Broken Hill - 17 July 2014

I read another article about the shooting during World War I involving the ice cream van today. There was a trainload of people going to a picnic at Silverton, just out of Broken Hill. 3 people died and another 6 were wounded, some badly. Both of the shooters were killed by police. Not so funny now.

I read another interesting story today. During World War II, there were fears that Japan would invade Australia. The Commonwealth Bank held most of Australia’s gold in its strongrooms. It was decided that the safest place to store the gold was Broken Hill gaol. The first transfer took place in 1942 by train and the guards knew what the cargo was. More transfers took place. Then it had to be returned and again no one was the wiser.

We were picked up at the caravan park by the mini bus for the tour of the Miner’s Memorial. Peter, our tour guide, drove us through a couple of the areas near town and gave us some information on the place.
There are currently 19,000 people in Broken Hill. At its peak, there were 34,000 but one of the mines closed in the 1970’s and another one in 1993. There is only about 15 years of mining in the current mines, provided the price remains viable. If it gets down below $1,300 a tonne, it is no longer viable to mine. There are 600 people employed directly in the Mines, but then you have the support companies.

There were 72 hotels in town at the peak of the mining boom but this has now dropped to 19, plus 4 clubs.

There are currently 2 mines operating in Broken Hill. One is owned by the Chinese and the ore goes to Port Pirie in South Australia for processing. The other mine is owned by the Japanese and the ore from this one goes to Newcastle. Both mines were on the point of closing and no one in Australia was interested in buying them so they went to the current owners.

After leaving the CBD we drove to the Junction Mine and Browne’s Shaft. This mine closed in 1972, but was first pegged in 1882. The mine equipment has been left intact. Peter used to work in the mines for about 25 years. I wouldn’t have liked to travel down in the cart that takes you underground. Apparently 5 men fitted in each one. It would have been a tight squeeze.

 

The Miner’s Memorial is very striking. It has been constructed to resemble the inside of a mine complete with rusty walls. Down one side are the names of those who have been killed in the mines over the years with any details they have. The early deaths they only have their name but not how they died, and most of them were due to Lead Poisoning or Dust on Lungs. The last death was in 2007. Peter showed us his father’s name. His father was killed when Peter was 5 (he would be in his late 60’s now) in a blasting accident.

It was an excellent tour and we are pleased we did it.

After lunch we drove out to the airport and the Royal Flying Doctor Base, and we did a tour of that. It is the only working RFDS base you can tour. You start by walking through the interactive display and information boards outlining the history of the RFDS. It also had a display showing a woman on a property ringing the RFDS and going through what happened. This was followed by a film on the RFDS and the scope of its activities and some of the flights it has undertaken.

 

The territory covered by the Broken Hill base is astounding. It includes far west NSW, south-westQueensland, and eastern and northern South Australia – an area of 640,000 square kilometres.

The room had displays of the huge medicine chests with all bottles numbered and a corresponding chart that each property has. So if someone gets treatment by radio, they are told to take so many pills from a certain numbered bottle. They had a poster telling about a guy who had been told to take 2 pills from No. 9 bottle. When he spoke to the doctor the next morning, he told the doctor he hadn’t had any left of that one so had taken one from No. 7 bottle and 1 from No. 2 bottle and he feels pretty good now!

 

We were then shown through the communications area and out to the hangar where there were 2 planes being serviced. Each plane is decommissioned after 20 years or a certain number of flying hours. They pay for new aircraft with fundraising. The planes they have now are pressurised so they can fly above the clouds for a smoother ride for patients.

John Flynn was an amazing man. On a trip to Cloncurry about 10 years ago, we had looked through John Flynn Place, which is dedicated to him, and he worked tirelessly to get the RFDS up and running.

 We had afternoon tea at The Silly Goat, which was lovely. Bruce had Carrot Cake and I had Zucchini and Pineapple Loaf.

 We then went to Jack Absalom’s Gallery to have a look. He has the largest collection of opals in the Southern Hemisphere, as well as his paintings. I liked his paintings, loved the colours. We didn’t buy any though. Could have bought a print but there are no spare walls left in our house. They have quilts on them!

 We did go to a patchwork shop today as well and I bought a couple of fabrics that I am after for my next quilt. I left a happy girl!