From Marree we were back on the tar and heading to Broken Hill.
Last year in Maree we were recommended by a guy at the Maree Sailing Club to stop into Farina because there was a bakery and ruins of what was left of Farina Town from the 1800’s.
After a bit of research I learned that it was a thriving wheat farming town and it was the end point of The Great Northern Railway which delivered supplies for remote stations and outposts. Unfortunately drought ended the farming and the expansion of the railway led to people drifting away to other areas.
Today Farina is rising from the dust due to the passionate volunteers who spend weeks during the winter months restoring the crumbling ruins.
After more research I found out that the original scotch oven from the bakery was actually found among the ruins and was able to be restored and is used in the bakery today.
We were hoping to stop into Farina Bakery again for some delicious bakery treats but unfortunately it only opens for trading during the busy winters months when the volunteers come and crank up the oven and continue with the amazing restoration. It really is amazing what the volunteers have done. A walk around the ruins tells the story of Farina and definitely worth a visit. But sadly no coffee or sausage roll for us this time.
We were back on The Outback Highway heading towards the Flinders Ranges and were still on the hunt for a coffee so turned off the highway into Copley and found a bakery! It had great coffee AND sausage rolls. I learned later that it’s known for being a famous bush bakery. I understood why because the sausage roll was yum! When I went into the bakery the girl asked if we had been visiting for the cricket match. The day before there had been a grand final between Copley and Quorn. Apparently there would be a few sore heads that morning because Copley won. Steve also took the time to pump up the tyres now that we were back on tar.
We had a quick look at Parachilna another small town on The Outback Highway. It was very small but of course it had a pub.
Our next stop was Cradock Pub for lunch. It was located on RM Williams Way.
The drive to Broken Hill was over 7 hours so we stopped overnight by in Orroroo.
As soon as we drove in you could see the people were very proud of their town. It had lovely tidy wide streets and the houses were very well kept. The main street had a big medium strip with a park and sculptures.
The sculptures that were all throughout town were created by a high school metal work teacher who made the sculptures as a hobby.
We went for a walk down the main street and decided we should check out one of the pubs. It’s was full of friendly townsfolk and even the local cop. When we left they all said goodbye. Love small towns.
The following morning we continued on to Broken Hill. We crossed the border to NSW at Cockburn and we were surprised that the time didn’t change to NSW time? We soon discovered this was because Broken Hill operates on Central Standard Time. The reason for this is when Australia adopted standard time, Broken Hill’s only direct rail link was with Adelaide, not Sydney.
We went for a drive around town and down the main street which had heaps of pubs and clubs. There were banners all around that said Broken Hill was the first outback town. It hadn’t changed much from when we visited in 2005.
There is a huge black hill that overlooks town and is known as The Line of Lode. It is the worlds largest silver, lead and zinc mineral deposit and it is also a memorial for over 800 miners who lost their lives mining in Broken Hill.
The next day we had a slow morning. We’d had many 1 night stops and just needed to sit for a bit.
Later on we went out to Silverton.
We had been there in 2005. It had changed a bit. The pub had a new extension and there was a very new bakery. I didn’t have a sausage roll (which I now regret) but I had to try a mini custard tart.
I heard from one of the local shop keepers that the new owners of the pub didn’t want the Mad Max car that was there before and that they sold it. Maybe they needed the money for the new extension.
We did a walk around and went to a few art galleries. After 3 we were done.
Howard William Steer’s gallery entry.
I liked Howard’s sense of humour. Some samples of his art.
Some samples of artwork from the Justin Cowz gallery.
The John Dynon gallery had a lot happening out the front.
Another difference was they had a Mad Max 2 Museum.
It was a bit disappointing because they charged $10 and you weren’t allowed to take photos. You could take photos of the cars out the back but they were behind a mesh fence. They did have a lot of memorabilia which was worth seeing but I would have liked some pictorial memories.
There were the desert sculptures and the park to see but we saw them last time so didn’t think we needed to visit again.
We went back into town because I wanted to go to The Palace Hotel which was famous for the artwork on the walls and it was where a part of Priscilla Queen of the Desert was filmed.
The story about the artwork on all of the walls in the public areas on the ground floor is very interesting. Mario Celotto who was the owner from 1970 to 2004 painted the copy of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus on the ceiling in 1980.
It took him 144 hours of back breaking work so he decided to run a competition and would pay $1000 to someone who could match his work. As the story goes, an aboriginal man, Gordon Waye, came into the hotel and told Mario he was a painter. Mario asked him to show him what he could do and he painted a landscape, then and there, on the wall in the front bar in 8 hours.
The artwork throughout the hotel is amazing. The photos don’t do it justice so you better go and see for yourself.
Which brings me to Priscilla Queen of the Desert. The Palace Hotel became the central set for the filming in Broken Hill with many scenes filmed in the hotel. The most famous one is the drinking competition between Shirl and Bernadette in the front bar. There was another scene where the 3 of them checked into the hotel with Mario (the owner) checking them in. You can stay in the same room. It’s called the Priscilla Suite and is also filled with landscape paintings.
Each September there is The Broken Heel festival which celebrates everything “Priscilla” with people coming from all over the world.
For the rest of the day we spent the time catching up on chores and getting ready for our next outback adventure to Tibooburra.