Australias most visited Meteorological Station. See the balloon go up and learn about life as a weather observer. Giles Meteorological Station is open to public by appointment.
Phone: (08) 8956 7358
Please note.
Balloon releases are NOT at 9am (or 4pm as mentioned on the
Outback Way brochure) The
Outback Way web page does have a correction to these times.
Giles works on SA time all year, meaning it also converts over by 1 hour during summer for daylight saving. Balloon release times are 0845am & 0245pm during winter (add 1 hour in summer). Tours are conducted voluntarily by Giles staff and start at 0830am & 0230pm (winter). As the tours are voluntary, it is possible (but unlikely) that a tour could be canceled without notice due to work commitments. (it is after all a Weather Bureau station & not a Tourist Bureau).
Giles staff only ask that visitors be as generous with their pockets as staff are with their time, by making a donation to the RFDS in one of the two collection tins.
As of 2019 Giles is soon to be a rarity in that it will still be manned. Most outback stations are already automated.