Broken Hill

We had a great time in broken hill. Em's friend Sarah's wedding was heaps of fun, and we met lots of great people, including some 'A graders'. Apparently in the old mining days preference was given to hiring those who were second generation Broken Hill people, or 'A graders', presumably because they were more likely to live, work, and die in the town. The practice has changed, but everyone in Broken Hill can still tell you if they are an A, B, or whatever grade.

At Matt and Sarah's pre-wedding bash we had the pleasure of trying 'cheeseslaw', which is basically coleslaw with a massive bag of shredded cheese dumped in. Apparently it is a broken hill thing...Another broken hill thing is that two-up is legal every day of the year (what the?) at the musicians club where the reception was. Apparently the only other place you can play it legally outside of ANZAC day is at another two-up 'school' in Kalgoorlie.


We checked out the 'Big Picture' - the world's largest acrylic painting by a single artist, which is a landscape scene of the Broken Hill area. It is roughly 12m x 100m, and is housed inside with a viewing platform set in amongst desert sand and saltbush. It was very impressive, and the surrounding gallery is a massive showcase for local artists. The local art scene is huge and of high quality for such a small town, eclipsed only by the local hairdressing scene - there are about 20 for a town of 20,000 people (and 4 traffic lights). Maybe miners like getting their hair done?

The best art we saw was the famous 'Sculpture Symposium', which consists of 12 hand-carved pieces of sandstone sitting on top of a desert hill outside the town. We went at sunset and were very impressed with the mini Easter-island kind of vibe.


We also made a trip out to nearby Silverton, did a tour down the 'daydream' mine, and checked out the Mad Max car out the front of the pub. A massive number of films, TV series, and commercials have been filmed in Broken Hill, Silverton and surrounds. Some standouts are Dirty Deeds, Mission Impossible 2, Mad Max II, Priscilla, and Wake in Fright.

The mine tour was really worth doing - it was dug by Cornish miners in terrible conditions with hand drilling and blasting. The blasting was performed while the miners were still underground (about 150 of them in its prime) but despite this dangerous practice most miners tended to die from inhalation of the silica dust.

We had dinner at the best restaurant in town - Broken Earth, which is perched on top of the slag heap that dominates the whole town. Great food, although it was kind of sad that we closed the restaurant at 9pm, it was nice spot to take your time eating.

Sound good? You can pick up a three bedroom house in broken hill for $100k.

Adelaide to Broken Hill

On our way to broken hill we detoured through the Barossa.

We were on a mission so there wasn't time (or a spare designated driver) to sample any wines, but it was great to see the area that included many household names like Jacobs Creek, Wolf Blass, and Penfolds. We also ran into an FJ holden club that was touring the Barossa. Cool cars!

The Barossa and surrounds is beautiful country with grass and crops all vibrant, healthy green, and bright yellow canola. There were also quite a few fields full of Patterson's Curse, which apparently is called Salvation Jane in SA because it provides feed for cattle when everything else has died in times of drought.

It is amazing how quickly the land changes from super-fertile hurt-your-eyes green to dusty desert inhabited by saltbush, goats, roos, and emus. The desert was that beautiful reddish dirt, with virtually no trees. 110km/h feels like you are barely moving.

Adelaide

To broken hill for a wedding! We started the journey by flying into Adelaide (saving about 7 hours driving) and stayed overnight. We had dinner at Glenelg and also checked out North Adelaide. Both were really nice areas, although it was pretty cold so we didn't linger. I'd been to Adelaide before, and learnt a few things which I re-learnt on this trip:

• They have stuffed up their beer sizes. A schooner in Adelaide is a pot/middy everywhere else, be prepared to be disappointed.
  
• The light/power poles 'Stobie poles' are SA icons. They are concrete sandwiched between steel and were initially designed to save on timber, but serve on as a really ugly legacy. Broken hill also has a few around the town. There have been a number of art projects that have painted Stobie poles and people have also grown gardens around and up them to try and beat back the ugly.
  

I spent a few hours tonight dangling string

I spent a few hours tonight dangling string, so I thought I should have something to show for it...

Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships

We went to the MTB and trials world champs today to see the mens and womens 'elite' downhill as well as the trials.






It was amazing, with thousands of people climbing all over Mt. Stromlo. Saw some amazing riding, and some nasty falls - I thought I was going to get cleaned up by the Swiss guy below, who lost it on the corner I was standing on about half a second after I took that photo...Also saw a Italian guy snap his forks off in the trials rocks course, then proceed to throw his bike because he was so pissed off.





There were heaps of different trials courses including rocky gullies, piled-up skips, logs, pallets, and a tractor (!?)












If you haven't seen trials riding before, put "mountain bike trials" into youtube and prepare to be amazed. Who would've thought a mountain bike was a good choice of equipment to climb a tree with....













Check out the the entire course on helmet cam!

Oriole has arrived

So we decided on Oriole (Ori) after the Baltimore Orioles. She has arrived and is settling into her new house. But enough talk, here's the photos!


Here she is at 4 weeks when we first saw her at her Mum's house







And here she is at six weeks on her first day at our house










Can't get enough of the bit-of-paper on string!









Kitty video!

The kitten names shortlist...

The (very) shortlist so far is:

• Kima or Snoop. If we had a boy cat, picking a Wire character would have been a lot easier...
  
• Loquat (we have a loquat tree). I was led to this one after perusing lists of fruits and vegetables after finding out that the Delta State University mascot is the Fighting Okra. Best. Mascot. Ever.
  
• Arcee
  
• Zephyr
  
• Oriole
  

Planning to walk the overland track in tasmania

Official Links

• Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Overland Track page is quite comprehensive.
  
• The Lake St. Clair Ferry provides a service between the Narcissus River (end of the overland track) and Cynthia Bay (Lake St. Clair visitors centre).
  
• Indicative prices for one of the shuttle companies.
  
• Average weather conditions for Cradle valley.
  

Flights

• 2 December: Depart 07:15 arrive Launceston 10:45
  
• 14 December: Depart Launceston 11:20 arrive 15:00
  

Accommodation

Launceston backpackers on 2 Dec and 10 Dec. Booked for 5 people. 103 Canning St. Launceston, (03) 6334 2327.

Shuttle

Tiger Wilderness Tours Tasmania. Lee Freestone 03 6394 3212.

Pickup from outside the Launceston backpackers on 3 December, then from Lake St Clair Visitors Centre on 10 December back to Launceston.

Shuttle is $100/person ($40 there, $60 back), which is cheap because we're combining with some other walkers. Each person to pay full amount in cash on the return leg.

There will be an additional cost for park entry. If we get a 8-person pass this will be about $60 for all of us. I'm also going to hire an EPIRB (about $40).

Ferry

Booked ferry from Narcissus to Lake St. Clair vistors centre for 3:30pm pickup of 5 people. Paid in advance $35/pp. Booking phone number: (03) 6289 1137.

Outdoors Store

Paddy Pallin @ 110 George Street Launceston does gear hire and is a good place to buy stove fuel. Most of the shuttle bus companies can provide fuel and even recycle what you don't use.

Common gear
See my packing list for everything I am taking, below is a list of the common things that only one of us needs to carry.

• Stoves: G (coleman propane), B (MSR shellite)
  
• B: Orange plastic poo trowel
  
• G: Sea-to-summit waterproof map case
  
• B: 1st aid kit
  
• G,L: Steripen
  
• Someone: EPIRB (hiring)
  

The best blogs, photos, and maps

• Planning the overland track has some good info and links, as well as a fantastic google map with all the huts and landmarks marked with icons.
  
• Matthias' Trip diary from 2009 has a massive set of photos on picasa, which he has also put on a google map.
  
• David Noble's overland track pictures from his 97 trip are impressive. The Geryon is all kinds of awesome.
  

Day 1 (3 Dec): Dove Lake to Waterfall Valley Hut

Side trip to Cradle Mountain summit - 3 hours return from Kitchen Hut. Climbing cradle is apparently steep and exposed, with lots of rock scrambling.

Day 2 (4 Dec): Waterfall Valley Hut to Windermere Hut (7.5 kms, 3 hours +side trips)

Side trip up Barn Bluff - 2.5 hours return from Cradle Cirque. Side trip to Lake Will - 1 hour return from main track. Without side trips the distance from waterfall valley to windemere is very short: a friend of mine did the side trip to lake will and got to windemere by 10:30am. They then decided to push on to Pelion Hut, which she says was a mistake since it was a long way and resulted in some injuries. Looking at photos I'm not sure Lake Will is worth it, but apparently Barn Bluff is awesome.

Day 3 (5 Dec): Windermere Hut to Pelion Hut (16.5kms, 6 hours)

Day 4 (6 Dec): Pelion Hut to Kia-Ora Hut (9kms, 3 hrs +side trips)

Side trip up Mt. Ossa - 3.5hrs return from Pelion Gap.

Day 5 (7 Dec): Kia-Ora Hut to Bert Nichols (Windy Ridge) Hut (10.0kms, 4 hrs +side trips)

Side trips to D'Alton and Fergusson Falls (1.5 hours return) and Hartnett Falls (1hr return).

Day 6 (8 Dec): Bert Nichols Hut to Pine Valley Hut

The Labyrinth! In the words of my friend:

The Pine Valley is a MUST as a side trip. The Labyrinth is fascinating and makes you think you are in Jurassic Park. DO NOT go to the Labyrinth if the weather is inclement. It is called the Labyrinth for a reason and a number of hikers have been lost (permanently) up there. I did not do the Acropolis but don't think I would have made it anyway due to the need to scramble and the heights thing.

Day 7 (9 Dec): The Acropolis, return to Pine Valley Hut

Day 8 (10 Dec): Pine Valley Hut to Narcissus Hut and boat along Lake St. Clair

Some more words of wisdom:

The most boring part of the walk is the end bit. Honestly, even though you may feel like you need to say you have done the whole thing, I would suggest catching the boat out of there. The only thing is that in peak times the boat fills up quickly so that on the day we walked out we pretty much ran to the boat (from Pine Valley) to guarantee a spot....the smart thing would have been to book it before we left.

Gig: The Presets, Van She @ AIS Arena

I was so disappointed Architecture in Helsinki weren't supporting the Presets - I would have been more interested in seeing them! The move of venue from the ANU to AIS was a shame because the AIS is fairly large, impersonal, and has the worst bar setup of any concert venue in the city. On the plus side, the presets could bring a massive light show that just couldn't have fit into ANU. The lights started out fairly simple and it was only towards the end that the full capabilities were revealed - awesome!

I was skeptical about how good this show would be since they have been touring the album forever. It turned out to be a pretty good gig, although I would have been much more excited if it had been six months earlier. The masses of 12 year olds didn't help the atmosphere, and it was kind of weird watching them all get picked up by their parents afterwards.

3 stars.

Gig: Sneaky Sound System @ UC

Sneaky rocked out at the UC refectory. They played a great set, with some awesome covers: the Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams and Daft Punk's Around the World. And now for a quick whinge: The most annoying thing about this gig was that it was all-ages, so they fenced off a tiny bar area that only has cans, so it's like being at a festival: VB and UDLs :(

4 stars.