Mad Max

Riding toward Broken Hill, my home for the next day and a half, i'm on the lookout for a small mining town called Silverton, known for its generous amounts of Silver ore resting under it's hillsides.Rolling slowly through this modest historical town I spot a peculiar looking vehicle parked outside the newly renovated Silverton Hotel. As I slowly approach, I recognize the black primered, nitrous oxide powered muscle car from the 80's blockbuster movie "Mad Max". This mean looking machine sits on a red dirt driveway, dust caked with the harsh sun beating down on its black scoop mounted hood. Shortly after, I meet the manager of the hotel who tells me a little history of the movie. He says the yanks bought the rights to the movie, redubded the thick Aussie accents with more American sounding verbage, renamed the movie "Road Warrior" then released it with astounding success in the U.S. markets. He also boasts, the hilarious drag queen movie "Pricella, Queeen of the Desert" was also filmed in and around the towns city limits. I dub Silverton, "Tombstone of Australia" due to it's movie heritage.
Later that day, After a very long and dusty trail, I find myself at the historic Day Dream Silvermine, established in 1886 after long veins of silver were discovered below these scorched, jagged hills. I excitedly sign up for the mine shaft tour which promises to take us brave tourists 300 feet down into these dark and narrow mine shafts. After we sign the liability waiver we are fitted with hard hats and battery packs to power our only light source, our helmet lamps. The descent down the first shaft is rough going as an overfed, elder Dutch tourist fumbles his way down dangerously close behind me. I realize I am his only safety net when he will inevitably loose his balance and speedily burrough off into the cavernous abyss. Our tour guide, an ex-proffesional minor, Tells us of the hardships and dangers these minors faced. Minors at the turn of the century worked by candle light, with rudimentray tools like pick axes and hammers. If the minors didnt die from shaft collapse or disentary from the poisonous water, the mine dust containing small fragments of metal would enter their lungs and lacerate the tissues causing a slow painfull demise. Again, I am reminded of how fortunate we all are to live in contemporary times.