What to Do in Woomera

After driving all day, in a campervan slightly larger than my old London flat, on the left side of the road (for the first time ever), in 100 degree heat with no one to talk to (other than cursing the emus which ran in front of the car), I was pretty tired and ready to call it a day.

With the prospect of another few hundred kilometres of bleak nothingness that is the South Australian outback, or a town called Woomera, Woomera it was. But, what to do in Woomera—this town seems pretty remote, to say the least.

Woomera does, however, have a unique history- the Australian Air Force used this land as a testing ground for missiles, rockets, and various aerospace type things. The town, population 450 (possibly including wallabies), looks exactly like a town you imagine that a military would build-dreary, grey, cookie-cutter houses, the essence of function over form.

I like to think there’s a bit of a Roswell vibe going on here. However, every town has its charms.

But still, it was the only place to stop before my next destination of Coober Pedy, so there I was. After figuring out how to actually park and hook up a caravan into a powered campsite, much to the entertainment of the park receptionist, I decided to go exploring. There was an open air museum featuring air and space artifacts from Woomera’s past. As this was also the only thing to see in Woomera, I thought it may be a good place to go for a walk and stretch my legs.

My walk though Woomera went something like this: the heat, although excruciating, bore little annoyance against the constant barrage of flies. These flies were literally aggressive, flying into my nose, ears, eyes, anywhere they could manage, and no bug spray known to man could contain them. Determined not to be outdone by the local wildlife, I pressed onward.

Attempting to make the best of Woomera, I kept up my stroll through town. Passing the rows of homes, I noticed a lazy dog lounging on a front porch. Paying it little mind, I kept walking. A few minutes later, I noticed the dog was slowly trailing behind me. I should also mention at this point that the town was literally deserted- no other tourists had arrived to camp for the night, zero people out and about, not even any cars on the street. I keep walking, the dog still trailing behind.

Then I crossed the street to get away from him, and got a closer look, and for some reason this a sense of uneasiness came over me. A funny looking dog, possibly part dingo. Immediately I decide this dog is going to attack. I’m not sure why, but something about his pointy ears at attention, or the mental image of a pack of dingos devouring whatever they could get their paws on. I cross the road again, the dog follows. I arrive at the military museum, easing in and around 1950’s Cold War missiles and god knows what else. The dog does the same, following from a slight distance.

Now, I love dogs, and we’ve always had them as pets, but for some reason this dog terrified me. It was as if he was just waiting for the right moment to lunge at me, its dingo genes determined to rip the meat off my bones as quickly as it could. Maybe it was the surreal weirdness of the town, or the complete lack of any other humans, but I had had enough. In Woomera, there is no one to hear you scream. By this point I had lost all interest in the museum, had no doubt of my imminent demise, and  started to head home, battling heat, flies, and dingo-dogs.

Walking as fast as I could to outwit the flies, but slow enough not to inspire this monster to break chase, I made it back to the caravan park, dog in tow. I was literally terrified.

By this point, a small crowd of locals had gathered at the caravan park bar (if you can call a group of plastic lawnchairs next to a dumpster a bar), and were sitting nearby. I hear a woman yell, “There you are, I’ve been looking all over for you!”. The dog, in an abrupt change to the killer I had made him out to be, runs up to greet the group, and happily makes the rounds, getting friendly ear scratches and handouts from the group of Woomera-ites.

That’s when I realised- this dog wasn’t trying to kill me, it was just lonely! Poor dog probably spends every day alone on the front porch of a deserted town, finally finds a new person to play with, and my reaction is not one of sweet ear scratches  but one from a horror movie. Figures. Possibly, a long day of driving on a road that never bends (welcome to the Stuart Highway), has taken it’s toll on my mind.

At this point, I couldn’t help but recall a quote from one of the best movies, Big Fish:

“It was that night I discovered that most things you consider evil or wicked are simply lonely, and lacking in social niceties.”

Poor dog. With that in mind, I tucked into my caravan for a nice canned tuna dinner and good night’s sleep, and day one of Katie in the outback was complete.

(I apologise if I have offended anyone in Woomera. I’m sure it’s a lovely town, once you get to know it.)

What to Do in Woomera

So, if you find yourself here, what do you do in Woomera?

Woomera Missile Park

As mentioned in the article, it’s pretty cool to walk around and look at the town’s outdoor museum. It’s not every day that you come across lots of rockets on display, so it’s worth a walk around.

It’s also a good way to learn more about the town’s unique history—seriously, there is nowhere quite like Woomera! There’s also a small museum in Woomera that you can visit, but they keep limited opening hours.

Lake Hart

Lake Hart is another cool spot to check out while you’re in town. It’s a seriously impressive salt lake, so worth a look! If you’re there at the right time of day, it can create amazing photography opportunities as well.

You can also visit the Woomera Heritage and Visitor Information Centre, as it’s the best place to get more information on things to do, where to stay, or local places to eat.