Back to Broken Hill – which amazingly is actually quite a nice town … stayed out of town for a couple of nights at the sculptures which were great ...
looked at the Big Picture – its BIG, visited the memorial to the dead miners which is very well done …
some horrific deaths obviously – ‘asphyxiation’, ‘crushed by cranes’, ‘rock falls’, ‘suffocated in slimes’ etc – horrid. Had a beer at the Palace Hotel (Priscilla) - but the highlight was undoubtedly the Pro Hart Gallery – what an amazingly talented man he was … we didn’t realise how good he was. Bit of a strange character – an introvert, ex-miner, body builder and pistol shooter – and a fantastic artist. Must-see gallery.
Next stop Mutiwintji National Park ....yes - we had never heard of it either ... but it is actually a fantastic spot – very under-rated.
Its out in the middle of no-where … we stayed a few nights and did a couple of longer walks through the Matuwintji Gorge and rockpool lookouts, and then did a guided tour with a local aboriginal (Smacka) through the Amphitheatre Gorge which was quite fascinating. He told us about the park history, and the Aboriginal initiation rituals and the rock art, the use some of the plants, and his love of the land. Nice fella and a great walk. Not much water on any of our walks, and lots of dead kangaroos and goats. Also saw the endangered Barrier Dragon.
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