Friday 2nd of July 2021

Tibooburra to Camerons Corner. A distance of   kms

We pack up the room, and go and have a look at the Pioneer park, where there are a few old tool and implements that were once used many years ago.Also on dispaly is a replecar to size of a  whaler boat that the surveyors in Sturts expedition carried inland as they were convinced that there was an inland sea. It is amazing to think that they would haul this boat all the way inland.

Around Tibooburra there are lots of boulders, and we ask if they were volcanic, but were told, no, they beieve they are granite and formed from all the dust storms over millions of years rolling around as there is no evidence that there was any active volcano in the area. 

We stop at the general store, and have a cooked breakfast, as we have a bit of time to kill. After this, we then make our way towardds Camerons corner, and where we will bestaying for the next three nights. 

We have swapped the wet roads from yesterday to roads of corrugation, and my how they were. Kilometer after kilometer we bounce along the roads, wandering from one side of the road to the other trying to find the smoothest part. The country side consists of paddocks of gibber stones, and one wonders how stock, if there are any, survive in this arid area.   There are many parts where there are not even trees. We stop along the way to let the dogs have a comfort stop, and over in the distance is a flat plain, that looks like it is water. Bob goes over to investigate, and discovers it is all gibber stones. While we are stopped I hear wild Budgies flying around and also finches. I was surprised to hear the call of the budgies, but it was nice. We travel onwards, and there is not alot of traffic coming towards us, so we are unsure of the status of the SA border gate. 

At the moment, South Australia, has closed all it's borders to all other states, due to the new recent Covid outbreaks. We have heard that the gates are locked, or they are manned by police. So hence the lack of traffic, its not looking good. To get into Cameron's corner from NSW, we have to pass into South Australia, for a distance of 500 mtrs.Going through the border gate from NSW to South Australia. 

Driving on, there are a couple of interesting places that catch my interest. We rise over a crest of a hill, and it opens up a vast expanse of flat claypans. Dead flat. It was so unexpected, so we stop and I take some pics of this expanse. We cross a grid that has sound alarms on it to deter wild animals crossing over it, and it was very loud. There were two sounds that emitted when a vehicle or something went across. one was of a dog holwing, and the other was a alarm siren sound. I am sure that it would be a deterant.We later found out that this alarms system has a variety of 16 different noises so that the animals don't get used to the noise. 

So we arrive at the border gate, and there is no-one there, well there was someone working with what appeared to be tyres, but they took no notice of us. It's not locked, so good so far, so we advance in South Australia, and then cross the Grid back into Queensland, and the Cameron's corner store is 100 meters from thegrid. We made it. 

Now we stop and get the dogs off for another pit stop, and then get them back onto the ute, and we go inside to check in for our powered site, and have a couple of beers. Bobs orders some hot chips for lunch. While we are waiting for the chips to come, Bob goes and moves the ute to our campsite, and after he has eaten his food, we go and set up the camp. There is no-one else here at this time, but as the afternoon progresses, we end up with a couple of neighbours. A couple have flown in, and are camping down at their plane, but come up for a meal. 

We set up camp, and there is a lot of flies. I sit outside for a while, but come in as it is to much to handle. 

We go and have our tea at the pub, and enjoy the ambiance of the pub. Going back to the camp, we settle in and watch a movie, and then call it a night