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... Was the Pro Hart gallery. This was something we've been looking forward to, because GB's Dad was good mates with Pro when they lived in Broken Hill & GB remembers the family visiting Pro's home & seeing his studio. While we couldn't take photos inside, we did get this ...
Two of the many special cars Pro collected ... A Rolls Royce & a Bently. Hmmm ... Somehow GB doesn't look like a match for the vehicles! :0) We enjoyed the gallery & considering Pro is best known for his outback scenes & dragonflies (remember that carpet ad Aussies??) it was interesting to see how many different styles he experimented with & used. We bought a small print to take home with us ... An original Pro Hart painting is a bit out of our price range. :0)
Next stop was The Big Picture gallery. This was well worth the entry fee & one of the best presented attractions we've seen in our travels. The highlight was the panoramic painting 100m long that represents this region. Well worth a look. The other highlight for me here was that I got to buy some silver jewellery made from Silver City silver by a local artist. The beauty of Broken Hill silver is ... It doesn't tarnish because it isn't mixed with tin, as most silver is. Oh ... & it's PRETTY! :0)
After I finally dragged myself away from the silver jewellery, we took ourselves off to the Geo Centre, or more fully, the Albert Kersten Minerals & Mining Museum, which houses an impressive collection of mineral samples, the biggest silver nugget extracted whole (42kg - larger nuggets have been found but broken up to be extracted) & a very special table decoration ... The Silver Tree.
The building itself was pretty fabulous & inside ...
... Lots of minerals on display ... My geologist sister-in-law would have loved it. :0)
An example of galena, which contains silver, lead & zinc.
GB imagining the holidays we could have if we'd been the ones to find this silver nugget. :0)
The story of the Silver Tree ...
It's a bit tricky to photograph & you can really only appreciate the intricacies of the artistry in person ...
This would have taken a long time to be created. We were just finishing our visit as a school group arrived ... Good timing! :0) As we jumped back in Big Blue, GB noticed the temperature inside the vehicle ...
48 degrees Celsius. Yeah ... A bit warm! :0) The outside temperature was 36 ... & we hot weather people were just fine with that! Tee! Hee! Hee!
We had intended to visit the rail museum next, but found it closed early due to high temperatures ... Hmmm ... Not sure how they go in summer?! GB says the town has obviously gotten softer since he was growing up! :0P We did squeeze in a visit to the Jack Absolom gallery, too. Jack, along with Pro Hart, Eric Minchin, John Pickup & Hugh Schultz were a group of Broken Hill artists known as "The Brushmen Of The Bush".
We had also planned to visit the Broken Hill Sculptures as the sun set ... But we sacrificed this experience to spend the time having dinner with an old school friend of GB's. It was a very enjoyable time, so trade off worthwhile. We DID still enjoy a rather spectacular sunset with amazing colours painted across the sky, which seems bigger out here somehow. It's easy to see why so many artists live here or visit regularly. The Australian outback isn't for everyone & it certainly isn't for the faint hearted, but the colours, the contrasts, the vast expanses & big open skies sure do strike a chord for us ... Though I readily confess to enjoying living a bit closer to 'civilisation'. :0) And as we wound our way back to our home base, we passed the local Catholic Church & just had to get a photo ...
Rather impressive, isn't it? I DO love old buildings. :0)
So ... That was our last day in Broken Hill. There were still a few things we didn't get to tick off our list, but that leaves a few for future adventures, doesn't it? :0) Tomorrow we head off to Lightning Ridge, which will be one of our longer driving days & a big step closer to home. We're really not ready for the adventures to be over, but apparently we have to soon go back to being responsible grown ups ... SIGH! :0) So with an early start on the agenda, I'd best go hit the shower & then the pillow. Tune in again on the same Bat-channel for the next instalment of Roadtripping with Kris & GB. :0) Til next time ...
BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS,
KRIS
2 comments:
It's funny how we both spent about the same time in Broken Hill but ended up visiting some very different places. It just goes to show how much there is to see and do in the outback city.
You are visiting so many interesting places on your trip....
I'm enjoyed catching up on your previous posts..
Nice to have been able to relax in the tub!!
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