Shopping and Exploring

After toast and marmalade for breakfast, we took Bluey with us to refuel the car and buy some essentials. The parks are covered with lush green grass so we put Bluey on a long lead so he could have a run. There were lots of these drought resistant flowers in bloom.

We had a look at a block of land my nephew and his wife have bought, where they have long term plans to build a new home. As we drove away we spotted two emus feeding on the nature strip. I sent him a photo and he told us there were kangaroos on the block the day they bought it. The little one thinks the roos come wirh the land!

We had cheese and crackers for lunch, then I left Anita to cook food for the critters, while I went exploring Broken Hill – her choice. My first stop was DANNS pet shop to dry buy food for Tilly. Fortunately they had both of her preferred varieties in stock in the large store.

The exterior of this old hotel has been carefully restored and is used as a gym. Down one side there is a section of unrestored wall that demonstrates the change made by good paint work.

The sun highlighted the amazing 1905 Trades Hall building. Even the door knobs were made by skilled workers.

Several murals around Broken Hill were painted by Geoff de Main, a local artist. About 10 different paintings are along a wall of the community centre, improving the outlook for aged care residents living across the road. These were painted in 2002 and the artist did a few touchups before moving to Tasmania. I thought this first painting was framed by corrugated iron, but this is part of the painting. Thankfully there are few signs of graffiti around town.

The 1889 Court House bears the Royal Coat of Arms comprising a lion and chained unicorn. Dieu et mon droit means “God and my right”. The building exterior is in excellent condition.

The 1890s Town Hall has a lot of ornate details. It was designed by Adelaide architects in the Italianate style common to SA in that period. The main hall and offices were demolished in 1974 but fortunately the facade was restored in 1976.

The 1892 Post Office nextdoor has an 86 foot high clock tower. Unusually it is mainly brick construction in what is described as Federation free style with arts and crafts influences. The veranda is supported by pairs of turned timber posts.

As Broken Hill was well established by the early 1900s, there are only a few Art Deco buildings. As I walked past the accommodation entrance to the Royal Exchange Hotel, automatic doors opened so I went inside and asked if I could take photos. Until last month, part of the ground floor of this building was occupied by the RAA office. That business had an office in the town for 100 years.

I found a few other Art Dec buildings but have not see inside any of these.

The other business that closed in April after nearly 130 years was the union-run local newspaper, the Barrier Truth. Fifteen people lost their jobs, partly due to Meta’s decision to remove the News tab on Facebook.

As sunset approached, I drove up to the Line of Lode reserve where the miners’ memorial is located. Several retail businesses in Broken Hill have closed since a couple of mines ceased operations, making about 200 workers redundant. The cafe up on the Line of Lode is one of those affected businesses looking for new traders.