Back in March, I went on a week-long trip to Broken Hill, approx. 1000km west of Sydney, and a good 300km north of Mildura, which I flew in to in order to shorten the drive. I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting; the original reason for heading up was to see my father and grandfather's home town; a place that I'd heard plenty about from both, but never seen all that much of. I was quite surprised by the sheer size of the town; looking back, I can't quite recall what I was expecting, but when driving in, you could be forgiven for describing it as an oasis from the surrounding plains. Coming in from the road to Mildura, you end up passing through one of the reclaimed areas - due to the problems with dust clouds and the spreading of tailings in earlier days of mining at Broken Hill, a reclamation project was commenced in the 1930s to revegetate the surrounding land to combat the environmental issues caused by the mines. Turn the clock forward to 2008, and the reclaimed areas are still well and truly green; whilst the water in the lakes is recycled, the surrounding flora and fauna seem to flourish, creating something of a contrast to the adjoining mine.

Once you drive through the reclaimed areas and into the town proper, you come into South Broken Hill - the geography of the town is such that the line of lode cuts a line straight through the middle of town, with the majority of the city north of the hill, and the remainder as a latter development adjoining the hill to the south. The majority of the township's businesses and infrastructure are to the north; continuing the drive in, you drive past the South Mine, at the end of the hill, which is not so much a hill any more as much as a mullock heap created from the waste rock extracted underground. Coming around the north side of the hill, there's the railway station, running to Sydney and Adelaide, and after a couple of turns you find yourself on Argent St, the main street in town.

Broken Hill isn't exactly a giant city, nor is it a medium-sized rural town; being the only real regional centre for a few hundred kilometres in any direction has led to the city being of a decent geographical size, whilst not expanding into a real urban sprawl; the limits of the city is a well-defined jump between houses and the surrounding desert, something that can be a bit surprising when you're driving around town and happen to turn down one of the roads out of town.

Kicked out of Silverton Pub?

Silverton is one of the towns near Broken Hill - it's approximately 25km north-west of Broken Hill, and certainly a lot smaller. Whilst the town was quite large during the silver boom of the late 1800s, the modern-day population has dwindled to only a handful - around a tenth of the population compared to the hey-day of the town.

Opposite Silverton's pub was this specimen of a local resident - the pub contains memorabilia from quite a number of movies that have been shot in the area, including Mad Max 2, of which there is a car from the movie out the front.

Silverton is the last real town before the bitumen turns to dust and gravel, and just a little further out are two areas worth visiting - the Mundi Mundi lookout, and Umberumberka Reservoir. Mundi Mundi overlooks the plains to the north of Silverton, and certainly shows the sparseness of the area. Umberumberka supplies part of Broken Hill and Silverton's water - the remainder of Broken Hill's supply being drawn from the lake system surrounding Menindee.

Kinchega National Park is approximately 100km from Broken Hill, located just out of the town of Menindee. Aenean vitae magna eu nulla auctor suscipit. Phasellus tellus turpis, tincidunt quis, blandit vitae, sodales vel, diam. Praesent imperdiet, nibh id suscipit lacinia, velit ipsum condimentum dui, eget sollicitudin erat nisi non dolor. Mauris eu purus in erat ullamcorper fermentum. Etiam a urna. Nunc scelerisque, erat a cursus gravida, est eros vestibulum augue, nec feugiat velit sapien vitae nulla. Maecenas iaculis tristique sapien. Morbi viverra eros non neque. Aenean lacinia posuere neque. Integer laoreet laoreet sapien. Curabitur posuere magna quis justo.

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The Sculpture Symposium is an art installation just out of Broken Hill, completed in 1993 by a number of local and foreign sculptors, comprising of 12 sculptures atop a hill in the Living Desert park. For me, the attraction to the location was more the view over the surrounding plains and mountain ranges, than it was about the sculptures - a quick drive, or walk to the hilltop gives a stunning view over the region, and as I found on Thursday, a place entirely devoid of other visitors around 4-5pm. The sunset was something else; after struggling with a broken lens on Wednesday, everything was in working order again for Thursday night, and I managed to capture this photo about 10-15 minutes after sunset.

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