Day Dream Mine and the Titanic Monument.

Road Trip Day 4: 26th May 2007

The plan today was to head out to the outback Ghost Town of Silverton (NSW), the site of more than 140 Films and commercials, including 'Mad Max II'. On the way we decided a side trip tour of Day Dream Mine would easily fit into our day.

Unfortunately we got off to a late start and never factored in the 12 kilometres of unsealed loose dirt, winding road that you need to negotiate in order to get to the mine from the main road. By the time we got to the mine it was 12:25pm. Rose and I then had to wait about thirty minutes for ten minutes to go by until the next tour of the mine (i.e. Gary, our guide, said the next tour would be in ten minutes. Thirty minutes later... In all fairness Gary was waiting for the previous tour group to finish).

Not that we were standing around. There was plenty to look at around the cafe/gift shop, as well as in the cafe its self. We even had time for a cup of tea. Whilst waiting Rose and I took the opportunity to take many photos.

The tour of Day Dream mine takes you around one tenth of the total mine and is both above and below ground (with some fairly low ceilings and a few rocky slopes to navigate below ground). Gary, explained that the mine was operated by Cornish Miners (below ground) and Irish workers (above ground) who processed various metal deposits with the main one being silver. The mine dates from 1882 and was one of the original mines around Silverton. It was abandoned in 1887.

The tour takes about an hour and is very interactive in the sense that Gary gave plenty of opportunity for us to suggest answers to his questions such as; "Why do you think the miners slept sitting up?" (I won't tell you the answer but who'd have thought sleeping could be a life or death affair for your average Cornish Miner?). Gary also notes that many of the miners were in fact minors - boys 12 years old and younger.

The end of tour below the surface of the mine was quite interesting in particular as Gary showed us the relationship between the areas we traversed below ground with what can be seen on the surface. It's not so easy trying to get your bearings when Gary asks his first question "Which direction do you think we walked at the beginning going into the mine?"

On the way out Rose and I stopped at the first gate you come to driving to the mine to take a few photos of the landscape. In the picture to the right you can see just how isolated Day Dream Mine is. Off to my right you can see some of the road we drove along.

By the time we left it was 3:20pm. Not enough time to continue to Silverton. We decided to leave that for tomorrow. Instead we drove back to Broken Hill and snapped a picture of something you wouldn't expect to find in an outback Aussie Town, a monument to the band that played on board the Titanic (yes the famous ship that sank).

Quite a nice gesture by the town's own band group who wanted to recognise the bravery of the Titanic's band members - who played on, even as the ship was sinking.

Comments

Boom Crash Opera Born Classic But Not Again

Boom Crash Opera are an Australian Band that reached the peak of their popularity in the mid to late nineteen eighties. They are a band that I knew about at that time but was never really excited by until they released their ill fated double album Born and Born Again in 1995 (Album cover pictured). At the time of its release I was very much into emerging Australian musical acts and was also looking out for new sounds that were different and had kind of a futuristic/electronic sound. Artists that I was buying at the time included; Swoop , Nine Inch Nails and Pop Will Eat Its Self . As well as a really interesting release by David Bowie, the concept album, Outside . Born was a fairly radical departure for Boom Crash Opera (BCO). The first single, Gimme , was often compared to the sounds of Gary Glitter, particularly his single, Rock n Roll part 2 , because of the pounding drum loops. Watch the video below. My favorite single from the album is dissemble which probably went now...

Kids today are smarter than their parents?

Mother's Bed Art Board Print by TET. Available from RedBubble . How often have you heard it said that kids today are smarter than their parents? I’ve heard it quite frequently in the media – even Dr Phil has said it. I say speak for yourself. It’s not true and don’t let the media fool you. Today’s kids may have access to more information that may give them more choices but in my experience, they only take in what they want to hear and still make stupid, uninformed decisions. Just like we used to at their age. Like any cross section of people there will be exceptions. There are kids that are genuinely smarter, more mature and responsible for their age. However the vast majority know everything they need to know by the time they turn fourteen. They’re ‘adult’ enough to be responsible for all their own decision making so parents should just let them do what they please…right? Just like we thought at fourteen. Don’t be fooled. Just because your son knows how to download MP3’s onto an i...

Embarrassing Yourself with Doof Doof Music

Ever since Spinal Tap popularized the notion of turning an amp up to eleven audio systems have been rising to the challenge of louder, more awesome sound. In particular, car audio systems have embraced the notion of the bigger the noise the better the sound must surely be. What I'd like to know is, if these sound systems are so good, why do they make all music sound the same... Doof, Doof, Doof? You've all heard them. Pimped up cars, with audio systems seemingly worth more than gold, volume blasting way past eleven. Sound waves booming long before you make a positive visual on the car... Doof, Doof, Doof. It has to be the audio system right? Surely all these people can't be playing the same tune? Doof, Doof, Doof. Could it be that the more money spent on a car sound system the less musical range it will actually play? Maybe these people can't afford to buy music after purchasing the audio system so they all play the same demo track? Doof, doof, doof. In my own car I hav...

What If Being Yourself Isn't Good Enough?

One of my most personal public videos is a collection of outtakes edited together with my narration, read word for word, from my blog post written back on August 5th, 2007 titled Is Being Me Good Enough? I made the similarly titled video the next day. At the time the video (which you can view below) generated some discussion in the comments and was a real turning point for me personally in how I thought about myself and how I presented on camera. It took a weight off my shoulders. [Note that especially for this article I've re-edited and re-uploaded the video to Youtube because the last sentence on the original version was cut off by Youtube's uploader. The new version is identical other than I've added a title screen at the beginning and cropped the footage for 16:9 ratio - plus added some length to the end to ensure it doesn't get the last line cut again.] I came to be thinking about this video again because of my latest video diaries - which I will...

Is AI Art 'Art'? The Say NO to AI Art Movement, and Why Human Artists Will Adapt

AI Art No T-Shirt by TET Also available on other items . Right now there is a big debate over not just whether AI art is 'art' but whether AI's are actually ripping off the work of actual human artists, without their consent, to create their images - particularly images 'in the style of' specific artists. From my own observations this debate started to get more traction when artist's signatures began appearing in the output of AI Art image generators. Is It Art? Cool Froyd the Cat Sketch by TET. My style is very much influenced by classic Disney and WB character styles. To get some clarity on how real human artists work (of which I am one)... we, that is all of us... take influences from the art that has come before. i.e. whatever artists we like, have studied, seen etc. we are influenced by. It shows up in our work, intentionally or not. If you really study my own cartoony art style you'll see I'm heavily influenced by early Disney and Warner Bros cart...

Bruce, South Australia - A Forgotten Aussie Town with Spectacular Landscape Views and Potential

The Bruce Railway Station. Now a private residence. V isiting the almost forgotten town of Bruce reminds me of visiting Silverton back in 2007, except Silverton has been revived into a kind of arts town with a very famous pub. Bruce, on the other hand seems a little too spread out, and a bit too out of the way to make a similar 'arts' kind of revival. Bruce's Pub appears to be an art studio with signs of restoration work in progress. The main part of town appears to be the Bruce railway station (now a private residence) and a pub, also privately owned and possibly was, or still is, and artist studio. Other buildings and homesteads are set fairly wide apart, and are mostly privately owned homes. You don't get much sense of being in a town as such. I'm told there are approximately 14 local residents/families? Once earmarked to be a commercial centre, Bruce fell by the wayside after successive floods and drought in its early years. Obviously the railway line is no lo...

The Truth About Modern Art

Paul J. Watson's video, The Truth About Modern Art popped up in my social media stream today. It's basically a rant video denouncing, mainly conceptual art, with a few other similarly criticized art movements/styles/techniques thrown in.

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog