Broken Hill

I apologize in advance. This is a long post because so much happened. It makes sense to me, but maybe it wont to you. Probably because you weren't there. But my friend always said "do what makes you feel good," and writing down nonsense makes me feel good.

Almost don't even know where to begin. So much going on right now, it's crazy! I guess I'll start in the most logical place - what I had for dinner last night. Had me some Velveeta Shells and Cheese that my parents mailed me from home. You know what they tasted like? Freedom. Democracy. Oil. Liberty. You know, AMERICA.

Also just read Bill Simmon's new mailbag. An idol of mine. A true American hero. What a night.

So more about the middle of nowhere - I mean Broken Hill. Literally it was in the middle of nowhere, 13 hours north of Melbourne. On our way there we went 3 hours without seeing lights, other cars, and humans. Nothing. No cell phone service just wide open space. And I loved it. It was amazing.

On the way there the bus in front of us hit a kangaroo, narrowly missed a cow and almost took out 3 sheep. We stopped for dinner at this nice Veterans Club. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet. I took full advantage of that offer and had inappropriate amounts of ham, roast beef, and potatoes. Then God looked down on me and said "You my son have not eaten enough. The soup is Baked Potato soup. Go forth and make me proud." 5 bowls later I felt I had.

The first 3 nights there we stayed at The West Darling Hotel. It was a mix between The Ghost of Mr. Chicken and The Shining. Scariest "hotel" I've ever stayed in. I took pictures, but they don't even begin to do it justice. We stayed above an old bar, so the first night we went out and hard drinks with are teachers and everyone on the trip and then TRIED to fall asleep with the lights off, but no one could.

Saturday we went to an underground mine about an hour from Broken Hill. Broken Hill was, and still is, based upon mining. It wouldn't exist without it and it is a huge part of the town's culture and personality. We suited up with hardhats and lights and headed down into the mine. I thought I was going to be more scared because it was so small and tight and real steep going down, but I wasn't. I figured if something were to happen, everyone is gonna die so no big deal. I don't know how that made me feel better, but it did. It was awesome down there and we got demonstrations of how they mined in the olden days. Later in the day we went to a mountain to watch the sunset which was beautiful.

Saturday night we went to The Musician's Club which was a bar/casino/concert hall. Everything was extremely cheap there and they had karaoke. Unfortunately I did not get up and sing because we left before I was due up, but that might have actually been for the betterment of everyone there. Our teachers were there and for this class mine is a 23 year old blonde Australian who is extremely smart. And good looking. With much prodding (and a LITTLE liquid courage) I decided to drop some pick-up lines on my teacher. Me: Are you okay? Her: Yeah, Why? Me: Because you just fell from heaven! I wish it stopped there. Me: You just dropped something. Her: What? Me: My jaw. Again, I wish it stopped there. But it didn't. All in all I dropped twenty, yes that's 2-0 lines on my teacher. My TEACHER. She laughed them off though and thought most of them were good. I guess I'll find out how good they were when I get my grades back.

On Sunday we went got a tour of Broken Hill and went to the Miners Memorial that overlooks the town. It was interesting and the guy that gave the tour was an older fellow who had lived there his whole life and had worked in the mines. What a character he was. We then headed to a sheep farm deep in the Outback, but on the way we stopped for some camel rides. Camel's have to be the coolest, but ugliest and meanest animals out there. They look so cute/cool from far away, but when you get up close you're like WOW these things are ugly AND they seem so upset. I guess if I had to have kids jump on my back all day I'd be mad too. The sheep farm was awesome. We saw a sheep shearing demonstration which was real cool and found out how the wool is used and how it is processed. Then we took a hike a few miles into the mountains to watch the sunset. It was beautiful, and we saw a few wild kangaroos. We had a fabulous dinner of takes and sausages, along with some apple crisp, chocolate cake and ice cream as dessert. Then everyone gathered around the fire and roasted marshmallows for the rest of the night.

On Monday we drove to Mildura, a small town about 5 from Broken Hill. We went on a tour of a few dried up lakes that the aboriginals used to use and had a guided tour by 2 aboriginals. It was interesting to view the land from their perspective. It wasn't just vast nothingness, but rather the land is what sustained them and it had immeasurable value. That night we went to The Pizza Cafe which was all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta. You ordered what you wanted and they just kept bringing it to you. It was unbelievable and so delicious. Right next to the cafe was the Mildura Brewery. We went there for a few hours and it was awesome. They had leather couches, really nice tables and chairs and tons of beer. My father would have been in heaven. I got a sampler platter for $6 and it came with 8 samples. I was a big fan of the Storm which is, to quote their website, "Based on the popular US Pale Ale style this is a hop-driven beer, characterized by citrus bitterness and aroma." We stayed there for awhile then finally walked down the street back home. It was a great ending to the week.

On Tuesday we started the long drive home, but before we got too far we stopped at winery. We got a quick tour, and then sampled wine for what seemed like hours! I liked the sauvignon blanc, but I'm not a huge wine drinker to begin with. All the girls loved the wooded chardonnays, but they didn't do it for me. No thanks on the wine, just take me back to the brewery.

So that's Broken Hill in a nutshell. A long, at times hastily written nutshell. I will post some more thoughts from this past week soon, most notably about the Buffalo Bills and their poor/terrible preseason.

I've posted picutures at www.australianadventure2.shutterfly.com There are about 200, and most of them seem like nothing because well, there was nothing. I feel like I keep saying that, but I take a million pictures hoping I'll get lucky and one will be good. Then I get too lazy to delete the bad ones. Hopefully you enjoy. Cheers!