I’d experienced some amazing things so far in Australia but wanted to experience the true Outback! In my head I had hot weather, remote roads, desert and dry landscapes, and towns like in the Crocodile Dundee movies! So, based in Adelaide we decided to head NE and go to Broken Hill based near the New South Wales border. I’d heard some good things about what to do so off we went on the 580km drive. I am currently writing this blog in 44 degrees in Broken Hill, in the air con of course!! When you hit the A32 road from around Oodla Wirra, the road is like you see in the pics; dry, long roads that feel like they are never ending in the horizon and hardly a car in site, just the odd ‘road train’ which the Aussie’s call their very large trucks. It was 43 degrees whilst I was driving so I often saw the ‘mirage’ of water on the horizon which of course was just the heat. It was pretty impressive to see and to experience but you wouldn’t want a puncture as it’s so remote! I even saw a dirt track landing strip near the side of the road which I later found out is used as one of the air strips for Royal Flying Doctor’s Air service. We saw a few Emu’s, lizards, eagles and Kangaroos as I drove but some of the Kangaroos were dead sadly which isn’t surprising as they are very active on the roads between dusk and dawn. We passed through several small towns on the way which can only be described as a few houses, some rusty outbuildings and maybe the odd petrol station that resembled an old western town in the US. So remote!! The single railway line runs parallel to the road and it was cool to see a large freight train coming from the other direction in the distance.
On entering Broken Hill, we made our way to the motel and checked in. Broken Hill feels like a small outback town that is literally in the middle of no where! It’s a mining town with the huge mine overlooking the town as you drive in. Lots of the roads here are named after metals, minerals and gases such as Oxide Street, Cobalt Street, Chlorine Street etc. There is a small airport here with some domestic services but it’s the main southeastern hub for the Royal Flying Doctors Service. I remember watching the TV programme as a kid so I was uber excited to go here! It’s a live working air base with six planes in operation that look after a large area of the remote outback in South Australia, South Queensland and NSW states. The entry for the tour is $10 of which goes towards to maintenance of the planes. There is a museum and short film showing the work of them. It’s pretty amazing to hear what they do considering where I’m from we have a hospital just down the road! The locals in these remote regions are responsible for toking after their airstrips, lighting them and doing ‘Roo’ watches when the planes come in to land. Each remote town has a green medicine box which has antibiotics in, anti venom etc. The turnaround time is the plane needs to be airborne within 30 minutes of them receiving a call. The control centre is based at the airport. It was really interesting and well worth the money.
Another big draw of Broken Hill is part of the iconic film Priscilla Queen of the Desert was filmed here. The Palace Hotel is still as it was so we had a look around with some of the original memorabilia which was surreal. You can also have dinner here, which we did, and I have to say it was amazing! The same as any 5 star restaurant. There’s a few other nice buildings dotted around but it does have the feel of a real outback town with not much going on. Plus, it was sooooooo hot! 43-44 degrees both days and around 30 at night. A very dry heat but hot nonetheless.
There’s a small town about 20km away to the north called Silverton which is pretty quirky when you drive there. A few houses and buildings but it has quite a vibrant art scene, lots of cool galleries and cars/vans painted up. Quite quirky and random considering it it so remote! There is also the Mad Max museum which houses some of the original cars from the film as parts of the films were filmed in this area.
The highlight of Silverton for me was the Daydream Mine tour. This disused mine was closed in 1984 and has now become a tourist attraction. The turning off is just before Silverton along a dirt track that goes on for 13km. We had a camper van but it was doable if you did it slowly! After going through a few gates, where the road went on and on, we eventually came to a hut and a few outbuildings. You can see the old mine and coal face as you approach it. It costs $32 which includes the overground and underground tour. Lots of disused mine shafts dotted around the place which are clearly marked ‘do not enter!’. After an interesting tour of the site, we got our hard hats, headlamps and headed down into the mine, 100ft below the ground. There is a sign that says no refunds beyond this point! The temperate went from 44 degrees to 18 degrees in a matter of steps…..so bizzare but welcomed! The mine shafts are long, dark and propped up by lots of timber. You can see the original mine carts and passageways and get to hear all about the days the boys and men would work. For someone who is tall like me, it was very useful having the hard hat! At one point, the tour guide lit a candle as this is what the miners used for light. We turned off our headlamps and it was pitch black as you can imagine!
To end our time in Broken Hill, we travelled 12km north to the Living Desert State Park where there are a number of cool rock statues and formations on top of a hill donated by various artists. It’s only $6 to enter and you can drive right up to it. It’s an amazing place for an outback sunset, just watch the kangaroos who are very active around this time. One large one jumped out right in front of our camper van. The sunset I saw was the largest red hue I’ve ever seen! Broken Hill is a pain to get to (a 1100km round trip from Adelaide) but worth the trip and enough to do for a few days to experience the proper outback!
