12-Feb-2007 -- This is a confluence I had been looking forward to do for a long time. I knew it had been attempted a few times without success so I anticipated a good challenge. Actually someone had made it there but the batteries in their camera went flat. How frustrating it must have been. I made sure I would not make the same mistake and brought some good batteries with me.

After getting up at the crack of dawn I went to the south side of the Dumaresq River, which is also the state border between New South Wales and Queensland. I got on to Goat rock road and from then on it was dirt roads all the way. After 15 kilometres going south I veered West on Atholwood and two and a half kilometres later on Mount Hallam road, South again but just for a kilometre.

At the next intersection I went West on Baltimore loop rd and went for seven kilometres. I found a spot to leave my car and that was under one of the rare trees by the road. It was almost due South from the confluence so I figured that I would just keep the zeroes lined up for longitude and walk north. On easy terrain it's no problem but this confluence is not on easy terrain by any stretch of the imagination. For one it's very rocky and I had to constantly look at the ground to see where I was walking. Then there were the dead trees and branches.

At first it wasn't an issue but after one kilometre or so I had to fend my way through a fair bit. Then came the gullies. There must have been at least three or four and the last kilometre was uphill. I was drenched in sweat by the time I got there, fortuately I had a couple of litres of water with me and it didn't go to waste.

I took a short break, savouring the moment before heading back. At least it was downhill. I got back to the car after a genuine bush walk of around ten kilometres and it took me close to three hours. It was good exercise but if you're going to try this one:

1. Don't go alone unless you're an experienced bushwalker
2. Take plenty of water with you
3. Wear good shoes and long pants
4. Make sure you have good batteries for your camera and GPS

There's just one confluence left for me on this trip and that is 28S 153E