Decided to drive down the old Strzelecki track as far as we
could and then to Monte Collina Bore which is a small earth dam next to a hot
water bore and fantastic to be there at dusk when thousands of birds and come
down to drink before roosting for the night. Fantastic for a swim and long soak
too! Left the bore and headed back up the track to go out to
Cameron's Corner and the 'Roller Coaster' road as it runs up and down sand dunes
all the way and is clay topped making it fun at a fast rate as you feel like you
will lift off at the top of each dune.
As we
lost some fuel from the trailer tank due to it venting past the cap in the 100*F
heat and our spare fuel had been taken, we were running on empty and did not
know if we were going to make Cameron's Corner where they sell some fuel even
though it is in the middle of no where.
Sunset and sunrise at Monte Collina Bore
We did only just make it but there was no
one there 
and there was
no way we were going to make it across the sand dunes to Tibooburra over 100 kms
away. So we looked
around the place and found the back door open so we looked around inside. There
was a tray full off money under the counter and the shelves were stocked but the
fridges were off with butter melting out of their packets and down through the
shelves. The generator had run out of fuel which explained the fridges and I
found that the under ground fuel tanks were empty. Only avgas was left in drums
out the back. The phone rang so I answered it and it was someone that had been
ringing for weeks only to find people answering that had no idea what was going
on and couldn't tell him if he could fly up there and use the strip out the
back! They suggested that I ring the police so I did and explained everything I
found and as I was doing so someone else turned up and started to help
themselves to the beer. The police asked to talk to them so I handed the phone
over and it turned out to be the neighbour who lives 14 kms further down the
track and said the owner had been on a bender in town ever since his wife found
out he had a mistress and walked out leaving the shop as is! 
A 3ft Sand Monitor going for a walk and Cameron's Corner
This guy could not help me with fuel either as only had
diesel so we just sat there until some hours later someone else turned up who
was also relying on getting fuel here to continue their trip. They said they
would have to turn around now and go back to town over 100 kms away but could lend me a jerry can of fuel to help us get there too. It was going to cut it
fine it was over clay topped dunes etc on tracks that don't give the
same fuel economy as the highway but we followed them and just made it. Only problem was
that the only fuel place was already closed as it was getting late ( and
Christmas Eve ) but I managed
to find the owner in the pub and he opened for me and the other couple so I
could give back a full jerry of fuel. Just as I was offering to buy them a beer
some drunk stumbles up and threatens 
to fight me as I had been poking around his place. It turns out he was the owner
of the store that was abandoned so I let him know of his responsibilities of
leaving a remote outpost unattended where people would be relying on him and he
should have notified the police and nearest other posts ( there is only two
within a 100 kms of there ) that they should carry extra fuel to make it without
refuelling there. He took off once I pointed out he was not fit enough to walk
let alone fight unless he wanted an even bigger headache when he woke next
morning.
Opening the State border Dingo fence and Broken Hill head frame
In all my years of driving around the outback I have never
come across someone like that again as a more hospitable people you wont find
anywhere than out here. We decided to go to the next town ( one pub and house )
of Milparinka 40 kms away for the beer and by the time we got there they already
knew what had happened at both the store and town as the 'bush telegraph' was
working well as usual which can be your life saver too. Shared a few drinks and
got told of a good camping place nearby and next morning finished our journey
home through Broken Hill. When I was back at Cameron's Corner five years later
and found new owners and plenty of fuel, I happen to mention about the incident
and they knew all about it and could finally put a faces to it all. Apparently
it was the talk of town for quite a while afterwards as not a lot happens out
there. So for the first outback run for the Cherokee it did rather well and it
has gone around Australia a few more times since then in much worse conditions
but always got us there.