Good weather ruins movie shoot

For once, the end of a decade-long drought is actually a bad thing:

Heavy rains have delayed shooting for "Mad Max 4" after turning the Australian Outback action film set from a dust bowl into lush green pastures, a report said on Thursday.

Broken Hill, the desolate setting for the film and usually bone-dry, has been transformed into a verdant oasis by the downpours, which have broken a decade-long drought in parts of the country.

About 200 crew are in the isolated New South Wales town for pre-production, but filming has now been postponed until January, the Sydney Morning Herald said.

"You can't kick up any dust, it's too green and moist and they need dry and dusty," said Hugh Gough, of the town's Caledonian Bed and Breakfast.

Well, if you were actually hoping to live in a parched and sand-blown post-apocalyptic desert wasteland, I guess that kind of sucks.