patrick's Day and 2018 is one of those years. I was there the last time it happened.

So start planning your green gear!

The event is one of only 2 annual horse race meetings in the Silver City aka #BrokenHill.

And for a bit of unrelated trivia. I was just looking at where my online audience was right now, that is Saturday evening 17 February and surprisingly, there was activity in Honduras! Hi to everyone in Honduras. Also hello to viewers in Germany and of course Australia.

Cheers,
JD @ ilbh

Wednesday 14 February 2018

I love Broken Hill, so happy Valentine's Day 2018 #BrokenHill

Thinking of you today #BrokenHill on this day about love. You're hot! Well not too bad today 15 - 33 degrees celsius. Sounds very pleasant.

Changing the subject, to a heavier note (sorry), but just wanted to share this idea pronto.

I came across this great suggestion by Scott Hammond of Broken Hill Lifeline on Twitter via ABC (when searching what was going on in Broken Hill at the moment #BrokenHill) - 



That says it all.
JD @ ilbh

Monday 8 January 2018

Happy New Year Broken Hill from Melbourne blogger Jane Deany

Happy New Year Broken Hill from Melbourne blogger Jane Deany.


Yarra River at #sunset
As the sun set last night, by the Yarra River (left) at the end of my street, it was good to be in Melbourne at this time of year, when many people are away.

But I'm looking forward to my next #BrokenHill visit as soon as I can get back up there. After all, it's only an 840kms drive.

I very much enjoyed my last visit in July 2017.

There have been at least two changes since then, which I'm very keen to experience upon my next trip.

The Silly Goat has moved to a newer, bigger premises; and

The Broken Earth Cafe has re-opened, after being shut for a long time.

No doubt there are many other changes.

I hope the summer isn't too hot for you all.

And, in my annual 'plug', it's a great time to visit this fabulous outback, heritage listed city, (Australia's first heritage listed city) during the school holidays.

Why? You will have a great time! I always do. And, it's only about a day or so drive from Melbourne, Adelaide (513kms approx.), or Sydney (1144kms approx.). You can fly, or catch the train - 'Indian Pacific' from either Adelaide or Sydney.

Cheers,

Jane Deany

Friday 8 December 2017

Same sex marriage receives royal assent today

Earlier today on 8 December 2017 the Australian Governor General Peter Cosgrove gave Royal Assent to the Same Sex Marriage bill after yesterday's historic vote in federal parliament and was passed into law. 

So whether you're in Broken Hill or anywhere in Australia, same sex marriage will now be legal.

At midnight (in one minute) the law will take complete effect.

The first marriages can take place in the second week of January 2018 as a couple needs to lodge a notice of intended marriage, a month before the marriage.

#historic #ssm #samesexmarriage #love

Cheers,

Jane Deany

I still love Broken Hill and my blog will continue into it's seventh year

Six years ago today I started www.ilovebrokenhill.com and you know what I still love visiting #BrokenHill and talking about this fabulous outback city.

Stay tuned as the coming year will be a more active one after taking a little time out from my regular blogging.

Cheers,

Jane Deany

Tuesday 18 July 2017

Drag Bingo yes, you heard it #dragbingo. Where else but #BrokenHill

Shelita Buffet AKA Brendan Barlow (L) and
Christina Kneesup AKA Chris Harvey (R) calling
the bingo numbers at drag bingo in Broken Hill
Drag Bingo - Broken Hill

There's a regular thing happening monthly on a Tuesday night in downtown #BrokenHill.

What you might ask? It's 'drag bingo'.

Where you might ask? At The Palace Hotel Broken Hill no less. Or should I say - no surprise.

Tonight it was a full house and the room was buzzing and very colourful language was flying as the #bingo numbers were called.

If you're not into bingo, it might still be worth a look for something different to do. Everyone seemed to be having a great time.

Don't worry if you forgot your drag outfit, that's optional. The number callers more than make up for it.

I recognised local Palace Hotel staff member Brendan Barlow (red head) AKA Shelita Buffet. Her 'fellow' bingo caller (assistant?) is Chris Harvey AKA Christina Kneesup.

Cheers, Jane Deany

Saturday 8 July 2017

Pro Hart Outback Art Prize exhibition #BrokenHill until 13 August 2017

The winners of the annual Pro Hart Outback Art Prize were announced on the exhibition's opening night Friday 30 June 2017, and the exhibition runs until 13 August 2017.

Congratulations to the winning artist Abdul-Rahman Abdullah with his distinctive piece 'Footprint'.



Kristin Haskett's 'untitled' work won second prize.

Andre Schmidt won the encouragement award with 'River-Flats Evening'.

This year the judge was art journalist Kon Gouriotis.

Two hundred and sixty four entrants 'addressed' the theme 'outback'. From these, 43 finalists were chosen.

Here's a link the ABC Broken Hill's report about the opening night. I was lucky enough to attend the awards opening night two years ago and it is one of the social calendar highlights for #BrokenHill.

The prize has been renamed from 'Outback Open Art Prize' to 'Pro Hart Outback Art Prize' to honour Pro Hart and his family's contribution to the arts. Pro's wife Mrs Raylee J Hart and the Broken Hill City Council generously support the prize.

Cheers, Jane Deany

Monday 3 July 2017

Our Languages Matter - NAIDOC 2017 in #BrokenHill and #Australia wide

2017 NAIDOC week has begun. It runs from 2 - 9 July 2017.

This year's theme - 'Our languages matter'.

"The importance, resilience and richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages will be the focus of national celebrations marking NAIDOC Week 2017."




Cheers,

Jane Deany