Low 10°c (50°F) – High 20°c (68°F)
272km
Awake to see the sunrise this morning without the help of Rory the Rooster although there was little colour due to a large bank of cloud and fog hanging over the range. Still it made for a couple of interesting photos.
We were not in a particular hurry to get away this morning so we had breakfast and shared with a friend who came right up to the step looking for a handout. After showers, packing up and hooking up we headed out the gate sometime after 9.30.
Today’s highlights included:
- Rounding the turn in Port Augusta to head north with the first Alice Springs signpost
This is always an exciting moment of the trip north – we still remember our first trip in 2016 and the sense of awe seeing Darwin and Alice Springs on the signposts as you head out of Port Augusta. I think that’s when it gets real for us.
- Seeing the first 4 trailer road train
Those things are intimidating and awesome all at once.
- The first “Station” signs marking unfenced roads with warnings to watch for stock.
This gem comes with cattle grids that cross the highway to stop stock from one station wandering into the next. Not all cattle grids are created equal either – some are downright bumpy.
- Seeing the first of those mountain ranges with their straight sides and flat tops that in 2016 we jokingly said “Look – Uluru!” time and time again until we actually saw Uluru for the first time and felt disrespectful.
- Watching the first two long freight trains
When we say long we mean loooooong – the first one I can count 68 carriages in the photo and that wasn’t the end of the train. The second train was longer.
- Spotting the first wedge tailed eagle
One of our favourite things about the outback is seeing the big birds, watching them soar across the sky and also seeing them lay claim over the roadkill.
We had a couple of random stops along the way for a break and to give Kitty a walk but arrived at our destination for today and tomorrow – Woomera. We’ve stayed at Woomera a couple of times before. It’s good value at $50 for 2 nights with both power and water and I had hoped to get a couple of loads of washing done and dry. Unfortunately the ground was so hard we couldn’t get pegs in to hold the clothes line up and it was too windy to put out the awning without pegging it as well, so Kitty’s pen became the clothes line until the air became too cold to dry anything. Hopefully we’ll be able to get it the rest of the way tomorrow with a sunny day forecast.
Woomera is one of the most fascinating places I’ve ever seen. Woomera, unofficially Woomera village, refers to the domestic area of RAAF Base Woomera. Woomera village has always been a Defence-owned and operated facility. Construction of Woomera Village began in mid-1947 to cater for thousands of people moving there as part of the Anglo-Australian Project. The project lasted for 34 years and saw Woomera become one of the most secret allied establishments in operation during the Cold War. During its heyday (1949–71), the village population reached around 7,000 as people lived and worked at Woomera and at Koolymilka campsite near Range Head, approximately 42 kilometres west of Woomera village within the Woomera Prohibited Area. However, by the end of the 1960s the Anglo-Australian Joint Project was rapidly winding down following the UK Government's reduction in further experimental work.
The fascinating thing about Woomera is the infrastructure in place throughout the township. Street after street with gutters, footpaths (bricked no less – not just your ordinary run of the mill concrete), driveways, bus shelters and street lighting. Even off street angled car parking for small shops. All of this surrounding land that has never been developed with housing or commercial properties – leaving just a sense of what might have been if Woomera had continued to be a hub. There are still shops, a cinema, pub and grocery store as well as numerous tourist attractions including a park with displays of missiles, rockets and planes, and an elaborate football ground and stadium.
Still used by the military, it now has less than 150 permanent residents but the military base is still very active. We have actually been camped in the area and heard a test explosion – quite an experience from the noise, to the tremor that could be felt miles away. We’ve often joked about this being the place we would head to in a zombie apocalypse although tonight those other blood sucking monsters, the mosquitoes, are making their presence known!
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