Category Archives: New South Wales

Mining, New South Wales

Museums and Galleries of Broken Hill

Broken Hill is still principally a mining town, but has many museums and galleries which are worth a view. The railway museum was our first visit and my favourite.

I always visit the computer room first!
I always visit the computer room first!

I loved the old surveying equipment. I am sure this is very close to what my grandfather used in his surveying days.

Surveying equipment used by the railway engineers
Surveying equipment used by the railway engineers

The astonishing thing for me was that Broken Hill was a major rail junction. There was a tram line that ran from here to Silverton, which is now a ghost town. These steam trains pulled that train.

Old Engines of Broken Hill
Old Engines of Broken Hill

They also had the Silver Comet, a diesel train that used to connect the various mining towns.

Silver Comet crosses the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Silver Comet crosses the Sydney Harbour Bridge

There was a lot of cute paraphernalia from the train ways. I liked this inspection car.

BetterThanThePedalVersion

The next museum was the silver mint – lots of lovely things to see and buy, but no photos allowed. Finally, we visited Pro Hart’s gallery. A video presentation told me a lot about this artist – I just thought he messed up carpets.

ProHart

New South Wales, Sights

Living Sculpture Garden, Broken Hill

Image

This afternoon Carmel and I visited the the Living Sculpture Garden on a hill overlooking Broken Hill. (You can see the town faintly in the feature picture.)

A faint rainbow to the right of a sculpture
A faint rainbow to the right of a sculpture

Unfortunately it as cold, windy and about the rain while we were up there, so we did not spend very long. (It seems odd that the rain on this trip was at Kings Canyon, Uluru and Broken Hill.)

The artist was after an Aztec Sun and moon theme
The artist was after an Aztec Sun and moon theme

On a good day, the hill would be worth a walk.

Sundial - though it reminds me of cubism
Sundial – though it reminds me of cubism

HorseHead

Mining, New South Wales

Visit to Silverton

Silverton is an abandoned mining town that has discovered as new life as a movie set. It has appeared in many movies that I do not recognise, but I did see “A Town like Alice”. Their big movie was Mad Max 2. Ash, Carmel and I visited the museum.

Mad Max Museum in Silverton
Mad Max Museum in Silverton

The museum had a number of the vehicles from the movie, mostly stunt doubles and fragments from crashes.

Max's Interceptor
Max’s Interceptor

I must confess I saw the movie but cannot remember much detail. I think we need a Mad Max a-Thon when we return to Sydney.

The Vermin Inherit the Earth
The Vermin have Inherited the Earth

We reached the souvenir store but there was a queue head of us.

PeakHourAtSilverton

These tame donkeys are a bit of a tourist attraction – they feature on the Silverton facebook page. Ash could not resist a selfie!

AshAndTheDonkey

Humour, New South Wales, Wildlife

First cane toad

Just as we were leaving the Brunswick River, I rescued a poor little froggy who was hiding under the wheels of the caravan. I popped it onto the car bonnet to keep it from being crushed and to get a photo. I have since realised that it was our first cane toad. Fortunately, I have not come out in a rash or had weird dreams from touching him.

"I own you and your car, your caravan and your dog. I am merciful though and will leave you a reserve to live on"
“I own you and your car, your caravan and your dog. I am merciful though and will leave you a reserve to live on”

I am sure rescuing cane toads is on par with getting involved with foreign wars, so I expect to face the full force of the law on my return,

Boating, Humour, New South Wales

Paddling the Brunswick River

1 Comment

We were joined at Brunswick Heads (just north of Byron Bay) by Clare, my niece.  She was interested in checking out Byron Bay and also  catching up. The third day she was with us was beautiful and sunny, so we took the canoe onto the Brunswick River.

A Skate on the river bed
A Skate on the river bed

With the tide turning, we were able to mosey along the riverbank, annoying many birds, fish and rays. The pelican was the most relaxed, watching our approach without disturbing his grooming.

Past the island, the environment changed from mangroves and mudflats, to forest and sandy beaches. We sneaked up on an eagle having a bath.

Further upstream we found a few cormorants to sneak up on a threesome of cormorants or herons – I can’t really tell the difference. They really weren’t bothered by us so we got almost underneath them.

Three cormorants watching our progress
Three cormorants watching our progress

When we found on why, I began paddling quickly. Can anyone see what is to the right of my paddle-head?

Alex escaping while Clare focusses on the all important selfie!
Alex escaping while Clare focusses on the all important selfie!

Here is the cause of my anxiety. We got to within 5 metres of her before I clued up to the interesting diamond pattern in the tree.

Sleeping after breakfast
Sleeping after breakfast

She was about two metres long and did not move. Still, I believe Python’s should be admired behind a nice glass wall with a near label assuring me that it is not deadly. Clare insisted we go back for a better selfie, but if the snake joined us in the boat, no amount of restatement of the word “harmless” was going to stop us from swimming back to camp!

The intrepid adventures return safely!
The intrepid adventures return safely!