Broken Hill, Menindee Lakes & Sturt's Desert Pea Flowers

Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Weather very nice, warm but not too hot & definitely not humid! In at the information centre at 9.30 am to join the 2 1/2 hour Guided Walking Tour of the CBD area. The guides are all volunteers & long time residents of Broken Hill. Cost is by donation with the money going to help community facilities in the area such as Meals on Wheels, Nursing Home, etc. Our guide, Sandra, was very good & we really enjoyed learning more about Broken Hill & its history. One of the more interesting buildings was the Trades Hall, home of the union movement in Broken Hill. Walked through a beautiful park with masses of strongly perfumed roses. Lots of Art Galleries & lots of sculptures all around the town!

Broken Hill, NSW: Trades Hall Building & sculpture; details of ceiling in main hall & stained glass windows

Broken Hill, NSW: Town Walk - Pro Hart's Ant sculpture;
Syndicate of Seven, the men who started the mining industry in Broken Hill;
Cerussite Sculpture [lead carbonate, a secondary mineral from the oxidised zones];
The Newspaper Building; Streetscape; Mural on wall of library building

Back to van for lunch then drove out to Menindee where there is lots of water coming down the Darling River & into the lakes. The lake we saw was teeming with bird life - pelicans, sea-gulls, cormorants & more. We heard stories about people catching heaps of fish, too. The lakes have been dry for the last 8 - 10 years! Apart from seeing the water in the once dry lake there is not a lot else at Menindee!


Menindee Lakes, NSW: Water pouring into Lake from the Darling River;

On our walk this morning our guide told us there was a really good display of Sturt's Desert Pea Flowers just off the Menindee road so we headed in there. I guess you will see from the following photos that we found the right spot! They were probably even better a week or so ago as a lot of them are now setting seed pods. They really are a most magnificent colour!

Near Menindee, NSW: Sturt's Desert Pea Flowers

Long drive back to Broken Hill through more green desert country & sightings of more emus, but I think you have seen enough photos of them!  A very pleasant & busy day!