Tag Archives: Broken Hill

Holidays and Learning

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Two old miners and their dog rest beside their claim in the Living Desert Flora and Fauna Sanctuary north of Broken Hill.

One of the many sculptures on a hilltop North of Broken Hill.


Pro Hart’s lunch box was among the many objects he painted. The most famous one was his Rolls Royce Shadow car.


Pro Hart loved his Rolls Royces. This one stands proudly in front of the Pro Hart Gallery in Broken Hill.


“Rusty” the corrugated iron dog guards the entrance to the Silver City Mint and Gallery.


The Royal Flying Doctor Service is an essential part of health care in the outback of Australia.


The Big Picture is an enormous single piece of canvas painted by “Ando”.


Broken Hill artist, Jack Absolom (centre) showed us his Opal collection  and explained the various colours available at his Gallery.

Our School Holidays are almost over and Term 4 will begin on Monday, 10th October. During my holiday we travelled 817 Kms to  Broken Hill, New South Wales  so I was determined to learn as much about the area as I could. Fortunately our Car Club tour organizer had prepared a variety of outings to Museums, Galleries and points of interest to showcase the mining city and its surrounds. A highlight of the visit was meeting Pro Hart’s wife Raylee and his son John (pictured above). They are standing in front of an original Pro Hart painting. Pro and Raylee also had a daughter, Julie Hart, who is an artist and has a style very like her father’s. She has a Gallery in  William Street, Broken Hill.

Broken Hill isn’t broken at all.

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Stone cottage at Silverton, a “ghost town” near Broken Hill, in New South Wales.


This Old Man Emu wasn’t keen to have his photograph taken at Silverton, New South Wales.


Carved Ceremonial poles at the Living Desert Flora and Fauna Sanctuary which is 9 miles North of Broken Hill.


Sturt’s Desert Peas abound despite the desert conditions.

Silverton has several Art Galleries. This ship was constructed by welding together junk metal items. Can you find the spanner?


Pro Hart’s Gallery is a collection of  his famous artworks showcasing his unique style. Sadly, Pro died in 2006.

Australian artist Pro Hart painted his lunch box which he used when he worked in the mines at Broken Hill.
He specialized in painting bush, mining and busy town scenes, dragonfies, his Rolls Royce car and, his signature, ants.

Last weekend I spent several days on a Car Club trip to Broken Hill which is a mining city in far west New South Wales. Although line of lode of silver, lead and zinc is expected to be depleted over the next twenty years the people of Broken Hill are staying positive and are keen to have tourists visit their city. Visitors are given many opportunities to discover the wealth of mining history and the delightful artworks of such artists as Pro Hart. We visited local “ghost town”, Silverton, which is one of the nearby attractions and the Mundi Mundi Lookout. The interesting red and black flower is the Sturt Desert Pea which grows well in the dry conditions of the area.The carved poles are by local Aboriginal youth and sit on top of a hill in the Living Desert Flora and Fauna Sanctuary. The road in the photograph above heads North into the distance from the Mundi Mundi lookout.