30 September, 2018
We woke to a coolish morning at Fort Grey, accompanied by a strengthening breeze. We were packed up fairly quickly and on the road again – first stop: Cameron Corner, the intersection of the state boundaries of NSW, Queensland and South Australia. One of those iconic spots that I’d been looking forward to visiting for a long time.
Travelling through the edge of the Sturt National Park, hugging the NSW side of the QLD border, it wasn’t long before we approached the border fence between NSW and SA. This is actually part of the Dingo fence, once the longest continuous structure in the world, at 8614km long. Since the 1980s the fence has been only 5614km long. Originally this fence was built to prevent the spread of the rabbit plague of the 1880s. Surprising nobody, except perhaps those poor buggers who built more than 8000km of fence, it didn’t work. In 1914 the fences were repaired to keep dingoes off sheep grazing land. It is maintained by boundary riders who are responsible for up to 60km of the fence.
On the way to Cameron Corner. You can see how windy it is!
Parked by the dingo fence
By now the wind had really picked up. We took the obligatory photos at the official corner post (which isn’t the ACTUAL boundary of all 3 states) before retreating indoors at the Corner pub. The obligatory beer was had – along with a pie (which I think might have been the only pie consumed for the whole trip!!), before we were back in the car and off into the Strezlecki Desert.
Cameron Corner Store
No… Kermit was never hard to find!
The road through the dunes was actually pretty good, we were probably averaging about 60-70km/h, slowing down every now and again for a particularly steep hill, or dip between the dunes. It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride, and the kids were having a great time – getting light over the top of the hill, and then feeling the compression through the dips. About 100km later we emerged onto the Strezlecki Track and turned south, now travelling parallel to the dunes on this outback highway.
Coming through the Dunes, thanks to Trent for this great pic.
Stopped for a break near Merty Merty.
Another 100km later, and in time for proper lunch, we arrived at our overnight camp site – Montecollina Bore. This is a natural hot spring in the middle of the desert – almost like a hot spring beach. We had a very relaxing afternoon here, starting to really chill out and enjoy being in the middle of nowhere. The kids enjoyed a swim in the warm water. A beautiful sunset and we kicked back to watch the NRL grand final thanks to Trent’s satellite TV.
Such a beautiful spot
Happy Campers at Montecollina Bore
A flat landscape for 360 degrees. You can see the Strezlecki track to the right heading north.
More flat landscape. This is a big country.
This is a wonderful overnight spot, and a great part of Australia to explore. I’d highly recommend visiting the area.
Score
Nights here: 1
Total nights: 202
Trip distance: 248km
Total distance: 23,484km