Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

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CHAPTER 4 . NEW SOUTH WALES
Fun Fact 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.
To get a real taste of mining in Broken Hill, take an underground tour at
Delprat’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. Continuous
explanatory lessons are held 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 Broken
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
following 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 from. Hundreds of ochre outlines of hands and animal paws,
some up to 30,000 years old, are stenciled on rock overhangs. The fabulous
2-hour Outback trip from Broken Hill to Mootwingee is along red-dirt tracks
not really suitable for two-wheel-drives and should not be attempted after a
heavy rain.
Mootwingee Heritage Tours (& 08/8088 7000) organizes inspections of
the historical sites every Wednesday and Saturday morning at 10:30am Broken
Hill time (11am Mootwingee, or Eastern Standard, time). The tours may be