At 3.30am there was loud knocking on our caravan door. Before we were even out of bed or properly awake, there was more loud banging. Tilly was first to respond by jumping onto the bench near the door, but then Bluey barked and she got a fright, knocking over her water and dry food.
I wasn’t going to open the door but pulled aside the curtains to see our rear neighbour standing on our step holding a small blow heater. I had to crack open the window to talk to him. He complained our diesel heater was too noisy for him to sleep. We could have told him to bugger off, but realised the only way to get some sleep ourselves was to turn our heater off.
The idiot was on a large site but had parked his canvas camper trailer about 600mm from the corner of our van where the heater is located. I had encountered him in the late afternoon when I was about to put Tilly inside the van. He started talking and moved in close to touch Tilly, but I told him she had to go inside.
The diesel heater was on from 9pm so we couldn’t understand why it took six hours for him to decide our heater was noisy. We had to clean up the mess made when Tilly got a fright, but it took ages for us to go back to sleep. The idiot had left the park before we ventured out, escaping the tirade I might have directed at him. I spoke to the office staff and they kept the site behind us empty for tonight.
We headed to town for breakfast at The Silly Goat, but the menu was too busy with vego and vegan offerings. I settled for an egg and bacon roll, while Anita had eggs on sourdough toast. We ate inside as there were no free tables outside, so Bluey had to wait in the car.
We took him to a fenced park for a run. Anita said we had been there before with Max and Coco, but I have no recollection of that. I also have no recollection of the 1993 Pro Hart sculpture in the middle of the park.
Back at camp Anita put a couple of loads of washing through our small machine, and I took Bluey and Tilly for a walk with me to the clothes lines. Anita had put a glass of water on the table, but I let Tilly back inside the van with her lead still on and water was splashed all over the floor. We cleaned that up and packed away as much gear as possible ready for departure tomorrow.
We had planned to have dinner at the Broken Hill Pub – BHP, but walked out as nothing on that menu was enticing, with lots more vego and vegan meals. We crossed over the road to The Astra, but only basic counter meals were on offer there. We ended up back at the Palace Hotel and were lucky to get a table without a booking.
A couple of large groups arrived, but we got our orders for steak and salmon in quickly. We had seen photographic equipment set up in the dining room, and finally spotted this sign but could not work out why a group of people were being filmed in a pub for NSW Health.
I managed to take a couple of photos before the dining room was crowded, and a couple of the original paintings near the main entrance.
The hotel was built in 1889 by the Temperance movement as the Broken Hill Coffee Palace. It ran at a loss for the first three years, so by 1892 the lessee applied for, and was granted, a liquor licence for the Palace Hotel.
The first mural of Botticelli’s Venus was painted by the hotel owner, Mario Cellotto. He and other artists painted the many murals that adorn the walls and ceilings of the hotel. One day we will have to stay at the hotel to be allowed to see the full collection of paintings.
Back in our van Anita was rummaging around looking for a bottle of red wine. I suggested she just have a scotch but she wanted wine and finally found a bottle. She poured herself a drink and had it in her hand, when Tilly jumped from the floor onto the bed, spilling the whole glass of red wine on the bed!
I scrambled to contain the damage pulling off the sheet and mattress protector, and taking them to the laundry. There is a sign on the door saying the laundry will be locked at 8pm, but nobody came to do this, so I managed to put our linen through the washer and dryer. Anita did not pour another glass of red wine, instead settling for a scotch!
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