Notables in Broken Hill

Our one previous visit to Broken Hill had been very brief. We were going to Opera in the Outback in 1997. Kiri Te Kanawa was singing at an amphitheatre up in the Flinders Ranges. Cousin Helen from Sheffield, UK, had come to go too. We’d arranged for our New Zealand car, a Toyota Cressida, to be transported over from NZ where it hadn’t sold. Of course, it had to be verified that it was fit to be driven on Australian roads; there was a lot of bureaucratic bungling and we were three days late leaving home. Then the camper-trailer we’d hired lost one of its wheels 50 kms past Moonie, and had to be recovered and re-welded ... so we were battling against it to get there on time.

We visited the Information Centre in Broken Hill, grabbed some lunch, had a very brief look around, and continued on to Peterborough.

What a contrast this visit is. We’ve got oodles of time and can choose what we do each day ... instead of having to cram everything into a very short time.

Art Galleries! We visited Jack Absolom’s first, and met Jack and his wife. This is a beautiful gallery. Jack was 8 when his father died, and he had to go out to work to put food on the table. He became stronger and useful, and one day someone advised him to go noodling for opals. He did, and very soon found some excellent specimens. His family finances thereafter changed for the better.

One day he was hired to take some artists into the ‘real outback’ so they could paint. He looked at their efforts, borrowed a canvas and some paints from them ... and proceeded to become an artist. With his outback experiences, he wrote several books on how to cope out there.

Pro Hart’s well-known Gallery also beckoned. Again, it was beautifully presented. Julie Truscott was envious of my being there, and asked for some photos. None were allowed inside, as recently someone had taken good photos of Pro’s work, and placed them for sale on E-bay!!! But when no-one else was in the gallery, the curator said I could take a pic of Pro’s studio for my friend.

The day was made even better when we found Bell’s Milk Bar – genuine 1950’s style, complete with juke box et el. Lime milkshake for me; strawberry spider for John .... and an over indulgence of beautiful apple pie and ice-cream for both of us. Lunch, it was called!