Travelling through inland Australia: Day 12 Woomera

May 31

Well, we have now had a good look at Woomera and, as expected, it didn't take long.

In its heyday in the twenty or thirty years between the 1950's and the early 70's when a great deal of the western world's research into and development of rocketry and missiles was taking place here, it was a very busy little village in the middle of nowhere populated by scientists and military personnel and their families from many parts of the world as well as Australia.

While these activities still take place here, it is nothing like the scale of those early days. It enjoyed a resurgence of sorts when the Roxby Down mining operations were getting underway. Mine workers were accommodated at Woomera and bussed to work and back every day. However, that came to an end when the Roxby Downs village, which is bigger than Woomera, was built. Now the permanent population has dwindled to about 150 and more than half the houses are vacant. Not that the village has a decaying ghost town feel to it. Far from it. The houses, and their yards, while unoccupied, are kept tidy by their owner, the Commonwealth of Australia. The streets and street lighting are also well maintained.

The village still has many essential services. It has a reasonably sized supermarket/general store. It also has a swimming pool and theatre. There is also a bowling alley and diner built around the information centre. This building provides good services to the many caravans who stop here either on their way north and south or to Roxby Downs and the opal mines at Andamooka.

The information centre also has a very good museum which tells the story of Woomera without drowning its visitors in a river of military or technological jargon. This is an essential place to visit if you are travelling through this area of Australia.

I should also comment on the caravan park. It is very popular with Stuart Highway travellers. We have been here two days and on both days it was almost full by evening. It is a small, but well laid-out park with plenty of drive-through sites. The staff insist on directing you to your site and ensuring that you park your van at exactly the right spot on the site. Regrettably, the amenities are very shabby and in urgent need of some renovation. Still, the toilets are clean and the water is hot and the fee for a powered site is just $25 per night. So what more could you ask for.

As I pointed out in yesterday's post, the park has a little bar. This would be a very attractive proposition an a balmy evening under a clear sky. However, it is not too attractive when it is as cold and dull as it was last night.

This brings me to the weather. We were expecting warm, sunny days and cold nights. But not so. Just about every day since leaving Burra has been overcast or rainy. Even today, while the cloud as cleared up somewhat, there is a cold wind blowing quite strongly from the west. It is far too cold to sit outside in the sunshine. We hope it warms up a little tomorrow, but not too much given our problems with the car air conditioning.