Woomera

First photo is of our typical scenery at the moment! We've had a couple of close encounters with Wedge Tail Eagles, one hovered right in front of our wind screen as it flew up from road kill (we'd slowed right down) -they are magnificent.. lots of Kites too which are beautiful..
Woomera was another pleasantly surprising town -so interesting. What a history. It very much still has an army base community feel to it in terms of its housing etc and you can imagine what it must have been like as a thriving community back in the 50's to 70's. Back then around 7000 people lived there but now the testing and developing projects have closed down theres only around 150.. plus tourists of course!
It came about at the end of the 2nd world war, set up by the British, after London experienced the devastation of long missile rockets developed and sent by the Germans. They decided on Woomera due to its remoteness thus they'd be able to test what they developed. Australia was the first to develop long range missiles that were accurate to within inches and they could alter the course via computer while on route. There was a big American presence there too and they brought along more amenities such as a bowling alley, diner and flood lit baseball/softball fields etc which are still there today.
Eventually they ran out of money for the missile project but were then funded for space orbit projects. The photo of the smashed up metal is a returned orbit. The panoramic photo is of Lake Hart near where they had the launching tower (scale model in another photo with Wil standing next to it) -thus the sign!
Despite most of the housing being vacant the Defence up-keep them and there is still power etc to them. You also must have a job in Woomera to live there which stops vagrants etc from coming in and running the town down. It was a bit like a ghost town except for the museum and diner and then eventually we found a rather full carpark which turned out to be the pub! 'so that's where everyone was' lol! Mind you, it was Mother's Day so there was a lot of people out for lunch including people from Roxby Downs.
The caravan park was basic but good. It had this funky little bar which was a converted shipping container, complete with patio and out door tables etc Wil bought me a glass of wine with his own money for Mother's Day.. when we got back to the caravan he offered me a massage for a $1 to start earning back the wine money!! Only stayed one night as it wasnt far from Port Augusta.
Up early the next morning and off to Coober Pedy.. tbc!