Blogs from Woomera, South Australia, Australia, Oceania

Hey All, Day 3 saw us departing the eerie township of Woomera for Marla. I say eerie because it is a town full of houses with not many of them being used, Dorm type of buildings boarded up but the whole place is spotless. They used to launch and test all types of military planes, missiles and rockets from here. It is still run by the army, AUS & USA and there are still a lot of restricted areas (127 million sq acres), Tracey believes there are massive conspiracy's going on here, so do i! On the way to Marla we stopped in at the Opal mining town of Coober Pedy, dusty & ugly! and thats just the locals!!!! We saw two of our Indigenous friends having a Barney! The woman hit the bloke with a ... read more

Hey All, We woke this morning to it pouring with rain and found ourselves packing up a wet caravan. Had a massive head wind as we headed to Port Augusta and went thru 90 litres for only 450k! Called into Wilmington for lunch after Judy & Mal had said it was a good lunch spot. Best home made pies i have ever had, Trace hasnt been crook after the Chicken so it must have been good too. We have pulled into Woomera for the night, this is where they used to do the missile launches, place looks like a ghost town. Blowing a gale, rain clouds look like they have passed. Once again the grey Nomads have accepted us into their club with the Aussie salute being used everywhere. We seem like we are the only ... read more

Woomera 26th November 09 - 27th November 09 Where on earth is Woomera? Who has ever heard of this place? I sure hadn't! But you know what, this made it all the more interesting! Of all the places I have been thus far, Woomera draws the best memories because I really was walking into the unknown and I came out with so much more knowledge on this tiny little town out in the middle of nowhere. And these are the places people want to hear about. Uluru, Kings Canyon, Kakadu, Darwin.... chances are most people have been there, done that, saw a doco on it or read about it in a travel article or glossy brochure. How many people have heard of or better yet been to Woomera? Not many I have found because talking to ... read more

We made our way to Woomera, and found a very exciting and interesting town, Steve and Samuel where in their element looking at all the old Missiles and Rockets around the town, which included the remains of stage 1 of the first Australian satellite WRESAT that was sent into orbit in 1967 We visited the information centre and found more than we bargained for. Firstly in the complex there was a Museum that explained the fact that when London was bombed by the Germans during WW2, the British decided to use Australia and specifically Woomera as a testing site to develop their own ballistic weapons. Now as interesting as this was the main highlight of the Information centre building was the 6 lane, Ten Pin bowling alley that we just had to use, why you ask!! ... read more

Today we will be leaving the genteel world of wine-quaffing and cheese-tasting far behind. Leaving the ocean behind in the rear view mirror, we are heading due North towards the very centre of the Australia continent. Between us and our destination, Uluru - formerly Ayers Rock - lie thousands of kilometres of baking hot, dry and dusty outback and three days of driving. Three days that will hammer in the message, as if it needed hammering, that Australia is one very large country. Leaving Kapunda nice and early - the town's principal attraction is a giant statue of a Cornish tin miner (see later entry for the explanation) - we head in the direction of Port Augusta, supposedly the last settlement of any size before the immense expanse of the Southern Australian desert begins. The first ... read more