Inside Ballarat’s tunnel gallery, where great art and high risk collide in the dark

The promise of peace — not the lure of adventure — is taking this man down the drain.

Known as The Drifter on Instagram, he has spent years exploring the tunnels below Ballarat in central Victoria.

It is a dangerous and, according to the Ballarat City Council, illegal activity. He does not recommend people follow in his footsteps.

Sometimes, after crawling and climbing through small, dank spaces he turns off his torch “to admire the dark” and enjoy the peaceful feeling that comes from being alone, unseen, under the world.

But sometimes it is what he sees when his torch is on, that excites him most.

“The art there is fantastic,”…