2007 and it's back to Broken Hill again ...

After the brief, second trip back to Broken Hill in 2005-2006, I was keen to go again and this time stay longer. 

The Route

Heading off via the historic gold mining city of Bendigo (Vic) for an art exhibition (barbed wire sculptures by an artist friend of mine’s brother Barry McLoughlan), it was then on to Mildura for a night.  My travel companion and I arrived in Broken Hill on Sunday 24^th June 2007.

Winter in the outback can be cold …

It was winter this time and many visitors are a little surprised to find how cold Broken Hill can be at this time of year.  But the sky is still very often a clear beutiful blue.  It’s typical of many inland desert towns and cities.  As well as look around the town in more detail this time, I had another friend to show around who’d never been to Broken Hill.  I enjoy being a ‘tour guide’.  I revisited many of the places I’d been to on the last visit, partly to show my friend around, and partly because I enjoyed going there again myself.



Broken Hill Post Office
corner Argent and Chloride Streets

Unique Street Names

The heart of town is situated on Argent Street, which is just one of the many street names based on the names of various mineral related matter.  Some examples included Oxide, Sulphide, Chloride, Mercury, Cobalt, Blende, Beryl, Garnet, Zebina, Bromide, Mica and Crystal Streets.



The Palace Hotel
corner Argent and Sulphide Streets

Argent Street is a vibrant strip of shops, cafes, accommodation venues, clubs, banks, real estate agents and the post office, just to name a few.  The Broken Regional Art Gallery and the famous Mario’s Palace Hotel (now known as The Palace Hotel (Broken Hill) after new owners took over in 2009) are also situated in this strip.



Silverton Hotel and Mad Max vehicle

Silverton

We also visited Silverton (my second trip there), a town some 25 kilometers north west of Broken Hill.  It has a variety of historic sites and art galleries to visit.  There’s the famous Silverton Hotel, a wonderful café with very tasty food with some unique dishes, an old gaol and a school museum. 

I stayed in Broken Hill until the 4^th July on this trip, my friend had left on 28^th June.  Knowing our separate schedules we’d both taken our own cars.

More stories to follow ...

Cheers, Jane D