Broken Hill again and the Living Desert Sculptures.

Today we explored Broken Hill a little (the town) we replenished our groceries for the trip accross to Port Augusta - including some fresh rolls for lunch for tomorrow. We then went out and had a look at "The Living Desert". Were not actually sure entirely of why it is called that but we are assuming its because that particular part of land is alot greener than most of the other desert plains around here. It was a beautiful place and the sculptures are amazing. The artists were invited to each create a sculpture out of rock from the desert to put on the top of the look out in 1993. I wish I had have read more of the information but I'm still sick with a chest infection and I ended up sort of rushing through a little. Now for some photos:

The View over the Living Desert, you can definately see that its greener than my photos from yesterday at the Mundi Mundi Plains.

Little Lizard we found wandering around. Zachery wanted to catch it and keep it and "take it in the car". (its pretty much right in the centre of the photo, it sort of blends in with the photo a bit - incase you cant see it)

This one was a horses head, it looked really awesome!

The Living Desert again, beautiful view that my camera does no justice for!

I love this photo of Brent and Zac looking out of the Living Desert.

I loved this one, I think it was a mother and child.

Tomorrow we will be leaving between 5:30 and 6am to head to Port Augusta. Its about 405 kilometres from Broken Hill so we should arrive there around lunch time. From what I have found in brouchures and on the internet there is alot to do at Port Augusta. We are hoping to go on a boat tour of the Spencer Gulf, perhaps even at sunset. We are also contemplating going absaling as its somthing I have always wanted to try and although Brent has done it before he loved it and would love to try it again. We have to pass through (another) fruit fly exclusion zone on our way out of Broken hill (there was also one on the way in) we all scoffed down watermelon for dessert to try and save from having to waste it! Looking forward to the trip tomorrow, fingers crossed Zachery and I feel a bit better.

Silverton and Mundi Mundi

Today we woke up to another beautiful sun shining day. We walked through the caravan park and smelled the delicious popular "Sunday breakfast" smell of bacon and eggs. We decided we must have some for ourselves so Brent and Zac had bacon and cheese toasted sandwiches and I had an omelette. Yum! We than made a healthy packed lunch of chicken and salad wraps and bottled water, to take with us. We are yet to have takeaway even once on this trip, which is quiet an accomplishment for us.

We drove towards Silverton, another small, old mining town. Mayne people might recognise this name is the town is quiet famous for its landscapes and their use in the Mad Max movies. Silverton is full of Mad Max memoribilia including the Mad Max cars and the pub where (apparently) part of the movie was shot. I didn't really take much in when I watched the movies so I dont actually remember the pub but I remember the landscapes a little.

The old Silverton Gaol (jail) has been turned into somewhat of a museum. It is filled with an array of local historical memorabilia. Some of the rooms are kept as Gaol cells to show wyou the way they were but most of them are full to the brin of bits and bobs. Brent and I were so shocked at how much Zachery loved the Gaol museum. He looked at everything (with his eyes mostly, occasionally his hands). He asked us countless questions about every item/how it worked/who used it etc. It was so shocking and beautiful. He made sure we went into every single room and he had to stop and look at every single thing. When he came to the displays of the local minerals/rocks Zac emptied all the rocks from his pockets that he had collected outside and compared them.

Silverton has a beautiful little Cafe too which was like a little cottage inside and the food smelled great however we didnt eat there as we had our packed lunch. It also had a gift shop with pretty expensive Mad Max memoribilia. It also had a Mad Max museum but we didnt bother to go in there as all the cars were on display outside anyway. The roads at Silverton were basically all red dirt, they looked so awesome expecially with their proper street signs, hah!

When we left Silverton we continued onwards to Mundi Mundi lookout. Its ust so hilly everywhere so you dont really expect to come to the peak of a hill and look over hundreds, thousands of hectares of rolling, flat plains. It is one of the most amazing sights I have seen so far in my life and I honestly could have sat and stared at it all day. You genuinely cans ee the curvature of the earth however you have to turn your head as the horizen is way outside of the areas of even your peripheral vision. I strongly suggest that anyone visiting broken hill go to Mundi Mundi, even if you dont have the time to stop at Silverton.

Brent opening the gate to go onto the "Daydream Mine" private property (I did all the driving today)

Trying to help the little wild goat. :-(

The small patch of tar among all the dirt roads and it gets washed away.

The river bed where the water flowed (this is off to the right of where the road was washed away, see the chunks of tar/road sticking up out of the dirt)

Mundi Mundi lookout, my camera coulen't get a wide enough photo to show the curvature of the earth, I guess you'd need a panoramic camera.

Brent looking over Mundi Mundi with the photo of it from the Broken Hill brouchure.





Mundi Mundi again, you cant even take it all in while your there because the horizon is just so flat and travels further than your peripherals can even go.

The Mad Max pub see the towns dirt "roads" they look awesome out there.

One of the Mad Max cars

Another Mad Max car parked in front of the Mad Max museum.

Silverton Gaol sign out the front of the gaol

One of the cells, Brent colsed the door and tried to bolt it (jokingly) while Zac and I were in here. I was a little scared haha.

Zac made Brent give him a pretend haircut in the barbers chair in the barber room at the museum (all of the rooms used to be cells etc)

Once again Zacherys favourite was the mining and farming machinery and he loved this old style drill and made me tell him all about it. He listened so intently.

Zachery also loved the farming room with all the saddles and stirrups etc.

The dirt road again at Silverton

We also went out to Daydream Mine, another old mine site. There wasnt much out there and we didnt even get out of the car and go into the building out there as we didnt really feel like doing a 1 hour walking tour today. On our way back along the road that joins to the road out to silverton (off the property the Daydream mine was on) we found a wild goat stuck in a fence. Brent tried and tried to free it but couldnt get it free. He even got his bolt cutters from the car and tried to cut the fence but it wouldnt cut. The goat was quiet distressed and was getting itself further and further stuck. Brent calmed him down but we still couldnt get him out. It was really sad but we eventually had to leave as there was no point in going to the farmers for help as the goats are pests up here.

Further along the same road we can to an empty flood plain. The riverbeds look amazing all empty and dried out! You could see how the (one small section of tar that was actually even out this way) had been ripped apart but raging waters at a time when they had come through. Huge chunks of "road" were thrown everywhere. It looked pretty amazing.

After this we came back to town and searched for a chemist as mine and Zacs chest infection seem to be getting alot worse so we wanted to purchase some medicine to try and get the colds off our chest. None of the actual shops were open though event hough all the cafes and restaraunts were. So I guess we will have to wait for tomorrow.

Today and tomorrow in Broken Hill.

Today was a very cruisy, lazy day. Zachery and I have a chest infection so we weren't really up for the activities we previously had planned today, all of which involve alot of walking. Brent ended up trying to find an electrician but apparently there are only two of those in Broken Hill and ones booked out for a week and the other one didn't answer his phone. We decided instead to book in at Port Augusta caravan park for Tuesday night and organise an electrician there prior to going there.

We have alot of plans for tomorrow, we are going to Silverton a small historical mining town tomorrow (most of the towns out here are mining towns) there are alot of interesting things at Silverton but I'll waffle one about those tomorrow, after we have been there. We are going to pack a delicious picnic lunch and plenty of drinks and spend the entire day out there. Then on Monday we will explore Broken Hill a bit more and go to the museum in town.

The caravan is running fine on solar power and gas (the fridge and hot water are running of gas and the lights and television are running of solar). We arent able to use the caravan power points with solar so when we want to use the toaster/heater/laptop etc we run an extension lead into the van from the power box outside. We will ust charge out phones up tomorrow while we are driving to Silverton with our car chargers although we dont have much phone signal once were back on the road. We never have it between towns only once we come into the next town and we lose it as soon as we leave.

We have a nice chat with our "neighbours" today, the older couples on both sides of our van are really lovely and friendly. One of the couples came over and stood with us for ages this morning, theyve just done the big trip we are doing but in reverse. They had lots of stories and were incredibly open minded about all of their good and bad experiences ont he road so far. They were a definate breath of fresh air. Alot of people tend to have such strong negative opinions about some places and we would much rather form our own opinions unless its a question of safety like it potentially could have been in Cobar/Wilcannia.

Zachery seems to be having a great time. Today he told Brent "we aren't at Cobar anymore, we are at Broken Hill" it was very cute. He has also picked up what we have been saying and says (at least twnety times a day) "Ok guys, lets go explore the town" haha. He has been playing with the kids at the park and absolutely loves it. He is so brave when it comes to approaching a new group of kids and he is really funny the way he just "forces" himself into their little groups. Its great! I think his confidence is realy developing already and he is at such a great "reservation free" age so shyness/fear of not fitting in just isnt an issue at all. I'm so proud of him and how well he is adpating to this lifestyle.

Zachery on the see-saw with his new little mate.

Arrived at Broken Hill

 We arrived at Broken Hill around lunch time today and came straight to the caravan park. We were given a caravan site that was about ten foot long so we immediately had to go back to the office and request a slightly larger one (considering our van is 24 ft long, haha). They found us another site and we settled in very quickly. We did a couple of small loads of washing in our van washing machine then had showers and headed up the road to the shops.

I am so surprised by how huge Broken hill is and how populated it is. There were people absolutely everywhere. I am also shocked by how the mines just run paralell with the main street, one block back from it. Can you imagine working in the times and being that close to town? Broken hill seems like a wonderful place. The locals have been extremely friendly and we stopped counting after five different people/groups at the supermarket commented on how beautiful Zac is and how bright his lovely smile is. Everyone in every shop was extremely friendly (especially the staff) and they had plenty of time for a chat. Its a nice change from the main towns, not being rushed out by busy customer service staff.

The caravan park is nice, a little more expensive than other places though at $32 per night for a powered site. It has a nice little park for kids a communal camp kitchen and standard amenities. Its also about a five minute walk from the shopping centre and the centre of town.

Were having some problems witht he caravan tonight. The electricity is stuffing up and it has left us without a heater which is absolutely freezing. Weve checked out pretty much every possible thing we can check so we will most likely have to attempt to find an electrician in Broken Hill tomorrow. Hopefully that wont be too hard or costly.

Brent is considering looking for some work here, especially with the mines so close to town. Well, in town.

This is photo 1 of 3 that I took on the "highway". Brent and I wanted to show you how .... well how much of "nothing" there is out there (although its still so beautiful). This photo is standing on the rest stop paralell to the highway looking to the left.

This photo is facing straight out forward in the same spot as the last photo

And this photo is to the right, so as you can see there was nothing in any direction for as far as you can see.

A close up of the sign behind the caravan on the other side of the highway.

Driving through the main street of Broken Hill.

See the "hill" at the end of the street, that is the mine.

And a somewhat crappy photo of another beautiful sunrise this morning (this was taken through the car window, while driving after the best part of the sunrise was already over).

Please cross your fingers for us that our electrical problems are sorted out tomorrow. Its sooooooo cold in here without the heater and its frustrating paying for electricty and not having it.