Woomera is a small place along the long Stuart highway. The area around Woomera, which is about the size of England, is used by the army for testing equipment like weapons and rockets. In the 50s and 60s the area was even used to test atomic bombs. Even in 2000 they still had to clean up to make the area somewhat safer, an operation that cost the country millions. The bombs caused disease to many of the areas inhabitants, mostly from Aboriginal origin.
This place was used for tests as it is isolated and the current town of Woomera is just a small town of a few hundred. In this area you can’t get off the main routes of the Stuart highway and the Ghan train line, but since 1982, the ordinary Joe can have a pit stop in the town of Woomera and it even boasts a holiday park these days. Besides going to the supermarket and the swimming pool, you can visit the free missile park. This open air museum shows some of the rockets and aeroplanes of Australia’s past.
Woomera’s missile park