Silverton

Wednesday, 6 June 2012


We woke to thick fog this morning – no rain but extremely cold. Like all the other women in the caravan park, I had check the weather forecast and headed to the laundry first thing (the knicker drawer was starting to look rather empty). While we waited for the fog to lift, we headed to the supermarket to restock the cupboards and frig. Then, as blue sky started to appear, we headed to Silverton.

Approaching Silverton, we came to the turn-off to the historic Daydream silver mine and didn’t really take any notice that there was no distance given! We drove and drove along a rough gravel road and through a couple of gates, without any sign of a mine or restaurant (to serve the advertised Devonshire teas). We eventually came to an old chimney with a sign which said it wasn’t part of Daydream mine, continued over the hill and discovered a tin shed and car park. We would have had to wait nearly an hour for the next rather expensive tour, so decided to return to the main road and Silverton. I suppose as the saying goes, “If you never, never go, you’ll never, never know.”

Silverton is a rather “quaint” little town which was developed in the 1880s as a mining town but was overshadowed by BHP at Broken Hill. The place if famous for all the movies shot in this location – Mad Max 2, Priscilla, A Town Like Alice and lots of others I can’t remember. The pub is also very recognisable but unfortunately it is impossible to get a photo because all the tourists park their cars fair in front. However, we did check out the bar and it didn’t take long for a couple of tourists to front us! There are Mad Max replica vehicles scattered about the town and also a Mad Max 2 Museum. We discovered this was mainly photos of the filming, plus some vehicle replicas out the back. Thought we spotted Mel in one of the cars.

Back outside and a Tasmanian car pulls up, the passenger window is wound down and a woman calls out, “Fancy meeting you here, Les!” Turned out to be Eraine and Gary from Ulverstone. We spent some time catching up before we went our separate ways. Then it was into the café and doll museum for a look at the old broken china and some lovely dolls. It was here that Cat discovered an open fire. It certainly didn’t take him long to make himself at home! We ate our lunch at a lookout, the location of a scene from Mad Max.

We visited the Old Gaol Museum, expecting a couple of rooms filled with old bric-a-brac. Wrong! This was the most fascinating place, with dozens of rooms, cells, nooks and crannies filled with such a treasure trove of the areas history. Rooms devoted to families, china, silver, telephones, cameras, music, religion, lodges, sporting clubs, kitchens, laundries, hospital, June Bronhill, etc, etc, etc. All this for only $3!

Today we saw a herd of brumbies, as well as the obligatory emus. The best part of the day was the sunshine and clear, blue skies. Let’s hope it lasts for a while.