Silverton is a funny little spot- once a thriving mining community of 3000 people or so today supposedly 60 live there- although we struggled to count more than 10 locals- the 10 running the pub and tourist museums and galleries. Most of the houses were transported to Broken Hill when mining died in Silverton and resources were thin in the outback for building.
Today using your imagination you can trace out a few streets that were- a dot the dot between the courthouse, school, 3 or so churches and the pub and a few old homes converted into galleries. Dispersed around at old signs of life- railway scooters, concrete sinks etc. Everything charges you to enter (excluding the pub)- with no dollar coins and no atm's we didn't do much to support the economy but don't think we missed much either.
I love exploring old places and old buildings and where better to start than the Cemetary. Neil I discovered found this weird- and was not impressed that I dragged him wearing thongs through the desert (snakes and Neil are worst enermies) to view the tales of life and death on the oldest looking headstones (by passed the newbies cause it was evident Neil's interest was floundering from the outset).
The pub you have probably seen on TV. I knew of Madmax but it has been in heaps of other movies over the years- all before our time. Ironically MadMax came on TV the night before we went out. Neither of us knowing anything about it sat down to watch- totally weird- didnt get far through thats for sure so the interest in the car and other memorabilia wasnt really as enthusiastic as some of the other 60 plus year old tourists.
The next day we meandered through Broken Hill. It really is a town in the middle of the mines. Mounds of dirt surround the town on all sides and mining equipment stands tall on the hills. Despite it's isolation the town itself is much the same as any of it's size- Centro and the usual stores. The town centre shows the hey day buildings and architecture- stunning old buildings still used today with all the character and wealth of old times. The houses are interesting though- mostly corragated iron clad- I imagine they must be well insulated to keep the cold out.
Some amazing local painters have captured the landscape amzingly and we enjoyed a gallery or two.
One artist gave us many a laugh with his depictions of bush life and the flying doctor's service- heres a few for your laugh- Howard William Steer:
"Sturt desert pea"
artchat.com.au
Next was off to Menindee Lakes for some R and R- i'll let pictures tell the story:
We free camped in the middle of nowhere for a few days on route from Broken Hill to Coonabarbran. We had heard mixed experiences about peoples trips through Wilcania and a few little towns on route but praise God our's was uneventful. We agreed to free camp if others were- and we weren't disappointed- 15 or 20 campers rocked up most nights. It was amazing how many buddies we had in no mans land. Alas we discovered cat head burrs and just about every other variety which to this day still turn up in the caravan, car and washing. Nynghan and Cobar do well to promote anything and everything they can find as tourist sites- old shut down mines and current ones viewed from the mounds and old water towers around. Most of the expereince is the country as your drive along though. I finally mastered caravan towing and more importantly the 'outback wave' on the open road. Town towing is yet to be perfected :).
Canola at "Collie Station":
So where are we now- Well it was always a dream of Neil's to join the harvest and give it a go. After much prayer and patient job application submissions a friend of a friend offered us work. We are based in Northern NSW about 70 km from Moree and 65Km from Warialda. We visited some family in Moree and then some old friends at Crooble- were nearly back in old home territory(Naomi's schooling country of Warialda- and close to where Neil's family had a property toward Mungindi).We will move around a bit from property to property within about a 70 km radius back towards Moree. Until harvest we are both tractor driving- yep the 17 yr old girl who was quote "never going to live in the bush and never going to marry a farmer...." is getting her hands dirty and enjoying the change. At harvest I will be a grain sampler and Neil will be chaser bin driving (and if he's lucky he'll hopefully get to try the headers out too). We will work shifts around the clock so that could get interesting- Hopefully we are on the same shift sometimes so it's not a hi, bye and who are you at change of shift.
Our new occupations:
Hard Worker :
Foreman:
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