Thursday 12 November 2026
Highlights: Exploring and learning about historic Broken Hill, amazing food, fun at the Adelaide Central Market
We spent the night travelling through the Blue Mountains, which made for a very bumpy night. Sleep was a little difficult with my Fitbit not recognising any sleep due to the cabin movement. Still, I felt refreshed after a shower and ready to explore Broken Hill.
While we are still in New South Wales, we moved to South Australian time, which is 30 minutes earlier. This is because Broken Hill is closer to Adelaide than to Sydney.
We left the train before breakfast. Darby and I had selected the Silver City Tour to explore the town on foot and learn about its history. In 1883, Charles Rasp discovered what he initially thought was tin but was actually a massive deposit of silver, lead, and zinc. In 1885, Rasp and six associates formed a syndicate that led to the creation of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP). BHP is now one of the largest and most successful mining companies in the world.
As Broken Hill became a major mining centre and wealth grew, workers organised and began demanding better pay and conditions. As a result, Broken Hill became known as a powerful “bastion of unionism” and a launchpad for Australian labour rights.
This led to major historical strikes, in particular the lengthy 1909 and 1919–1920 strikes, which helped lead to the 35-hour work week and stronger occupational health and safety standards. The historic Trades Hall, built in 1905, stands as a monument to this movement, and it was a great experience to explore this site that helped shape so many of the workers’ rights I have enjoyed throughout my life.
During our tour, we also explored our sites, including the original Train Station, the Barrier Newspaper, and the Palace Hotel, the filming location of the classic Australian movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Back on the train, we enjoyed breakfast. The main course options were: 1) Cosmopolitan Breakfast, 2) Mushrooms and Haloumi, and 3) Fresh Berries and Seasonal Fruits. I selected Cosmopolitan Breakfast, which included bacon, cream cheese, and scrambled eggs with sourdough toast.
We then enjoyed a 4-hour train journey from Broken Hill to Adelaide. During that time, we had a nice lunch. Entree was rustic sourdough. Main course options were: 1) Sous Vide Beef, 2) Herb Crusted Atlantic Salmon, 3) Ash Coated Goat’s Cheese and Tabouli Salad. Dessert options: 1) Tiramsu and 2) Trio of Mini Tropezienne.
I skipped the entree and chose the Sous Vide Beef for my main, which was served with truffle mash potatoes, buttered peas, red wine jus, and herb oil. For dessert I went with the Tropezienne, which included softbush caramel ice cream, white chocolate mousse, salted caramel, and edible flowers. The dessert was stunning.
For the Adelaide stop, we selected the Adelaide Central Market after dark option. We had a guided tour through the market as it was closing and got to try a few samples. A major focus of the market is sustainability. It was the cleanest local market I had ever visited: fresh local food, biodegradable products and recycling.
We were given some free time to explore the market, and at the Haign’s Chocolate shop, we were given several free chocolate samples. Here we met back up with the group at the Community Kitchen. The market was now closed and only had passengers from the Indian Pacific. We learned how to make butter and even churned some cream into it. We then tried the butter on local bread with different salts.
From here we moved to our dinner location. We were given Bec Hardy Sparkling NV wine on arrival. Our first experience was learning about pairing the right wine with the right cheese. We paired crèmeux d’Argental French cheese with the Bec Hardy Sparkling NV tasting while blindfolded to help bring out our other senses. Next, we paired Murray Bridge 2-year-old Clothbound Cheddar (local cheese) with red wine, Grenache Red by Thistledown. I’m not much of a red wine drinker, but it did go well with the cheddar cheese. Our last pairing was a blue cheese, Long Clawson Stilton (UK), with Fig Gin (from Pot and Still). Both the blue cheese and the gin had very strong flavours.
After the wine-and-cheese pairings, we moved on to our meals, which featured products sold in this market. The entree was South Australian platters with fruits, vegetables, and meats. The main was a Bechamel and Beef Lasagna, which was magnificent. Dessert was a lovely Portuguese Tart. It was very enjoyable to try the different fresh foods we had seen only a few hours earlier.
The dinner also included local musicians and singers, and we finished with a trivia quiz which Darby, I and two other passengers ended up winning! Darby got the tie-breaker question right. We won a tote bag each from The Smelly Cheese Shop. Finishing our market experience we did a short drive around Adelaide CBD with singificant sites pointed out. We arrived back at the station around 10 pm just under 6 hours after we left. An exhausting and enjoyable day.
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