One of the most well known 'corners' of the Australian outback is Cameron Corner, where the borders of the states of New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland meet. Here you can hit a golf ball out of NSW, it will fly over part of Qld before landing in SA. This is also where one can celebrate the New Year three times (also in Poeppel Corner and Surveyor Generals Corner), because it s on the corner of three time zones. The roads and tracks in this region are generally earth-formed and corrugated but despite plenty of bulldust, are usually suitable for conventional vehicles with care.
Located about 1,400 kilometres west-southwest of Brisbane, Queensland, this corner is named for the surveyor, John Brewer Cameron, from the New South Wales Lands Department, who spent two years during 1880-82 marking the border between New South Wales and Queensland. Mr. Cameron erected a post there in September 1880 to mark its intersection with the border of South Australia. He placed a wooden marker every mile (1.6 km) eastwards along the interstate boundary.
This general area, which includes Sturt Stony Desert in the Lake Eyre Basin, was first explored by Captain Charles Sturt, who in 1844 went in search of a supposed inland sea in the center of Australia.
New Year's Eve occurs three times a year in Cameron Corner (also in Poeppel Corner and Surveyor Generals Corner), because it s in the corner of three time zones.
The Outback is desert country and, therefore, has mostly a dry heat. The days are usually sunny and warm, but the nights can be cold, so dress accordingly. It's a good idea to wear layers of clothing and add/subtract for your own comfort. During summer, daily temperatures range from 30 to 35 degrees Celsius, dropping to 17 to 20 degrees Celsius in the evening. During winter the average daily temperature is 20 degrees Celsius.
The best time to visit the Outback is in Autumn, Winter and Spring, when the days are warm without being too hot. It is still possible to visit the region during Summer, however visitors need to be prepared for the possibility of extremely high temperatures.
There are in fact four places in Australia where three state borders meet, but only three are named. The reason one corner is unnamed is because it legally does not exist (or more accurately, it has never been defined). This unnamed, undefined corner is where the borders of New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria are supposed to meet. An error in calculating the line of longitude when the Vic/SA border was first surveyed was suspected in 1868 and confirmed in 1883.
The boundary was disputed by the South Australian and Victorian Governments and the matter was taken to the High Court of Australia in 1911. The issue was finally settled in 1914, when it the Privy Council ruled in favour of Victoria. Because of that decision the western boundaries of Victoria and New South Wales, which were intended to be a straight line, do not meet.
The New South Wales border is set at 141° east, some 3.6 kilometres to the east of the SA/Vic border. Both borders end at the Murray River but there is a 3.6 kilometre gap between their end points, so technically there is no place where the two borders acutally meet.
