Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Day 20: Woomera to Coober Pedy
Another beautiful day in this beautiful country of ours. It is still a bit chilly in the mornings and evenings but we haven't needed our big jackets for a while!
This morning we visited the museum at Woomera as planned. Initially we looked around rocket park that is set up in the grounds surrounding the museum and shows the various rockets and missiles that have been tested in the area. It also has the remains of a satellite that was sent up from Woomera.
Woomera was originally set up in conjunction with the British at the end of WW11 as a army base and place to test various weapons. The atomic bomb detonated at Maralinga was just one of the weapons the testing area was used for.
We spent about an hour looking around the park and museum before commencing the 4 hour drive to Coober Pedy.
The drive through the outback is long, flat and arid. Whilst we didn't see much wildlife we did see lots and lots and lots of caravans going in both directions (Darren is now an expert at the wave!) coupled with a few road trains.
We stopped in the middle of nowhere, at a little rest stop, for lunch and were on the road again within 1/2 an hour.
We had been warned by both Pete and Jo aswell as some campers we met at Port Augusta that the Big4 park in Coober Pedy was a bit run down and both said the Stuart Range tourist park looked better, so once again we are staying with the competition. So far, we are not disappointed. The park is located on the outskirts of town and appears to have had some recent refurbishments including a new laundry and camp kitchen. Washing was expensive though at $6 a load, which doesn't help the budget when one has 3 loads to do!
The sites are the typical dirt sites we have come to expect from this part of the country. The playground is a hit. The kids tried to jump out of the car to play on it before Darren had even stopped.
Dinner tonight was at "John's Pizza Bar and Restaurant" as it was highly recommended by both Pete and Jo as well as Phonse, so Darren was eager to try it. The food was very nice and they were quite busy, a big thank you to Pete and Jo for the vouchers.
Tomorrow we are booked in for 4 1/2 tour of all the main tourist attractions of the town. It will give Darren a chance to have a break from driving and the opportunity to see the sights a bit better. Thankfully there are 3 other kids booked in so I won't need to worry as much about the kids disrupting the oldies :-).
- comments