A strange slice of the Outback
The bar at the Silverton Hotel. Picture: Brian Johnston
Source: National Features
The Silverton Hotel has plenty of memorabilia from the Mad Max II film filmed nearby. Picture: Brian Johnston
Source: National Features
SILVERTON is a strange place. It has train tracks that go nowhere, a landscape bent on the horizon and cars decorated with bottle tops.
It sits among saltbush and blowing orange dust, under a sky of lunatic clouds and screeching birds.
And though it’s just 25km from Broken Hill, it’s as middle-of-nowhere as you can get, surrounded by endless, empty plains.
Not surprisingly, some of Silverton’s inhabitants are barking mad. They stomp around in bedraggled shorts and six-day stubble, and have untamed hair and squinting, sun-rinsed eyes.
In short, Silverton is a ripper of a place.
A visit provides a glimpse into the highs and lows of early colonial life and the boom and bust of mining. Some places became rich and went on to become today’s thriving regional centres, while others shrivelled away.
Silverton was one of the unlucky ones but what remains is an evocative reminder of a time when immigrants flocked here in search of a better life and, as if by accident, became Australians in the process.
Signs around town give information about these early pioneers and photos depict sturdy Scotsmen and Germans in impractical suits, sporting wild beards like prophets. Silverton is a place where you admire the courage of the people who built this country, while marvelling at their perversity.
“We’ll find silver, we’ll be rich,” say their fanatical eyes out of these old photos. And so they were, at least for a while.
Then the silver ran out and everyone moved to Broken Hill and on to the next big hope.
At its height during the silver rush of the 1880s, Silverton was home to 3000 people. The former jail, now a museum, recounts their story.
The few buildings left behind are a photographer’s delight, sticking up like old teeth from the gums of the orange earth. A Methodist church, schoolhouse and the Municipal Chambers, which were abandoned the year of their completion, are the chief landmarks.
Other old buildings have been converted into agreeable cafes, art galleries and bric-a-brac shops.
Occasionally, immigrants still turn up here, if not to seek their fortune, at least to follow their dreams. A New Zealand woman helps with camel rides and an Englishman runs the Mad Max II museum, devoted to the 30-year-old movie filmed on the plains around Silverton.
The museum is crammed with movie props, old cars and costumes, and arcane details relate how the script was changed and who got injured in action sequences.
A Town Like Alice, Mission Impossible II and Priscilla are among other movies filmed in Silverton’s evocative setting. Pop into the iconic Silverton Hotel and browse the walls for memorabilia on the camera crews and actors who’ve used this pub as a backdrop to movies and television commercials.
Having a beer at Silverton’s sole remaining pub is something of a rite of passage for outback travellers, and so it should be. It feels as if you’ve arrived in the back of beyond, or stepped into some perfect distillation of all that’s odd and wonderful about outback Australia.
Something, surely, worthy of a beer in celebration.
The writer was a guest of Tri State Safaris and Destination NSW.
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SILVERTON
Getting there CountryLink offers outback NSW holidays on the CountryLink Broken Hill Outback Explorer train, which operates weekly from Sydney.
Both the six-night Outback Adventure and the Outback Stay tours include a visit to Silverton. Packages generally include return economy-class seats, accommodation, transfers, entry fees, meals and touring.
See countrylink.info or ph 13 28 29.
Getting around Tri State Safaris is based in Broken Hill and operates a one-day tour taking in the highlights of Broken Hill and Silverton. See tristate.com.au or ph (08) 8088 2389.
Staying there Penrose Park has powered caravan and camping sites and amenities, two bunkhouses and a self-contained cottage.
See silverton.org.au/penrose.htm or ph (08) 8088 5307.
The Astra hotel is housed in a restored 1890s heritage building in the middle of Broken Hill and has an excellent restaurant and bar.
See theastra.com.au or ph (08) 8087 5585.
