mid-holiday update

I've been on holiday now since friday and it's been too good! The fun started in Adelaide over the weekend staying with my friend Steph. It was pretty cold and wet (around 11 max in the day), but it was great weather for reading, having baths, going to the 'Hills and having lots of hot drinks.

The highlight may well have been buying chesnuts freshly roasted from this awesome guy in Stirling, and then eating the delicious hot nuts walking in the crisp mountain air with Steph.I also went to Hahndorf, Mount Lofty, the city and North Adelaide.

On Monday I flew into Broken Hill, which was pretty special. We were cruising above the clouds at sunset, which is a sight to behold - violet, red and orange sky above a bed of clouds. Wow. The change of landscape from the air between Adelaide and western NSW was quite dramatic. One of my best friends Jane lives in the B-Hill and she's kindly having me stay for a week.

Broken Hill is a funny place. In the past it has been a hub of activity and in good times, wealth. At the moment, it seems more like a tourist town with a few limited mines operating. There is quite a bit of poverty and lots of dust. It's quite different to other country towns in NSW - dramatically different to Orange, where the gold mine is going great guns and farming is easier and more profitable.

It has its charms though, including a giant pile of 'slag' which hosts the towns most expensive restaurant "Broken Earth", and a memorial to all the miners killed over the years. The architecture is also fascinating, ranging from stunning Victorian era homesteads and shops, to cute tinnies (miners' cottages). Here is a lame self-portrait atop the Slag Pile looking down at the township.

Just this afternoon I visited the famous Bells Milk Bar in South Broken Hill, which is in its original 1950s state. I had a Mars Bar milkshake, which made me feel slightly ill it was so sweet. But it was worth it for the experience and the opportunity to take photos.