Left the caravan park for a brief, fruitless visit to the Silver City Mint (also known as the Chocolate Factory). The shop is plastered with discount stickers, “On Sale” , “This month only” etcetera, sounds like the last retail gasps. We went out to Silverton only to discover that it, to, is struggling. The VWs have faded nearly as much as the tourist experience. The Cafe is for sale and isn’t open for business, some of the houses have new additions that, despite being sympathetic to the surroundings, seem out of place. A “Mad Max II” Museum has opened. We travelled out to the reservoir only to discover that it is bone dry, not a skerrick of water in the whole 145 hectare dam.
We ended up making camp in what seems to best some up the way things are going here – the cemetery (not really, just on the road outside).