WORDS BY: Fina
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: Don
It didn't rain overnight at our Burke and Wills Dig Tree camp site even though the clouds are still hanging around but clearing. Andy is a bit concerned about his fuel capacity for his next couple of trips so he wants to get either a roof rack or a jerry can holder made in Innamincka. Innamincka is 70kms down the road (dirt highway) so there is no point in Andy driving all that way and back to see if he can get the work done so we decided to leave the Burke and Wills Dig Tree camp site today (Monday 7 July 2008). We still do not have any phone or internet service ever since we left Thargomindah.
The ExplorOz gathering is happening in the Innamincka Town Common campground from 9 to
12 July 2008. The Town Common campground is right on the banks of Cooper Creek. More like a river than a creek, Cooper Creek is one of the major rivers of the Lake Eyre Basin. It is a very large freshwater system, originating in Queensland. Cooper Creek is influenced by tropical rains in the upper part of its catchment and its flow is extremely variable. Various birdlife exists such as pelicans, crows, kites, galahs and cockatoos.
After setting up camp we found the couple, Steve and Denny, we had met at Lightning Ridge, who told us about the gathering. They were happy to see that we made it and welcomed us to the gathering.
As we didn't bring any wood with us to have a fire we spent the night watching DVDs instead. Tomorrow and tomorrow night is our last day with Andy so we decided to do a day trip to visit Wills grave and a drive up to Coongie Lakes.
On Tuesday 8 July 2008 morning, Andy headed into town to find
out about his fuel holder for his long haul through the Strezlecki Desert. There is a mechanic there but apparantly only open from 8am to 9am daily. Only opened 1 hour per day? What a life!
Wills grave is located approximately 19kms out of Innamincka and about 120kms north of Innamincka are the famous
Coongie Lakes which, in spite of the intense heat and dryness of the area, are reputed to provide a near-continuous supply of water. They have only dried up once since Sturt first saw them in 1845. The lakes are brimming with wildlife which ranges from pelicans and ducks to bream, catfish and yellow bellies.
The Coongie Track takes you through the Cooper Creek causeway,
over massive red sand dunes, into
deep bull dust ruts and through very slippery mud holes to finally end up at a huge expanse of water in the middle of the desert. I missed one of the deep ruts due to shading of trees (well that's my excuse anyway) and I dented the new bash plate at the front of the car. Oh well, gives the Patrol a bit more character.
Once at Coongie Lakes, the track steers you around the lake to the other side of the lake crossing which is a 1m deep water hole with a hard bottom. The water still came over the bonnet of both our cars, but because Andy doesn't have a snorkel, he stalled his car just as he was coming out of the water hole. He managed to get it started again and out he came.
We met a beautiful couple, Robyn and Chick (also ExplorOz members), camping on the point of Coongie Lakes. They were camped in their roof top tent which Andy thought was a great idea so climbed the ladder to see the bed (cute ass Andy but not as cute as Don's!).
On our way home from Coongie Lakes, we managed to fill up the back of
Andy's truck and the roof racks of mine with firewoord. After a long day visiting Coongie Lakes and having firewood, I made a special farewell dinner of cottage pie and cake in the camp oven on the hot coals. ExplorOz had their first fire gathering that night but we didn't go as it was Andy's last night with us.
On Wednesday 9 July 2008, Andy packed up his small tent and gear to head down to Lyndhurst via the Strezlecki Track. He wanted to leave early but there was a line up at the fuel bowsers and he was held up for over an hour. Don and I had a lazy day around camp fishing
and catching more yabbies. Don feels a bit lost without his mate Andy - oh well he will just have to get used to the two of us again. Thanks Andy for travelling with us for a while. We thoroughly enjoyed your company and we hope that the rest of your travels remain safe and hassle free.
That afternoon we joined up with the ExplorOz people to introduce ourselves and play horse shoe throwing in couple teams. A fun event with some people being very competitive (I am not going to mention who). That night a big bon fire was on with more games of putting a candle out with a spoon on a rope pined to your back.
The fastest time won. Another game was cutting up a block of hard chocolate with a knife and fork and then eating it. I didn't win this one even though I moved closer to the fire to try and melt the chocolate. Again, the fastest time won. Another game was yabbie races out of a circle. Once of the guys had caught a number of yabbies that day so decided to put them into racing. Neither of us tried the spoon game but my yabbie won cause I was telling it (or more like yelling) to go to the Patrol, go to the Patrol ... and it did!
We met some lovely people with like minded interests such as camping and four wheel driving. Another couple even had the same camper trailer as us (Australian Offroad Camper Trailers), even though theirs wasn't the top model like ours. Our neighbours, Bill and Bev, invited us over for a BBQ dinner and wine. Very nice and thank you very much.
We always thought that we would go down the Strezlecki Track to Cameron Corner however after speaking with a few people, apparantly the Strezlecki Track is too much of a dirt highway and that the Bore Track would be far more interesting. Currently, there is no fuel at Cameron Corner so we will wait until there is fuel there before leaving Innamincka.
On Thursday 10 July 2008, Don and I decided to go on another adventure drive from Innamincka to Bores No 1 and 2 via the Nappa Merrie Bridge Road. Again beautiful scenery with flat top
mountains of varying colours. The road is more like the 4WD track that I am used to with washouts, ruts and dry river crossings. We ended up at the Burke and Wills Dig Tree again wondering if Mark, Sally and Harry would still be there. They weren't but we did meet up with our neighbours, Bill and Bev. They decided to join us on our way
back to Innamincka via the Nappa Merrie Bridge Road for a change of scenery. Because of this day trip we missed the 3pm horse shoe throwing competition but that's OK, the drive and scenery made up for it. We also didn't join ExplorOz for bon fire that night as we had our own wood and needed an early night.
Since we have now seen everything around Innamincka and have completed our first East / West stretch of NSW, that night we decided that we would move on to Cameron Corner on Saturday. Then maybe through to Tibooburra, Malprincka, White Cliffs and then Broken Hill for our first West / East stretch of NSW.
Fridy 11 July 2007 was a cold and windy day so we stayed inside most of the day with the heater on apart from catching up with the laundry. This time a whopping $6 per load - the most I have paid for a laundry load yet. The average has been around $3.
In the afternoon, we went to play horse shoe throwing again with the ExplorOz people. I ended up with a bottle of red wine for assisting with the scoring records.
That night was Trivia night. We didn't get too involved in this game, just wanted to win the chainsaw from the raffle that we had bought ten million tickets for. We didn't end up winning the chainsaw but won a Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) 2008 calandar, a RFDS bear and a RFDS book signed by the author. Great night beside the fire mingling with like minded people. We will say goodbye to them all in the morning before we leave for Cameron Corner. We have really enjoyed our stay here even though I have only been catching 1 or 2 yabbies a day. At least they have been big ones and a nice entree before dinner.
Don't forget to check out "more photos".
As we left Innamincka on Saturday 12 July 2008, we headed for 
the Bore Track turnoff. We had heard that the New Strezlecki and the Old Strezlecki tracks are very boring because of the upgrading to accommodate both tourists and oil field trucks. However, apparantly the Bore Track is both interesting in scenery and track washouts. It does cost $10 to use the track since it runs through the private property of Bollards Lagoon payable at the south end of the track. Unfortunately, I can't find a map that will show you the Bore Track. 
We found the track to be very interesting with corrugations, river 
crossings, soft creek bed runs, washouts, sand dunes, grass and beautiful scenery.
Cameron Corner is where the 3 states meet - New South Wales, 
South Australia and Queensland. The survey marker was opened in 1969 and originally surveyed by John Cameron in 1882-83. Don wrapped himself around the 3 state survey pillar.
The Cameron Corner Store is located at the junction of the three States, New South Wales, South Australian and Queensland in the midst of the Simpson Strezlecki Desert. The store offers air-conditioned accommodation, licensed, camping,meals, fuel, 
souvenirs and cold drinks. We stopped and had a drink and hot chips at the store and spoke to the couple behind the bar. They are currently looking after the store while the owner, Bill, is away on holidays. They have been there 3 months on their way to Coffin Bay in South Australia. I showed Chris the coin trick that Len had taught me at Yowah, and he loved it. Now he is going to try and make some money out of it. Good luck Chris. Since Don missed out on his shower at Innamincka, Chris offered him a nice hot shower with damn water. Bill, the owner, has the store currently up for sale with 680 acres for $950,000. Anyone want to buy it?
Here travellers also meet the the world's longest fence, the Wild Dog Fence, a total distance of 
5614 kilometres from Jimbour in Queensland to the Great Australian Bight. Originally built to keep rabbits out of South Australia, the fence is now maintained to prevent dingoes entering sheep grazing areas. Staff residing in cottages at various points along the border repair holes in the two metre high netting or clear sand which builds up along the base.
That night we stayed at Fort Grey within Sturt National Park some 30km south east of Cameron Corner towards Tibooburra. Sturt National Park is the jewel of the Outback. Covering 340,000 hectares of semidesert country, the park is situated in the far western corner of New South Wales. Fort Grey campground has free BBQs, pit toilets and a small fee applies for camping. We only stayed the one night here. Moving onto Tibooburra tomorrow.
