Now who remembers the opening scene in Mad Max 2?
The last time Sam and I were out at Silverton was back in the days that we were travelling the country in our Troopy, I'm guess somewhere around 20 to 25 years ago. Back in those ye olde days Silverton was still pretty well off the tourist radar with just the pub and a couple of galleries operating amongst the ruins, the pub here housing a lot of Mad Max 2 memorabilia as some of the movie was filmed in the area around town. With Sam and I having our Covid Christmas in Broken Hill this year we decided to head back out to this old ghost town and check things out again.
Hollywood in the Outback hey?
We set off from outside the old gaol today.
Our first hint that things maybe a little different now was when I found a tourist brochure and map for Silverton in the Broken Hill Tourist Information Bureau. So, now armed with a brochure and map we headed out into the desert from Broken Hill to check things out. After negotiating what seemed like 100 dips along the road without either getting air or putting my head through the roof of the ute we arrived on the outskirts of Silverton... to be greeted by a big and flash sign... the second hint that things had changed a bit out here. Parking outside the old Silverton Goal under the sparse shade of a tree we left the air-conditioned comfort of the ute and set off to explore town along the Heritage Walking Trails.
We shuffled up the dusty Loftus Street towards Silverton Heights initially...
... and crossed the old railway line along the way. Interestingly (well, if you are a nerd like me) this railway line was the scene of the first terrorist attack in Australia back in 1915. Here's a link to the story if anyone want's a bit of detail, it's an interesting and unlikely little tale.
There isn't a lot left of the old railway nowadays.
Thankfully today the temperature was pretty cool for summer as there is bugger all shade in the dusty streets of Silverton, something that very quickly became apparent as we meandered our way away from the old Goal and gently climbed south to the restored Silverton Public School, crossing the long closed railway line on the way. The old school operated from 1884 to 1970 and, like a lot of the more major old buildings in town has now been restored and operates as a museum. Climbing a little further up the dusty street we arrived at the large and restored Catholic Church which stands like a sentinel on the hill in Silverton Heights (err, that maybe a Feral Fact). This top part of town not only features the old church but is also home to the Cowz Gallery, the Mad Max 2 Museum and a collection of buildings in various stages of restoration or decay.
Silverton Public School.
Catholic Church, Silverton.
Cowz Gallery.
Cowz Gallery.
Cowz Gallery.
The view back down to the CBD of Silverton.
The Mad Max 2 Museum.
Heading back towards the centre of town again we passed the busiest spot in town, the Silverton Hotel. This was the spot that use to house most of the old Mad Max memorabilia when we were here last, the old Interceptor was even parked out the front of the pub in those days. It looks like most of the old film props have been moved up the hill to the museum now though, as apart from an old mongrel VW Beetle it was just flash new SUV's lined up in front of the pub today. After passing through the CBD of Silverton (more galleries, a bakery and the pub) Sam and I headed out of town to the north.
John Dynon Gallery.
The Silverton Hotel - this was where most of the Mad Max memorabilia use to be housed back in the day.
Horizon Gallery.
Cornish Cottage.
We were now walking through a little more remote area of town. Crossing Umberumberka Creek (Black Hill Creek on my map?) we checked out some of the magnificent Red Gums lining the sandy creek, these trees alone are worth coming here for I think. Once over the creek we tracked around Primrose Park through typical Salt Bush country, suddenly the walk felt lot more foreboding in the midday heat of summer. The next spot that we wanted to check out was the Silverton Cemetery. The cemetery is situated in some sandy country just north of Primrose Park and it's a fascinating and evocative spot, with grave stones in various stages of disrepair mixed in with the Salt Bush this must of been a lonely and alien place to the settlers back in the 1800's. There is a slightly surreal aspect to this old cemetery though, from the right angle you can photograph the old headstones with the modern Wind Farms glinting on the distant hills as the backdrop.
Umberumberka Creek
Umberumberka Creek - don't rest in the shade of these giants as they have a nasty habit of dropping branches.
Umberumberka Creek Red Gum.
Silverton Cemetery.
The historic Silverton Cemetery is overlooked by a modern wind farm nowadays.
Silverton Cemetery.
Silverton Cemetery.
Leaving the Silverton Cemetery we shuffled our way back into town. After crossing Umberumberka Creek, which had some pools of water in it from some recent rain, we met the main road, turned right and walked the hot bitumen back to the ute. The main road walk was only ten minutes long I'm guessing and it was made a little more interesting as it crossed Mindioomballa Creek along the way (which also had a bit of water in it). Arriving back at the ute we jumped in and cranked up the air conditioner, it might of been a relatively cool summers day today however with bugger all shade along the wide dusty streets we still felt the heat.
Primrose Park.
Umberumberka Creek.
We followed the main road for a few minutes back into town.
The Dirt.
According to my GPS Sam and I walked around 5.1 kilometres and climbed around 54 metres on this easy stroll. Now having said that this walk is easy I have to say there are a couple of issues to consider, the first issue is that there is almost no shade (don't rest under the welcoming looking Red Gums as they have a nasty habit of dropping big branches). The other issue to consider is that the signposting and track marking is almost non existent - so you need some kind of map. We used the Silverton Heritage Walking Trails Map which we picked up at the Broken Hill Tourist Information Bereau along with my GPS maps. Google Maps may get you through although mobile coverage out here can be patchy - at best. Finally Summer isn't a good time for this walk, if anyone does consider it in summer go early in the morning on a cooler day.
Relevant Posts.
Mindioomballa Creek
Mindioomballa Creek
Back in the CBD of Silverton - it was time to crank up the air-con.
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