Woomera

We said goodbye to Coober Pedy on a cold but clear morning.  The wind really got up during the night and Philip spent a restless night listening to the awning flapping in the wind.  He had it very securely tied down, but still got out of bed a couple of times to make sure everything was okay.

The big blower/sucker machines could be seen on the opal fields as we drove out of town.  We counted seven on one site so it must have been quite a productive site.  We were told yesterday that there are around 80 active mining licences at present down from the thousands of years past.

 The scenery kept changing today on our drive south towards Woomera.  We went from wide open desert plains to saltbush plains where decent size sheep were grazing.  I am itching to try some of the well known saltbush lamb from this area and hoping that when we get to the Adelaide Markets I will be able to purchase some.  

Our stop at Harts Lake for a break was well worth the effort.  It is a short walk down to the waters edge that is in fact, covered in salt. It is a funny feeling walking on the salt because you feel as though you will break through the salt layer and sink!  It is not a pink lake but apparently you can be lucky and with the right weather conditions,  the carotene in the water will turn the lake pink.  We were not lucky today.

It is only a short drive from Lake Hart to Woomera where we are staying overnight.  As soon as we had a bit of lunch we headed to the Woomera Information and Museum.  Woomera has a very colourful history dating back to 1947 when it was declared a prohibited area.  From 1957 it became a global focal point for space activity being chosen as the launch place for ELDO (European Launcher Development Organisation).  During its heyday from 1941 - 1971 the population reached 7000.  Today the population is just 132.  It received notoriety as a detention centre and also when the Federal Government wanted to use the area as a nuclear dumping ground.  The detention centre closed but the nuclear dumping ground issue still remains on the table and in fact has been re-ignited lately.  The museum is a relatively new establishment with a lot of interesting reading and displays.

After the museum we walked the short distance to two adjacent parks that have static aeronautical displays.  Both parks are well kept with the displays being recently painted.  Woomera now relies heavily on tourism so it is important that they keep updating what they have to offer.

The caravan park we are staying at in Woomera is quite good with wide open spaces for plenty of vans.  We are told the bar opens at 4.00pm with $5 beers.  That is exceptionally cheap but it won't be enough to entice us as it is cold and not at all beer drinking weather.  A steaming hot cup of tea is more to my liking...