15 Apr 10 - Port Augusta and Woomera

By Craig: Port Augusta was dry and not much to do but plan the way ahead: desert permits and maps, mail pickup, parts and some maintenance before we hit the outback.
The caravan park was nice on the inside but the park itself was surrounded by a 6 foot colourbond fence and very unappealing but apparently necessary due to some local activity. The road to Oodnadatta was finally open and we were heading out of Port Augusta to Woomera.


The trip to Woomera required an overnight stop at Spuds Roadhouse in Pimba. This provided an opportunity to enjoy a couple of beers, a game of pool, take in a meal and chat to a few of the locals. Oh! and have an early night. Woomera is a very neat town as is Roxby Downs and both towns are steeped in mystery or at least that’s the feeling you get.
The entry to Woomera sets the pace and a visit to various parks dedicated to rocket development and other air force paraphernalia gives you an idea of the intensity and secrecy of this era in Australia’s history. I enjoyed reading of the trials and tribulations of this time although I felt ‘the speak’ was a little one sided and there was an underlying seriousness about the effects of nuclear testing and rocket development which was never openly displayed.








One interesting moment whilst in Woomera was sitting down to a movie about a man called Len Beadell who was and will be remembered as Australia’s last great explorers. Len Beadell was a surveyor amongst other things and developed roads for the airforce and the Woomera projects. The hardships he and his crew, known as the Gunbarrel Road Construction Party, endured gave me a sense that we had little to worry about in that the road had already been carved out in some of the harshest country in Australia, so we were not humping over virgin ground as they did in the 50s. All we needed to do was get about getting there.

We hope to drive a number of roads like the Anne Beadell Highway (named after Len's wife) and the Connie Sue Highway (named after his daughter) and experience some of Australia’s great remote areas.


A last minute check on road status and we were on our way across the Borefield Track to Bopeechee, the first leg of our journey to Oodnadatta. As we departed, a couple we had chatted to at the service station in Roxby Downs happened along, stopped for a quick ‘Gday’ and headed on their way. Somehow I new we would tag this crew along way, it was nice to know someone else was in shouting distance should the track prove difficult.