That sounds like a title for a Western movie eh? – ‘Return to Broken Hill’. Well, for Dani and myself it was a return. Dani’s mum never came with us when we went on our little adventure back in September of last year.  You can read about that trip here, here and here (plus the links to Silverton)…

It was quite strange really . Most places were open but it was just very quiet. Much quieter than our last visit to the town. As we have seen from other places in the outback, it seems that the height of summer is not the time people visit places like this. It made it seem less friendly somehow, it was just a little odd. It did however have advantages. If you wanted to take a photo without other tourists there was a much better chance of doing so.

Covering old ground…

We returned to Silverton and saw a few new things. We did the tour of the line of lode again but this time with hardly any other people. Similarly with the Palace Hotel. It was empty when we called in there for a thirst quencher and something to eat. But it was a great opportunity to take better photos of the famous ‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert‘ movie setting.

Last September the adjoining restaurant was packed and getting a table seemed like trying to get an audience with the Queen. But in summer it was quiet so we booked a table one day. It was eerily quiet and I have to say a bit disappointing. Odd isn’t it how places so often fail to live up to expectations.

Silverton – Again.

Pro Hart and Murals

We never visited the Pro Hart gallery on our first visit here. This time we did. “Pro” Hart – real name Kevin Charles – was (and still is) a very famous artist who was born in Broken Hill. The Pro Hart gallery is not free to enter but it is well worth it. The Rolls Royce car collection – the odd one that also doubled up as a canvas for the artist – are as famous as his paintings.

The town also has many murals – which of course are free to look at. This time we saw more murals, some we didn’t see last time and some which we managed to get better photos of this time around.

With so much free art out on the streets it’s a wonder anyone bothers to open a gallery and pay for the premises.

Tourist-Free Photos!

We never saw these last time… Great idea.

We stayed in a rented house which was a nice change from all the motels. Something we need to look into again on future road-trips. From here we visited Menindee and the Kinchega National Park. More on that to come…