New South Wales - Australia 2004 - page 223

What Time Is It, Anyway?
Broken Hill runs its clocks to Central Standard Time, to correspond with
South Australia. The surrounding country, however, runs half an hour
faster at Eastern Standard Time.

Fun Fact

5pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5pm. Admission is A$3 (US$1.95)
for adults, A$2 (US$1.30) for children, and A$6 (US$3.90) for families.
Other galleries worth visiting around town include Absalom's Gallery, 638
Chapple St. ( & 08/8087 5881 ), and the Pro Hart Gallery, 108 Wyman St.
( & 08/8087 2441 ). All are open daily. Pro Hart's gallery is really worth a look.
Apart from his own works—including works based on incidents and scenes
relating to Broken Hill—his gallery is crammed with everything from a bas-
relief of Salvador Dalí to a landscape by Claude Monet.
To get a real taste of mining in Broken Hill, take an underground tour at Del-
prat's Mine ( & 08/8088 1604 ). Visitors go 120m (394 ft.) below the surface.
Children under 6 are not allowed. Tours run Monday through Friday at
10:30am and Saturday at 2pm. The 2-hour tour costs A$23 (US$15) for adults
and A$18 (US$12) for children.
Be sure not to miss the School of the Air and the Royal Flying Doctor Service
base, both of which help show the enormity of the Australian interior. The
School of the Air —the largest schoolroom in the world, with students scattered
over 800,000 sq. km (312,000 sq. miles)—conducts lessons via two-way radios.
Visitors can listen in on part of the day's first teaching session Monday through
Friday at 8:30am (except public holidays). Bookings are essential and must be
made through the Broken Hill Visitors Information Centre (see “Visitor
Information,” above). Tours costs A$2 (US$1.30) per person. The Royal Flying
Doctor Service base is at the Broken Hill Airport ( & 08/8080 1777 ). The
service maintains communication with more than 400 outback stations, ready
to fly at once in case of an emergency. The base at Broken Hill covers 25% of
New South Wales, as well as parts of Queensland and South Australia. Explana-
tions of the role of the flying doctor service are given continuously at the base
Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm. Admission is A$3 (US$1.95) for
adults, free for children.
OTHER THINGS TO SEE & DO NEARBY
VISITING A GHOST TOWN At least 44 movies have been filmed in the
Wild West town of Silverton (pop. 50), 23km (14 miles) northwest of Bro-
ken Hill. It's the Wild West Australian-style, though, with camels instead of
horses sometimes placed in front of the Silverton Pub, which is well worth a visit
for its kitschy Australian appeal. Silverton once had a population of 3,000 fol-
lowing the discovery of silver here in 1882, but within 7 years almost everyone
had left. There are some good art galleries here, as well as a restored jail and hotel.
DISCOVERING ABORIGINAL HANDPRINTS Mutawintji National
Park (also known and pronounced by its old name, Mootwingee), 130km (81
miles) northeast of Broken Hill, was one of the most important spiritual meeting
places for Aborigines on the continent. Groups came from all over to peck out
abstract engravings on the rocks with sharpened quartz tools and to sign their
handprints to show they belonged to the place. The ancient, weathered fireplaces
are still here, laid out like a giant map to show where each visiting group came