Broken Hill to walk 10 September 2012 to highlight suicide prevention

Broken Hill Lifeline has organised an “Out of the Shadows” walk to mark tomorrow’s World Suicide Prevention Day - 10 September 2012.

The walks are designed to reinforce the themes surrounding Lifeline’s national response to suicide – hope, recovery, reflection and prevention.

Details of the walk are –

Date/Time:    6.15am Monday 10 September 2012

 

Where:           Pro Hart’s giant ant sculpture, behind Lion’s Park, opposite the Broken Hill Visitor Information Centre corner Blende and Bromide Streets.

The easy (and brisk if you feel like it) 500 or so metre walk around the CBD will conclude at the Town Square in Argent Street, corner Sulphide Street, Broken Hill.

Volunteers and staff at the Town Square will be selling bacon and egg roll breakfast for $4.00.

Lifeline BH manager Scott Hammond said he hoped the people of Broken Hill will show their support for such a worthy cause.

This is the 10^th annual World Suicide Prevention Day which is an initiative of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO)

If you are feeling suicidal contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 without delay!

Please stay safe, cheers Jane D

Broken Hill Local Government Elections 8 September 2012

Local Government

(NOTE: PRELIMINARY RESULTS, NOT INCLUDING PREFERENCES WHICH WILL {AND DID} ALTER RESULTS - SEE POST DATED 14 SEPTEMBER 2012 LINK HERE FOR FINAL RESULTS)

It was a big day in Broken Hill with the Local Government elections being held in the city today.  Stories, interviews and letters to the local paper the ‘Barrier Daily Truth’ have been appearing for months.  The elections are in fact being run in councils across the state of New South Wales.



Mayor Wincen Cuy courtesy
Broken Hill Council website

Unofficially, it appears very likely that the immediate past Mayor Wincen Cuy has been re-elected as the Mayor.  Preferences however are still to be counted.

I know it's premature but I think it's pretty likely congratulations to Mayor Cuy.

There are 9 Councillor positions available plus the Mayor Councillor.

(There is one retiring councillor - Neville GASMIER - who is not re-contesting his position.)

As at very late this evening on the actual day of the election, the candidates are listed below in order of their number of votes today.  Names in bold are existing Councillors.

(NOTE - ALTHOUGH THIS IS THE ORDER AT THIS DATE, THE FINAL RESULTS SAW A DIFFERENT OUTCOME (SEE FINAL RESULTS IN A LATER POST DATED 14 SEPTEMBER, SEE LINK)

As at 11.58pm Saturday 8 September 2012 - 

Darriea TURLEY; Dave GALLAGHER; John GROENENDIJK; Peter BLACK; Ray STEER; Christine ADAMS; Branko LICUL; Alan TUCKER; Josh COWDREY; Marion BROWNE; (Current Deputy Mayor) Robert (Bob) ALGATE; Tom KENNEDY; Sherri KUERSCHNER; Marie WECKER; Jim RICHARDS; Andrew OLESNICKY; Shorty REVILLE; Dove HOWARD; Jim NOLAN; Larry ANGELL; Pim SCHAAIJ; Carol ROWLANDS; Lee BIASIO.

I will publish the final results as soon as they are available.

Note the final results are now available and can be seen here and Mayor Cuy did retain the Mayoral position.

Cheers, Jane D

Broken Hill’s Desert Equinox Solar Art Exhibition September 2012

Thunderbolt by Bonita Ely
@ Coles, 234 Patton St Broken Hill

Art Scene
Between September 1^st and 23^rd 2012, Broken Hill is hosting a Desert Equinox Solar Art Exhibition.  The event is timed to coincide with the 2012 spring equinox.

Approximately 26 site-specific solar powered artworks by Australian and International artists can be found scattered across ten sites in Broken Hill.  Artists have come from Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Peru and the UK.  There are also several Australian artisits involved.



Bells Milk Bar &
Museum
source commons.wikimedia.org

The exhibition opened yesterday at 5.00pm, 1st September at Bells Milk Bar & Museum (pictured) in South Broken Hill.  From there one can circulate through to the other artworks on display.  Nearby artworks are installed at Patton Park, on South Coles corner and the empty block next to the South Broken Hill Hotel.

Sue Thomas from Desert Knowledge Australia and the Broken Hill Art Exchange, is the Equinox organiser.  She noted some of the other sites include the Broken Earth Café and the Olive Grove beside the South Broken Hill overpass.  Allan Giddy, who is the Equinox curator/director and whose exhibit has been set up in the Olive Grove said “the scale and potential of the exhibition makes it very exciting”.  Allan was quoted in the 'Barrier Daily Truth' on 27 August 2012 saying "Broken Hill was chosen because of its reputation as a supporter of the arts and for its arid surroundings and abundance of sunshine."  Georgie Payne-Loy is the Exhibitions Manager. 


The event is proudly sponsored/supported by power company AGL, The Environmental Research Initiative for Art (ERIA), College of Fine Arts - University of New South Wales, The Australian Research Council, Sydney Olympic Park Authority, Community Inc., Broken Hill Community Foundation, The Broken Hill Art Exchange, Desert Knowledge Australia - Outback Business Networks and Alco - Battery Sales.

The exhibition is thought to be the first of its kind.

 
For an exhibition map, catalogue and more information visit www.desertequinox.com

Margaret Paul reported for the ABC News on 30 August 2012 the following story "Solar festival to light up Broken Hill" about the event see here.

Noah Schultz-Byard of ABC Broken Hill filed the following report on 31 August 2012 titled "Silver City lights up with solar exhibition" see here.

Sounds fascinating.  Get the camera out!

Cheers, Jane D

Broken Hill’s Tour de Foodies dines again Thursday 30th August 2012

I wrote a post about Broken Hill’s new dining out club a couple of months ago - 18th June to be exact.  The group is still going strong and are planning their next monthly restaurant “crawl” for this Thursday 30^th August.

The Musician's Club courtesy of the club

Entrée will be at Dunes Restaurant at the Southern Cross Hotel – 357 Cobalt Street Broken Hill, followed by main course at the Musician’s Club in Crystal Street (opposite the Broken Hill station) and will finish off with dessert around the corner at Alfrescos 397 Argent Street (corner of Oxide Street).  It kicks off at 6pm and a bus is usually arranged to drive people around to the venues.

Again it sounds like a fun night.  You can track updates etc… via the lively facebook page “A Guide to dining out in Broken Hill” … “Tour de Foodies”. 

Enjoy the night …

Cheers, Jane D

Broken Hill and me, eight months on ...



It has been just over eight months since I started my new ‘journey’ with Broken Hill as the destination.  On 8^th December 2011 I wrote my first post about Broken Hill.  It was my first post about anything at all on the internet.

I read/scanned eight books about blogging “how to” etc…  One thing they stressed was that you must be pretty passionate about your subject.  So I thought, I want to start a blog so what will my topic be and obviously, you guessed it, it was to be about Broken Hill and what I love about it.



Radio Station 2BH

I have visited the city twice so far this year – 2012 - and have been to Broken Hill around 10 times or so altogether.  I have tried to write about positive news stories about this fascinating arty historic mining town/city (which hasn’t been hard to do).  An e-subscription to the newsy local paper “The Barrier Daily Truth” has helped me to keep up with what’s going on in town.  I have also pestered the staff at the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery and the Visitor Information Centre.  They have all been very helpful.

Today is my 50^th post/article so I am being a bit self-indulgent in writing this piece which is a little more focused on me, but it still in essence is about Broken Hill.

My readers come from all over the world.  The greatest readership is based in the United States of America, followed by Australia, Israel, Brazil, Germany, Latvia, Russia, France, China and the United Kingdom, so it is quite diverse I’m pleased to say.

I have kept it non-commercial, i.e. I don’t earn money from it.  But I do earn self-satisfaction that I have kept it up.

A view of Broken Hill and moi

As I pass this mini eight month milestone, I thought I would ask if anyone has a particular topic they would like me to research about the city?  If you do, I would love to hear your suggestions (keep it nice please).

In future posts I plan to write some more about the various attractions around the city and a little bit more about mining than I have, especially since this is a significant part of the history of the city.  Artist profiles will also be a feature.

I will do a real estate report as well once I find an agent who is happy to contribute.  I met with one in January and discussed the possibility and they said they were interested in the idea.  I do hope so, as there are some really lovely properties to be found in this city and I think there is an interesting story to be told on that subject.  I might even buy a property at the “Hill” myself one day, I have certainly inspected quite a few very charming homes and even some pubs which were on the market as well.  One day ….??

I look forward to post number 51 which will be coming soon.

Cheers, Jane D

The Broken Hill Time Traveller’s Convention tonight 11 August 2012

West Darling Hotel 1 Jan 2006 yes it is 40 degrees

Jack Marx is holding a ‘public event’ so facebook tells us.  An article in yesterday’s 'Barrier Daily Truth' (BDT) gives a little more information about this quirky event being held in Broken Hill at the West Darling Hotel, corner Oxide and Argent Streets. 

The Broken Hill Time Traveller’s Convention is on tonight Saturday 11^th August 2012 commencing at 7pm and rsvp’s aren’t necessary.

The BDT article explained that it’s not the first time such an event has been organised as in May 2005 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students apparently held the world’s first Time Traveller Convention.  No time travellers were reported to have turned up.  Jack Marx believes this is because you couldn’t attend that event unless you had rsvp’d and it would be impossible to rsvp to a past event if you are from the future!

 

Marx told the BDT that the event ‘will feature music designed to make future folk feel “comfortable” and’ there’s ‘the possibility of some very special guests’ which I think adds up to a potentially intriguing night.  What the heck, sounds like it could be fun.  It will certainly be unusual and who knows, anything could happen.

Feel free to give us an update about how the night went.  Did you see any blasts from the past or find some friends of the future?

Cheers, Jane D

ABC Broken Hill talks to Rick Ball winner Outback Open Art Prize

Cropped photo of Rick by a
family friend of his from Colombia

Art Scene

See link here to read the ABC Broken Hill article by Cherie McDonald about Rick Ball, the winner of the 2012 Outback Open Art Prize, awarded last Friday 3^rd August 2012. 

(The link above no longer appears to be working correctly, so try this link here to see the basic text of the above article, or search for 'Rick Ball' after going to the ABC Broken Hill website via the above link which has been redirected to ABC SA Country Hour).

See my post of 7^th August 2012 for further details about this recent important local event.

Rick has now provided me with a high resolution image (see below) of his winning artwork -

“The Land - Broken Hill and Darling River”. 

It really is quite a striking artwork.  Very impressive and a worthy winner.  Once again, well done Rick Ball.

Cheers, Jane D

Dementia and Carers Art Exhibition - Inspiring the Grey Matter

Art Scene

There is a lot happening at the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery at the moment, and alongside the Outback Open Art Prize exhibition is the Dementia and Carers Art Exhibition “Inspiring the Grey Matter” which officially opens today Wednesday 8^th August 2012 at 11am.

Broken Hill Mayor Wincen Cuy is the special guest and he will open the exhibition and morning tea is provided.

RSVP / details Mel at Far West Dementia Advisory Service, telephone 1300 005 060

This exhibition also runs from 4^th August until 23^rd September 2012 at

Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery

404-408 Argent Street, Broken Hill NSW 2880, Australia

Opening hours are 10 am – 5 pm daily.  Entry is by gold coin donation.

It sounds like it will be well worth supporting.

Cheers, Jane D

2012 Annual Outback Open Art Prize Winner Rick Ball of Broken Hill

Art Scene

Broken Hill artist Rick Ball has won the coveted 2012 Outback Open Art Prize after coming runner-up in 2009.  The thrilled, well known local artist is in high demand as people seek to hear his story about his impressive oil and pigment on linen winning diptych (2 panel) piece “The Land - Broken Hill and Darling River”.  The story was front page news on today’s Barrier Daily Truth, and I believe ABC Broken Hill is ‘working up’ a radio piece as well.



Rick Ball with "The Land - Broken Hill and Darling River" (photo by Cathy Farry)



The annual “Outback Open Art Prize” has been offered since 1994.  Rick has won the acquisitive $15,000 prize, and in return, the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery has acquired the winning work for display in its already impressive collection.

Deb Wall from the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery judged the competition which saw Northern Territory (Utopia region) artist Margaret Loy Pula win the non-acquisitive Second Prize of $2,500 with her acrylic on linen painting “Anatye” (Bush Potato) and Merimbula NSW artist Kathryn Hede win the $800 Encouragement Award with her oil on canvas “Rainy Landscape”.

As noted previously the exhibition runs from 4^th August until 23^rd September 2012 at the 

Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery -

404-408 Argent Street, Broken Hill NSW 2880, Australia

Opening hours are 10 am – 5 pm daily.  Entry is by gold coin donation.

Darren Parker from the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery kindly emailed me the catalogue of the 38 shortlisted works – some really impressive pieces (thanks Darren, I appreciate your help).

Congratulations to the prize winners, especially Rick.

Cheers, Jane D

Outback Open Art Prize Exhibition 4 August to 23 September 2012

Art Scene
It is time once again for the annual “Outback Open Art Prize”, known as the highlight of the cultural calendar in Broken Hill for many years.  There is the shortlist exhibition and the prestigious acquisitive first prize (valued at $15,000).

The exhibition opens Friday night 3^rd August 2012 at 6.30 pm at –

Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery

404-408 Argent Street, Broken Hill NSW 2880, Australia

 

Janine Mackintosh Droughts and Flooding Rains 2011
Acacia Pycnantha (Golden Wattle), twigs, linen thread,
& bookbinders gum on canvas © Image courtesy the artist

The judge is Deb Wall from the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery.  She will also officially open the exhibition.

The exhibition runs from -
4^th August - 23^rd September 2012.

Opening hours are 10 am – 5 pm daily.  Entry is by gold coin donation.

 

The 2011 prize-winner was Janine Mackintosh with her piece – pictured – Droughts and Flooding Rains, 2011. 

The second prize is non-acquisitive $2,500, and there is also an $800 encouragement prize awarded.  Total prize pool $18,300.  Judging occurs on the 3^rd August.  The judge will look for works that reflect the spirit and diversity of the Australian outback.

The prize is once again proudly sponsored by Mrs Raylee J Hart and the Broken Hill City Council.

Also running concurrently is an exhibition by Fabian Muir entitled “Russia”.

As usual, I wish I could be there but work in Melbourne doesn’t allow me to visit the city at this time of year.  Good luck to the entrants and do try and get along to the exhibition I am sure it will be well worth it.

Cheers, Jane D

R.M.Williams shoots Spring/Summer 2013 catalogue in Broken Hill

The lavishly shot R.M.Williams Spring/Summer 2013 catalogue has featured Broken Hill, Silverton and surrounds as the setting.

Five models were used for the shoot, and included Shadae Magson the 2010 Miss Universe Australia finalist, Ashley Hart, sister of well known Sports Illustrated cover girl Jessica, and Kris Smith (Australian singer Danii Minogue’s ex partner (yes that’s Kylie’s sister).  The catalogue’s photographer was Nick Leary.

R.M.Williams – The Bush Outfitter, was established in 1932 by Reginald Murray Williams AO, CMG.  It is an iconic Australia clothing brand.  The company is world renowned for Australian handcrafted boots, in addition to shoes, clothing and accessories.

I have a pair of their famous Craftsmen boots, they’re fantastic and considered pretty stylish down-under, and almost essential if you live on the land.

Check out the catalogue online here.  It’s a very substantial production – 154 pages.  The company is celebrating their 80^th anniversary.

Congratulations R.M.Williams.

Cheers Jane D

Indian Pacific, Australia’s trans-continental train visits Broken Hill

One of the special points about Broken Hill is the fact that one of Australia’s great rail journeys, via the Indian Pacific, passes through Broken Hill on its trans-continental trip.

The old Broken Hill station, now a museum

The three day/three night trip begins in Perth (the Indian Ocean) then travels to the significant mining town of Kalgoorlie some +/- 10 hours away.  The train then continues eastward for 30 hours or so to Adelaide.  After about 2.5 hours in Adelaide, it -turns north east to visit Broken Hill some 6.5 hours away.  After another brief stop there (2 hours, the station is in the heart of town so there is time for a quick look around the city).  The final leg, some 16 hours, sees the train travel east to its destination in Sydney (the Pacific Ocean).



Indian Pacific courtesy GSR



I have done some of the trip from Kalgoorlie to Adelaide in 2006 and that was a really wonderful experience.

The rail company involved is the Great Southern Rail (GSR).  This company and the Indian Pacific itself have been in the news recently but for the wrong reason unfortunately, although there is a happy ending to this tale.  GSR, earlier this year had reduced its service from twice a week to once a week, which is not unusual as this happens periodically in the off-peak season of January and February.  However, this year GSR extended the reduction to August and November.  However, GSR had recently decided to alter the service to be only once a fortnight in the coming December 2012 and January 2012, a move which saw the Broken Hill tourism industry and the City Council being quite critical of the proposal.  Happily I read in the “Barrier Daily Truth” today that the service will remain weekly, which a lot better than fortnightly.

Indian Pacific courtesy GSR

If considering doing part or all of the trip there are several classes available, seats (that do recline somewhat), red class – sleeper in own cabin but not including food (food can be purchased separately and there is a bar also) or gold class including cabin (single or double) plus food which includes full silver service and a special bar car as well.

I treated myself to the gold class, well worth it if you can afford it.  Amazing scenery.

The fact it visits only a handful of cities which includes Broken Hill tells you that the city is a special place indeed.

Cheers, Jane D

First meeting of Silverton Wind Farm Community Consultative Committee 12 July 2012

Silverton Municipal Chambers

Further to my other two recent posts about the future establishment of the Silverton Wind Farm near Broken Hill, please note that today sees the first meeting of the Silverton Wind Farm Community Consultative Committee (SCCC).  AGL, the company involved, has established the SCCC which is open to interested members of the community.  AGL’s general manager for power development, Scott Thomas and manager of solar development Doug Landfear will be in attendance.  There is no set agenda.  The meeting details are as follows -  

Date:          12 July 2012

Venue:       Silverton Municipal Chambers

Time:         6.00 pm

Aim

It is a voluntary committee and as previously noted, “the aim of the Silverton Wind Farm CCC is to help strengthen the community engagement process so that community issues can be addressed appropriately.”  It is a voluntary committee (initially meeting monthly) which will include various stakeholder and community representatives who have demonstrated an interest or connection to the project.  The meetings are to discuss planning developments as well as community issues and concerns regarding the project.  It will also provide an opportunity for the local community to work with the AGL project team to find solutions.

It is part of AGL’s acknowledgement that there are (to quote their initial advertisement) “some community concerns regarding development of the Silverton Wind Farm.”

If you are interested in being involved the number to call (free) is –

1800 039 600  Silverton Wind Farm CCC Community Hotline and they will send you a nomination form as well as further details.  Neil Cooke, Manager Power Development is the contact.  He can also be reached on mobile  0402 059 855.

I am registered to be on their email list to be kept up to date with developments.  It’s a good way to be involved if you can’t physically be there.

Cheers, Jane D

Rex begins Broken Hill to Melbourne via Mildura route 9 July 2012

Don’t forget the regional airline rex aka Regional Express commences their new service between Melbourne and Broken Hill via Mildura tomorrow 9 July 2012.

The service will run once a day, each way, Monday through Saturday.  The cost of a one way trip is approximately $225 including taxes/gst.

Flights will depart from Melbourne at 4.25 pm (eastern standard time – EST) and arrive in Broken Hill at 6.40pm (central standard time - CST).  The return flight from Broken Hill will depart at 8.20 am CST and arrive in Melbourne at 11.40 am EST.

The new service will be a real time saver as the drive from Melbourne to Broken Hill is some 840kms which is well over a 9 hour drive, realistically closer to 10 hours or more with the necessary pit stops.

There will also be an increase from two to three return flights a day from Sydney.

The Regional Express's press release can be seen here which includes timetable information on page 2.

Do give the new service a try and support this fantastic initiative.

Happy flying …

Cheers, Jane D