Pimba, Roxby Downs and Woomera SA

The Map showing the road through the centre of Australia

We arrived in Pimba about 160 kms from Port Augusta at lunchtime Tuesday to a perfect day, the sun was shining but gee the terrain is very barren.

The local Terrain taken through the bus window

You can tell we are nearing the desert, the ground is very flat with not much vegetation.

Pimba lies at the junction for travellers going to Roxby Downs

Roxby Downs Main street

The Opal Mining town of Andamooka or the famous Oodnatta track.

Both the Indian Pacific and the Ghan Train pass through here on their way to Alice Springs. There are also several salt lakes nearby such as Lake Hart and Island Lagoon. After lunch we swapped the bus for the car and drove off to Roxby Downs (about 82km)which is a fairly new modern town created around the BHP Olympic Dam Mine. It was rather like a Oasis in the middle of nowhere. Gold some silver, nickel and copper are mined here.

A wedged tailed eagle paused on the side of the road

On the way back we called into Woomera which was established in 1947 as a site for the launching of British experimental rockets. NASA also operated a Deep Space Tracking Station at Island Lagoon between 1960 and 1972. The defence Department did operate a communication facility and testing range at Nurrungar, which is a prohibited area.

Wednesday we packed up and drove to another free camping area called Bon Bon Camping Spot about about 160 kms south of Coober Pedy. We joined fellow travellers we met in Port Augusta namely Hady and Russell and Carol and John. We are now travelling in a convoy and we arrived in Coober Pedy Thursday and are staying in the Stuart Ranges Caravan Park. We ate the famous Pizzas for our dinner and they weren't too shabby. Saturday we are taking a flight over Lake Eyre and the Oodnadatta Track about 4 hours in total.

Talk again soon