Nyngan to Broken Hill

Day 2 got us to Broken Hill, a town I've been to before - though Kim hasn't - and really liked.


This has to be the biggest town's name sign I have ever seen - sadly, though, it doesn't count as a Big Thing.
This does, though. The Big Beer Can at Cobar. Woot.
Cobar's Great Western Hotel which is reputed to have the longest iron lace verandah in the southern hemisphere.
Look, I know what you're thinking - there's all these nondescript little towns dotted across Australia who's only claim to fame - or anything else for that matter - is ownership of the biggest / longest / deepest / etc wotsit around. So desperate they are for some (any) recongition that their very own biggest / longest / deepest / etc wotsit also needs a list of qualifiers just to make the grade. Thus, Cobar doesn't have the longest verandah in the world, only the southern hemisphere. And only that amongst the iron lace ones - presumably there being a longer non-iron lace one around somewhere.

Well get used to it - we are going to see a lot of these.

Wilcannia, though is not one of them - unless it is to claim to be the biggest dump in NSW. This place almost smells of neglect but it does have this lifting bridge which was classified by the National Trust - just before they turned tail and ran.
Here's some of the local kids having a paddle in the Darling River - they used to get paddle steamers up here! Not today, though.
One of the few nice buildings is surrounded by railings.
And this is the park. There are about 800 people living in Wilcannia and I feel sorry for every single one of them.
Back on the road again. Hey, I know a song about that.
One of the roadhouses along the way - we stopped every now and again to water the dog, get coffee, wee, etc.
I liked these clouds 'cos they are all red underneath, presumably reflecting the colour of the land.
Finally in our rest-stop for the day; Broken Hill. And, woot, another big thing - The Big Ant.
This town is about mining and nothing else. Here's some miney stuff in the park.
And some little miney stuff, too.
There's a great little geology / mining museum and - what do you know - a big lump of native silver. Not a Big Thing , though.
This is a whole tree made of solid silver. And probably worth nicking.
There were outside the local art centre and are 'story sticks' . People would probably have a better idea as to what is going on if they made 'story books' instead.
And this is a coffee shop / monument to all the dead miners. Sadly, we couldn't get up there because we had to leave before it opened - which is double devastating 'cos I know for a fact that there is a Big Thing up there - the Big Chair. Bugger.