At the turn of the 20th century, Rev. Dr. John Flynn, of the Australian Inland Mission, believed strongly that improved medical care for those living in the outback was urgently needed and it was because of his efforts that the world's first Aerial Medical Service was established in 1928, with its operations beginning in Concurry, Queensland. In 1942, with bases now all over Australia, the service was renamed the Flying Doctor Service. The Service became the Royal Flying Doctor Service in 1955 after Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, visited the Broken Hill base.
Today, the RFDS is the largest, most comprehensive, aeromedical organization in the world.
Now just to give you an idea of what outback Australia can really look like, these are the Mundi Mundi Plains, located just outside Broken Hill. You really do feel a little bit like you are on top of world standing here, looking out ... forever!
After driving through a very small portion of the Mundi Mundi Plains we arrived at the Umberumberka Reservoir, which is one of two major reservoirs (with a third one available when needed) that supply Broken Hill with water. It was constructed in 1915 with a capacity of 6935ML and a catchment area of 407.5 km2.
Now just in case Broken Hill isn't remote enough, today we went further north to a very little town called Silverton. I was talking to someone in one of the local shops who believes the current population of Silverton is 37 - so it really is a very little town!
The town sprang up after the discovery of rich silver deposits in the 1870s - pre Broken Hill - but these deposits were soon eclipsed by the even richer silver-lead-zinc ore body at Broken Hill.
Today several artists live in or around the town but despite its small size Silverton is quite well known on the world scene --- especially to any of you who have seen Mad Max and Mad Max 2, Priscilla Queen of the Desert or Dirty Deeds, to name but a few movies that have been shot in and around Silverton.
And today, especially with its resident donkey, it really does look like an outback town from long ago.
This stone wall was built in Silverton in 2009 as a memorial to the town's pioneers. The stone came from the remains of three significant Silverton buildings and the sculptures on top are made from old mining tools, commemorating the importance of mining to Silverton.
The Silverton Historical Cemetery is an historical site that cannot be disturbed. Mining accidents were common, as well isolation meant that freshwater, fruit, vegetables and sanitation was often in short supply. Typhoid was also a part of life for the early settlers in Silverton.
Around Silverton these two 'local' residents were very curious about what I was doing when I was out walking a bit. As I've said before, actually getting photos of them in the wild is not that easy to do as they are quick to hop away, but I tried my best here.
Back in Broken Hill again and I took myself on a little self-guided walking tour they have of the 'downtown' area with some of the town's original buildings. To give you an example of just a few ...
This building was erected in 1888 and in 1890 the Kidman Bros., who were butchers, owned it and it has been occupied by butchers ever since.
The Town Hall, built in 1891, using stone from the Block 14 Mine.
The Post Office, constructed in 1890-1892.
The original Barrier Truth building opened in 1905 and was a single-storey building. The second storey was added in 1908. The Barrier Truth was launched by the Australian Labour Federation in 1898 and in 1908 it became the first labour sponsored daily newspaper in the English speaking world.
Today the Barrier Truth is still the daily newspaper here in Broken Hill.
The Trades Hall was the first privately owned Trades Hall in the southern hemisphere. Built and paid for entirely by the people of Broken Hill, it stands as a proud and fitting monument to all workers, past and present. The cornerstone was laid in 1898 and officially opened, albeit not completed, in 1899. Work on the building continued until the final section was added in 1905. Today the building is an historical landmark, owned by the union members of Broken Hill.
In yesterday's blog post I mentioned that the Line of Lode runs right through the middle of the town and here you can really see it. I'm standing on the main street, and just one block away and across the railway tracks, is the Line of Lode. The Miners Memorial (also from yesterday's blog post) is on the top at the left.
The Sculpture Symposium is a striking range of sculptures located on a hilltop outside of town, created in 1993 by 12 international sculptors. They were responding to the limitless landscape; using 52 tonnes of Wilcannia sandstone and they borrowed old tools from local miners to work on the rock.
I went out to the Sculpture Symposium at sunset tonight and the late day lighting helped bring out the lovely red colours of the sandstone.
No comments:
Post a Comment