Southbound

Lake Hart, Woomera and Andamooka

Out of necessity, Adelaide is our next destination. We have car and van repairs repairs and we’ll take advantage of the big city to catch up on our regular medical check-ups. Ahh, the joys of getting old(er). 😊

Like Lake Eyre, Lake hart is for the most part a large (16,000 hectares when full) dry Salt Lake. However, it is far easier to get to than than Lake Eyre. Just a short way off the Stuart Highway, you can park your RV in the large rest area (overnight stays are permitted) then a short, easy walk, including a tunnel under the railway track, to bring you to the very edge of Lake Hart.

We walked onto the lake for quite some distance and apart from a few pockets of water, the lake was dry, though damp underfoot. We presumed that Lake Hart was in the process of drying out after all of the rain. After an hour or so exploring we enjoyed a very pretty sunset, and went back home.

I think the most intriguing thing about these salt lakes is the “moveable” water. Do you recall I spoke of the water in Lake Eyre moving? This is due to the fact that the water is so shallow and the lakebed so flat that the wind actually changes the position of the water. Well, if you ever doubted this, I now have proof.

We could see the lake from Chunky Bum, and the next morning I was surprised to see what looked like reflections. Could it possibly be water? I quickly grabbed my camera, went back to the lake and yes, where we had been walking on a dry salt bed was now covered with about two centimetres of water. I was gob-smacked. Its one thing to be told of these things, quite another to actually see them. The water moved by no less than a kilometre.

It seemed the wind had changed directions overnight and had blown/pushed the water back towards the shore. I got a big kick out of that, and still do. Quite extraordinary!

Peter finally dragged me away from Lake Hart and we made our way south. We called in to Woomera, which is an operational rocket and missile testing site. Peter loved it there, he pointed out the Jindivik, Ikara, Malkara, Bloodhound missiles and even a WF 44 weather radar that he used to look after (ancient past, ancient technology, ancient …) well, you get the point. But I have to say, it surprised me how much I enjoyed it – very interesting to say the least.

At its peak Woomera played a vital role in the development and testing of rockets and missiles and was somewhat of a pioneer in launching satellites. Properly known as Woomera Rocket Complex, it’s still carrying out important defence and astronomical work. The town is now open to tourism and is a very interesting place to visit. Unfortunately the weather didn’t want us to play, so we missed out on using the powerful telescopes there.

Andamooka is billed as an astronomical observatory but this is a bit misleading. You can use a telescope here but you have to phone a mobile phone number and if it suits the volunteer you might be able to arrange something. Andamooka has a street named ‘Pick Street’ but it would take a lot more than that to get us back there again. To be frank it didn’t impress us. It’s a working opal mining town and they are anything but attractive. It was very, very quiet and even the local pub didn’t appeal. Still glad we went there, we’re all about seeing this great country and places like Andamooka are a part of what makes it great.

Now Roxby Downs is a different matter all together. Travelling the Outback a lot we see all kinds of downs, Marion Downs, Davenport Downs Brunette Downs… But Roxby Downs is different. It’s an unexpected, pretty, well-kept oasis in the Outback. It has a really nice feel to it. It’s well-watered and green and the caravan park was really nice too.

We joined the Stuart Highway at Kulgera and headed south towards Adelaide and this is a great drive. We’ll carry on from here all the way to Worlds End.

See you out there somewhere

On tow and on the go!