Day 55: Tue 17 Jul – Lake Hart to Woomera

7 (0) to 19 (13) deg C

Drive: 45km; Total towed: 6328km 

After an early walk in a fairly hefty wind, we had breakfast and were on the road about 9:45am - a later than usual start only because we only had a short distance to travel. And, due to the short distance, we stopped at Pimba for mornos which we had on a side street in the vans. 

We were settled in at Woomera Traveller's Village and Caravan Park, site #7 just before 11am. We had one of the most painless and hassle-free check-ins ever; took not more than five minutes. And then we were escorted to our sites which we were able to drive through and remain hitched - always a bonus for the boys.

It was then time to hit the streets of Woomera. As it turned out, Woomera is quite an interesting little town, home to the World’s largest Test and Evaluation Range. It has a permanent residency of 200, which multiplies to 30 times that when Defence personnel are in town for various activities. The Woomera Prohibited Area (WPA) covers 127 000 km² which is about the size of England or the US State of Florida and includes all the airspace from the ‘ground to outer space’. RAAF Woomera Test Range Mission is to enable: air & space defence systems testing; ground-based defence systems testing; explosive ordnance & hazardous materiel testing and disposal; and, Defence Force preparedness & other war-fighting readiness training, testing & systems evaluation activities. 

The caravan park we are in was almost certainly an old barracks and surrounds of some description as all the fences are olive drab colour bond and the bar even has a Defence notice regarding the consumption of alcohol. There are also many houses in and around town that look like they were once married quarters, and are probably still used for housing Defence members when in town. 

We visited the Woomera History Museum and Rocket Park, and the Heritage and Visitor Centre where we had a decent sized lunch, but had to wait about 45 minutes for. We then went for a wander through the supermarket where they just happened to have Wendy's favourite ice-cream. However, she was too full from lunch. It was on to the Arboretum which we thought was also an animal refuge. There were no animals, only some caged birds of various descriptions.

Back to the van for a rest before dinner. 

Ooops, didn't see this sign until it was too late

Lake Hart this morning

Woomera

Black Arrow a satellite launching rocket

Canberra Bomber

Jabiru, a hypersonic research vehicle (HRV)

High Altittude Density (HAD) reocket

Black Knight - a vehicle designed to provide high-speed re-entry to various heads

An old telemetery machine

Rolls Royce R22 engine

IKARA - an anti-submarine missile

Old stuff

This guy is in serious trouble with a broken arm and a severed leg

Memorial commemorating the founding of Woomera Village in Nov 1947

Medicine chest from Apothecaries Hall London, was used before RFDS came along

An old hospital bed donated by the RAAF

Uniting Protestant Church

Arboretum

A veyr pretty boy

Arboretum

Arboretum

Roads have been resealed recently - soemthing's about to happen in Woomera

Long Tom

Old Defence live-in lines?

Woomera Travellers Village and Caravan Park

An old barrack block used as van park reception and cabins

Cudgee Bar

Woomera Traveller's Village and Caravan Park #7