Day Twenty-Two - Bye-Bye Broken Hill!

Hello to you all! Reporting in from today's landing spot ... Lightning Ridge ... Which My Beloved Geek Boy & I will explore tomorrow, since it was dark by the time we arrived tonight. It's been a big day of driving today ... Over nine hours & we got a bit of a late start ... But it was a really good reason to get on the road late! :0)

Our day started with packing all of our stuff back into Big Blue ready to hit the road, but before we farewelled Broken Hill, we had one more special thing to see ... A former convent ...

Isn't it fantastic! This wasn't a typical tourist attraction, but we were fortunate enough to be shown through it by GB's school friend, as it is currently owned by the Church Of Christ. But let me start at the beginning ...

The convent was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1889. The sisters ran a school & orphanage as well as helping the needy. While the duties carried out by the sisters varied through the decades & their numbers dwindled, they continued to have a presence in Broken Hill until 1979. On October 4, there was a fire in the convent, which caused extensive damage to the top floor, the sleeping quarters. 

You can see the damage to the roof in this photo of a photo on display in the former convent today. The fire was started by a faulty electric blanket & when the building was restored ...

... A little window into the past was preserved ... The scorched floor where the electric blanket started the blaze. The building was purchased by the Church of Christ with the goal of providing crisis accommodation for young people & many original features were preserved during the restoration ...

This stained glass window recently received some more TLC & is stunning with sun streaming through it.

As is this leadlight fan light. Another special feature that has survived the fire & time are a number of fan light stencils ...

Apparently when a heritage adviser was brought in during restoration, they were in fits of rapture over the stencils. Apparently there was only one place in England that made them & it was bombed during World War One, so there are very few examples of their work still around. Here's a couple more ... It almost looks like quilting fabric! :0)

This one has flowers ...

Other original features that have been saved include ...

... Two wall sconces beside a door that would have originally held bowls of holy water that the nuns dipped their fingers in before they went to pray ...

... The alcove that held the alter in the convent chapel ...

... A white marble fireplace mantel & original tiles ...

... And a few others that I went a little nuts photographing, but won't share or my blog ap will have fits over the number of photos I've shared. :0)  Have I mentioned that I LOVE old buildings?! :0) I also liked the knot garden that has been kept at the front of the convent ...

This was taken from the balcony outside the room in which the fire started.

So ... That was why we were late starting off this morning! :0) I'm so grateful we had the chance to look through it.

Now, though, I think it's time to hit the shower & then bed ... GB is already sawing off logs. Tee! Hee! Hee! I wonder what adventures we'll find here in Lightning Ridge tomorrow??! Stay tuned! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS