A Home in the Outback

Back-up power has been restored to the far west NSW town of Broken Hill but locals are not taking chances.

As news came that power was being restored to Broken Hill, people were gathering outside Adkins Hardware Store on Tuesday night, October 22, waiting

Store Manager Graeme Tunes had a changeover switch wired into the shop recently and was able to source a 30kVA generator to run the business.

Tens of thousands of dollars of medication will have to be thrown out after a thief stole a generator which was powering two fridges full of vaccines at a Broken Hill pharmacy.  

The far west of NSW has been relying on generator power since a storm came through last Wednesday night and destroyed several transmission towers south of Broken Hill.

Back-up generators have been powering the far western region of Broken Hill, Tibooburra, Wilcannia, Menindee and White Cliffs.

“We've basically run the generators, fill them up every night. And, unfortunately, last night one of the generators got filled up at midnight and then it was no longer there when we went to open the store in the morning,” he said.

The stolen generator meant the contents of the two fridges at the Good Price Pharmacy at the Village Shopping Centre had to be thrown out.

The NSW electricity operator and manager Transgrid says it will take several weeks to fix the transmission towers that were destroyed in a storm that passed through the far west of New South Wales on Wednesday night October 17, 2024.

General Manager of Network Operations Jason Krstanoski told A Home in the Outback seven transmission towers on the 250km line between

Read the full story on www.ahomeintheoutback.com

Dave Gallagher, Tom Kennedy and Darriea Turley are the mayoral candidates for the Broken Hill City Council election on September 14.

A Home in the Outback's founding editor Katherine Waite sat down with the three candidates to hear their Broken Hill story, learn the values that drive them and give their election pitch. The interview complement's the election preview published in A Home in the Outback News Magazine Issue two written by Emily McInerney (and available to purchase online or in person in Broken Hill for $5 at the following locations: the Broken Hill Book Shop, Big Sky Stories, Under the Silver Tree, Pepe's Milk Bar and Foodland.

Mundi Mundi is hosted by the Blore family on Belmont Station.

As the sun was setting on another bash, owner John Blore sat down to talk to A Home in the Outback on Saturday night about the festival and his involvement behind the scenes with the water truck. He's just spent the afternoon drafting goats at his goat depot.

Although there's lots of stress leading up to the event he said he unwinds in the mosh pit watching someone like Furnace ​and ​the ​Fundamentals ​play ​and he feels like he's in a '​completely ​different ​place'.

Lucas Trihey is the Festival Director for Mundi Mundi and he spoke with A Home in the Outback during the bash about how it came to be at Belmont Station, a remote station in far west NSW.

Also participating in the interview sisters Shannan Botten and Cassie Koch who were employed to help with roll in days.

The sisters share about the benefit of volunteering and working at Mundi Mundi and Lucas explains the importance of having locals part of the event.

Australian singer Shane Howard performed at Mundi Mundi 2024. He was joined on stage with school students from the far west as part of a Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) Residency Camp. Forty-four students from 7 schools were involved in the residency which happened from Monday to Wednesday prior to performing live on stage with Shane Howard.

After Thursday afternoon's performance, I sat down with Shane Howard, fellow artist Tasman Keith, Aunty Amanda King from Menindee, year 5 school student Bella and Sarah Donnelley from the Australian Literacy Numeracy Foundation.

Broken Hill’s Heavy Metal band Firestorm have recently returned to Broken Hill after touring Australia and New Zealand with Canadian band Unleash the Archers.

I sat down with the four band members to chat about the tour, the history of heavy metal in Broken Hill and a new upcoming heavy metal music festival which will be held in Silverton in early October.

Listen to the 25-minute interview on my podcast or read the web story available on www.ahomeintheoutback.com

One of the stall holders at Agfair 2024 was Jaddan Bruhn who was selling Broken Hill and Silverton greeting cards and gifts using his original photography and artwork and archival images. Jaddan says his works are inspired by the landscape, buildings, textures and people of Broken Hill, in particular the unique building material and finishes in use around the town throughout its history. He likes to explore the idea of time, layering, heritage and reminiscence.  Jaddan was born in South Broken Hill and comes from the great Attard family – his great-randfather

Butcher Girl Alison Meagher was a special guest at Agfair 2024 providing four demonstrates over the two days on how to use the whole beast in butchery. On Saturday morning I attended the demonstration and up on stage with Alison was local school student Annabelle Smith from Scarsdale Station. I caught up with Annabelle afterwards to ask about her interest in butchery.