Woomera (A) is actually a RAAF base. It was established in 1947 so that the British could test rockets they were developing over the desert. There was a joint project with the Americans at one stage. The public have been able to visit since the 1980s and there are a number of displays, of which the most interesting is the open air display of rockets and aircraft. Many of the houses and flats are empty, as are most of the shops. The school had just 12 students in K-12 in 2022. There is free access to the observatory on Friday evenings. I saw one of the planets enlarged to the size of the moon. Roxby Downs (B) is the dormitory town that serves the nearby Olympic Dam uranium mine (D). In the main street there is a small but efficient shopping mall on one side and facing it across a bright green nature strip is a hub where all the services are gathered: early learning, high school, library, sports centre, pool, visitor information, gallery, café, medical service. It reminded me of a Canberra suburb in that most of the streets have been designed to lead nowhere, and the nature strips (covered in bark) are all planted with eucalypts. Andamooka (C) was the end of the road for me. I drove to the end of the asphalt and decided that continuing on to view Lake Torrens without a spare tyre (a new one having been ordered for me in Roxby Downs). It is a fascinating town, with a collection of small businesses operating within the community hall; a museum, motel and souvenir shop gathered around the post office; and the bottle shop doubling as a general store. Some original miners' shacks still stand, but what marks the town are the piles of pink and white dirt that miners dig out of their shafts and dump in piles. Here are photos from the trip.
Nights 256-259 - Woomera Travellers' Village and Caravan Park. Nights 260-263 - Andamoooka - Apoma Camping Ground at the skate park and picnic reserve. Nights 264-265 - Woomera again. After that I spent a few more hours in Port Augusta and then pointed northwards again to the east of Lake Torrens.
1 Comment
Linda Galbraith
7/12/2022 06:54:28 am
All those towns were household words during my teens. Your travel documentary is excellent
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AuthorIn mid 2018 I started recording each night I sleep in Bertha: sometimes just for myself, sometimes to share with friends and other travellers. Archives
February 2024
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