DAY 6 – Woomera

Good Morning Woomera!

Low 9°c (50°F) – High 19°c (68°F)

268km

Up in time to catch first light this morning and how pretty it was with the sun rising one side of camp while the moon set on the other.

The powered sites in the park were full over night with a number of late arrivals after dark.  Another good reason to get where you are going early, if you want a decent place to park up for the night.
We had a leisurely start to the day as all but about 4 vans pulled out heading off to who knows where.  

After getting things in the van organized, damp laundry re-hung and Kitty finally awake we headed north to Olympic Dam, Andamooka and Roxby Downs. 

Our first stop was Olympic Dam (a livestock watering hole named after the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games) which is essentially a huge BHP mining operation complete with massive accommodation complex, an airfield which provides daily flights to and from Adelaide, and above & underground mining of copper, gold and uranium.  It is the fourth largest copper deposit and the largest known single deposit of uranium in the world.  While it may look huge from the road, there is 700km of underground roads and tunnels forming part of the mining.  There isn’t really much to see, you can drive around the outskirts of much of the property but most of it is restricted and well fenced together with checkpoints at various entrances but the vast number of accommodation cabins tells a bit of the story of the number of people who work there.
 
On to Andamooka (which became its name in 1990) lying on traditional land with the name being derived from a salt lake, named from the Aboriginal "Andemorka", by which the locality was known to Europeans as early as 1866.  It was described as a tract of generally sterile country, but having some patches of good pastoral land which attracted pastoralists, in particular the foundation of Andamooka Station, which was the only industry for the next 50 years.  Opal was discovered in 1930 and the town was formed by miner’s camps as they were established.  Interesting that the road into Andamooka was only sealed in 1990 and as you can see from the photos – most of the streets in the town are still dirt tracks. 
 
The majority of homes can only be described as rustic shacks although there are clearly a few more affluent areas.  We saw virtually no-one in the town and nothing appeared to be open other than a bottle shop and a café.  Virtually nothing targeting tourists aside from the heritage listed dugouts in the main street where you could wander through at leisure.  In all it was a fascinating experience and a wildly different town to the likes of Coober Pedy and Lightning Ridge.
 
In contrast, just down the road Roxby Downs was a very tidy spot with a well appointed shopping centre, ample infrastructure and pleasant main street with trees, gardens and grassed areas.  Aside from limited gardens, homes were more upmarket and people everywhere.  Roxby Downs was established in 1982, as an intended service centre and community hub for the Olympic Dam mine workers and their families.  We stopped for a quick Subway lunch after a drive around town.
 
After a quick visit to an old Philip Ponds homestead ruins just outside of Woomera, we headed back into the township to see what, if anything, had changed from our visit here 3 years ago.  And changed it had.  Driving around the township outskirts it was clear that much of the road and other infrastructure has come into disrepair.  Several washouts have left roads damaged and the cement on the gutters breaking down.  Nature seems to be taking back a lot of the unused land with scrub having grown significantly. 
 
We swung by the town centre to stop in at the supermarket.  On the three visits previously the supermarket in particular had noticeably decreased in size.  Our first visit the entire building, which is considerable in size, was in use, our second visit saw at least 1/3 of the area sectioned off unused, and our last visit 3 years ago there were barely 4 lines of shelves in place.  This time we were met near the door with a couple of workers who informed us that it was now only a storage facility.  And if that was the only thing they had said we probably would have simply walked away feeling sad that yet another small town was dying.  However after I asked “what does one do in Woomera now” the guy responded that he was just here working as they had been hired to refurbish the barracks because the plan was to build up the levels of staff to what it was years ago.  Given, at the height of its use, Woomera had a population of some 7000 defence workers – one has to ask the question – WHY?  I have to tell you, it stopped us in our tracks a little.
 
Not to mention the fact that there are some ten thousand barrels of radioactive waste stored at Woomera, we talked tonight about how long it might be before Woomera too might be cut off from the general population.  We’ll certainly be watching this space with interest in the future.
 
Finally back to camp, we only have a short drive of 170km tomorrow so will probably take the opportunity once again for a leisurely start.  Tonight however, I’m staying indoors – the mozzies clearly have my address!