If the past two days were vacation, it was definitely one
of those go-go-go vacations. Today,
however, actually felt like a bit of R&R.
We slept in a bit, went to the information centre, had late brekky at a
local café, and then hit the road towards Silverton. Realising we were actually on the road in
time to make it to the Daydream Mine
tour, we veered off the main drag in hopes of heading underground. Just in time for the second of the two tours
of the day, we were greeted by some true Aussies, and a bloke named Gary [a
former miner himself] took us on our tour.
The mine tour was pretty cool. Mining in those days [very late 1800s] was
definitely not an easy task. Sure, it
paid a lot of money, but retirement was at 40, and if you hit 45, you were a
lucky, lucky man. Your wife and kids [if
they survived] were lucky by your money, hopefully – although if you were dead
at 38, suddenly your widow had multiple kids and no income. Also, when the mine first started [at least
this particular mine], your wife and family lived in neighbouring town, and you
only saw her/them once a year when you came home to get a bath. Perhaps not surprising is that the highest
paid members of the mining society were the dozen or so women living and
working at mine’s hotel.
After the mine, we drove into and around Silverton. Unfortunately, due to it being off season,
access to the Mad Max 2 “museum”
and most of the galleries were closed.
The old gaol had been turned into the historical society’s museum,
though, so we had a poke around there.
Growing weary of the slow shuffle that’s required for exhibits such as
those, we retired to the car and drove
5km out of town to the Mundi Mundi plains, famous for some scenes in Mad Max
and Priscilla.
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As an aside, Broken Hill is now not only surviving as an
active mining town, but it’s experienced its own bit of resurgence
by way of a movie
industry. Most recently, the rebirth of
Mad Max was supposed to be filmed there.
That was until Australia broke a massive drought, had heaps of rain, and
the Mundi Mundi plain bloomed. Since
pretty flowers aren’t really a great setting for a post-apocalyptic world, the
producers moved the filming location.
Way to go Ma Nature.
On the way back from Mundi Mundi, we also took the time
to stop by the Silverton Historic Cemetery that started in the days of the old
and is still being used. From what miner
Gary was explaining, the old graves were all timber, and so everything rotted,
the graves filled in on themselves, and the same areas were used again. The cemetery is 42 acres, but the section
with the oldest graves has been marked off; I believe the oldest marker I saw
was 1892.
After a little bit more driving, it back to Broken Hill
where we enjoyed a fancy feast of Subway, relaxed in the room for a few
minutes, and waited for the beginning of sunset. We’d been told by the gentleman at the
information desk that sunset at the living sculptures was a sight to see, and
that’s what we did. We almost had the
whole sculpture park to ourselves until an older couple showed up for sunset,
and then another family showed up afterwards.
Unfortunately, with the park closing at 8.30, just 30 minutes after
sunset, we didn’t get to stay for the entirety of dusk’s glow. In fact, it was almost as if the park was
getting brighter just as we packed up and drove off.
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Now, the fantastic piece of Hollywood that is Battleship
is on the TV, we’re eating the last of our foot longs, and then it’s
bedtime. No need to see sunrise
tomorrow, but it’s a long 550km from here to Adelaide.
-EP
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