Australia here we come!

20/10/12

We left our rest area at 9.00am and had a tail wind all the way to Broken Hill. We drove around looking for the Visitor Information Centre and ended up parking in a back street because we couldn't find it. We went for a walk up the main street and asked the first person we met where the Information Centre was. We were only about 3 blocks away so we walked to it. The girls got as much information on the caravan parks as they could and then rang each one. They choose the Silverland Caravan Park.

We walked back to the cars and vans and and then drove to the caravan park. We set up and had lunch before we took a drive around town. There are many old miners' cottages and large stone buildings and most are in good condition. There are mines next to the main street but the city is surprisingly clean.

In our travels we found Bells Milk Bar which is a 1950's style milk bar. Everything is old and authentic in the shop but in good condition. A time machine could have transported the shop straight from 1954 to the present, that's how original it is. Mary-Anne and I each had a chocolate malted milk in an authentic large metal cup. I even got a paper straw with mine. There is a retro museum attached to the shop where original shop equipment is on display.

Our next stop after the milk bar was at Jack Absalom's Outback Art Gallery. I have all his DVD's and was excited, but not looking forward to, entering the gallery and possibly meeting him in person. I found his 30 year old Viscount caravan, featured in 'Journey to Lilyput', parked in an open shed up the side of the gallery building and walked to the end of the verandah to get a better look at it after pressing the doorbell. The girls followed me and when Mrs Alsalom opened the door there was no-one there to greet her. She must have thought we were up to no good when she found where we all were and wanted to know what we were doing up the end of the verandah. We explained, and she invited us in.

The gallery takes up half a house with paintings on all the walls. In a central position in the room is a circular wooden and glass display case containing opals of all descriptions and colours. While we were engrossed with the art work and opals the man himself sauntered into the room and walked straight up to us. He introduced himself and I shook his hand as did Karen and Mary-Anne. He really didn't have to introduce himself to us because we recognised him. But he explained that he enjoys personally greeting visitors to his gallery if he is home. We chatted for a while then he took his leave so we could view the display.

There are many wonderful original oil paintings on display but the price tags on them frightened us. We settled for a couple of smaller sized prints and the girls bought some opal jewellery each. We were served personally by Jack after he had finished greeting another couple who came to the gallery. He even consented, and I think the showman in him enjoyed it, to having his photograph taken with each of us. It was with much regret when it came time to leave and Jack wished us well for the rest of our trip.

After leaving Jack behind, we travelled a short way out of town to the Living Desert Park where there are 12 massive sandstone sculptures that were carved by artists who came from around the world to take part in the Broken Hill Sculpture Symposium that was held from 2 April 1993 to 23 May 1993. The sculptures are set atop a hill, about 9kms from town, and have 360 degree views of Broken Hill and the surrounding area.

We left the sculptures and found a picnic area where there is also a flora and fauna sanctuary. We had a quick look at the Living Desert Information Centre but we didn’t walk too far into the sanctuary as it was getting late and it was quite hot in the sun.

On the drive back to the caravan park we came across Pro Hart’s Gallery. We had a quick look at the entrance where there are 3 Rolls Royces and a Bentley parked. One of the Rolls Royces has been hand painted by Pro Hart! It was too late to go inside as they were closing the doors soon, so we decided to come back another day.

We all returned to the caravan park, still with a sense of elation after having finally met with one of our favourite outback personalities, Jack Absalom. Unfortunately my other ‘most wanted to meet outback personality’, Malcolm Douglas, passed away before I got the chance to go to his crocodile park in Broome.