Broken Hill, Silverton, Menindee Lakes and back

Broken Hill

Friday, Jan 14^th

The Miners’ Memorial loomed large and the ‘mountain’ of tailings ensured that we all knew that this was a mining company town, in the past if not so much in the present. In the 1950s and 60s, if you did not do a shift in the mine then you could not live there. However, as the memorial clearly indicates, the work was dangerous and killed many, mainly through accidents and lead poisoning.  Destruction of vegetation around the town for use in the mines and smelters increased the severity of natural dust storms, and smelters and mine plant belched noxious fumes and dust over the town. There is no sign of this now, although there is only one mine working now and production is small.
Street names are interesting as they are named after locally significant individuals and minerals such as chloride, argent etc. Mornington has a water-themed street called SprayJ
Source: http://www.brokenhill.nsw.gov.au/about/1002/1011.html
It was time for some ‘time out’, so Graeme went to the art galleries and I visited the Minerals Museum which gave an excellent insight into the formation of the minerals in the area as well as holding The Silver Tree, an amazing silver table centrepiece showing a boundary rider, Aboriginal men, Australian animals etc.
The city centre was well set up for tourists, with many signs offering information about the beautiful buildings and their history ... sandbags in doorways were indicative of the rain of the past few days. Wide streets, wide verandahs and a generally exceptionally well-maintained CBD. The regional art gallery was set up in an ex-hardware store of massive proportions and magnificence. The gallery’s collection was small but consisted of some European art, early Australian pieces, Pro Hart and Hugh Schultz and, thanks to Pro Hart’s generosity, a Clifford Possum and a couple of Emily Kngwarreye works.
The later part of the afternoon was spent travelling the road to Silverton – 39 dips indicated why it was closed after the rains ... water still on the roads in certain parts but passable. This provided us with another chance to see flooding in the outback. Silverton was fascinating. Once a prosperous mining town, the boom in Broken Hill saw its demise and many of the buildings were relocated to The Silver City, leaving only a skeleton town, hence its appeal as the town at the end of the earth in Mad Max and other movies. Mad Max relics everywhere and another film to be shot just as soon as the place dries out and the green vegetation disappears into the red dust.
From Silverton we headed back into town to the Pro Hart Gallery where I became even more aware of the man’s ability to cash in on his popularity. It seems that he painted around 100,000 paintings in his lifetime! I do not appreciate the 70s and 80s racetrack works with their caricatures of local race meetings, but his works on the mines and miners I enjoyed, especially his cubist works.
Back for a swim in the pool, dinner and, as Mad Max was not in our DVD pack, the Pirates of the Caribbean saw the night out.

Broken Hill to Menindee Lakes
Sat. Jan15th
We set off on the 110km drive over gently rolling green hills and plains to Menindee and finally saw some wildlife – a flock of about 30 emus and later, family groups of 3 or 4. We even saw our 1^st kangaroo! The township was well kept. Although the caravan park on the Darling River had been evacuated and was flooded. Not much time to get out, I suspect, as vans were just left and there was even washing on a line.
This information from http://www.menindeelakes.com/history.htm explains the history of the area.
Major Mitchell discovered the area around Menindee in 1835 and it was to become a major depot for later explorers, a jumping off place for the interior. The lakes were seasonal but significant. Charles Sturt travelled up the Darling from the Murray and arrived at the site of Menindee in 1844, during his exploration of the interior.   Pastoralists, drovers and shepherds followed in the wake of the explorers. Captain Francis Cadell, who pioneered the operation of paddle steamers along the Murray, established a store near the hotel at Menindee in 1856. Settlers began to pour into the region with news that the Darling was navigable.
www.kidcyber.com.au states: In 1860 the Government of South Australia offered a prize to the first expedition to cross the Australian continent from south to north. Policeman, Robert O'Hara Burke led an expedition which left from Royal Park, Melbourne on 20 August 1860.
Burke travelled with 18 people, 25 camels, 22 horses and some wagons. This was the first expedition to use camels as a means of transport. Burke took a 2 year supply of food, as well as 80 pairs of shoes, beds, hats and buckets, as well as some firewood.
The expedition reached Menindee in about 8 weeks. It is believed that while here, Burke heard that Stuart was going to attempt to cross the continent from south to north also. Burke left some of the men there and went on with others to Cooper Creek where he established a base camp.
Burke's plan was to wait at Cooper Creek until the others arrived. But five weeks passed and they did not arrive. First they were delayed back at Menindee and then on the journey to Cooper Creek some men got sick and died.

The lakes region consists of four large natural lakes, Wetherell, Pamamaroo, Menindee and Cawndilla and several smaller interconnecting lakes a series of weirs and channels, and creates a water storage area and playground for Broken Hill Speedboat Club. The lakes also allow for storage of the Darling River water for irrigation and farming purposes lower down in the Murray/Darling basin, however, as the lakes are full from the rains in Queensland in December and are expecting more water from the recent QLD floods, the areas below the lakes are likely to have some major water issues later in February. What a stark contrast to the past 20 or so years of drought and the demise of so much bird and plant life.

Roads into Lake Menindee roads were closed so we walked to the edge, observing cormorants and, surprisingly, silver gulls! Whether the brown water is usual or the effect of recent downpours, I do not know.  We checked into the van park at Copi Hollows and set up on the lush green grass next to the water and spent the day reading, fishing and relaxing in the shade.  A couple of kangaroos came to the lake edge to feed at dusk, large lizards roamed, mozzies swarmed and a herd of feral camels came to the camp fence. The families from the speedboat club enjoyed their country and western music and Johnny Cash was king of the airways! A beautiful sunset, evening temperature around 30 in the van but cooler outside with the gentle breeze over the water.  Frogs, cicadas, galahs and kids!