22-Sep-2007 -- An incredible Tasmanian spring day. Geraldine and I had come to Tasmania three weeks earlier from Donnybrook, Western Australia to walk the overland track so we were armed with our GPS and a camera, all the necessary equipment to do a confluence.

We’d been for a drive from Hobart to Southport. On the way back we turned off at Huonville and headed to Ranelagh. Geraldine lived in Renelagh, Dublin, Ireland as a child... it’s spelt a little differently but Geraldine asked a local how it was pronounced and it is exactly the same. I noticed that there was a confluence nearby (still in the Ranelagh domain) and it seemed appropriate that this should be Geraldine’s first confluence. I have visited quite a number of confluences in Western Australia and was keen for Geraldine to share in the experience.

The GPS took us to Browns Road, we drove up the dirt track, until it indicated that we were right next to the confluence. We parked the car and negotiated the steep decline with some trepidation and speed. I had never before experienced such an accessible confluence and so this was a ‘first’ for me too. We located the exact ‘zeroed’ confluence for about a nanosecond ... not time enough for the camera to focus. We turned this way and that to try and duplicate the zero reading but with no success. We might still be there had we not settled for the reading we got (refer to photo).

Geraldine took the photos, north, east, south and west and then set up the tripod to take a shot of the two of us by the little cairn we’d built, to mark the spot An old track (which I think may have been an old logging track, as there are some large old stumps around) is clearly noticeable in the North shot. There were a number of modest, tiny, wild flowers growing in the understory of the large Eucalypt trees. We’ve included the most photogenic one (alas we cannot identify it). We saw numerous echidna diggings but unfortunately we didn’t have the time to find an echidna to photograph. We also saw a pair of superb blue wren (Malurus cyaneus) busy with some task while we were driving back towards Ranelagh.

As mentioned earlier, we are from Donnybrook, Western Australia. Donnybrook is the apple growing area of the South West of Australia. Here on latitude S33.5.the orchards also grow right up to the road edge with no fences. Because of the limit to picture numbers we’ve not included a picture of the apple orchard on Brown’s Road but felt that the shot (on the other side of the road) of the grazing cattle showed a little of the character of the surrounding country side.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the many helpful and friendly Tasmanian’s we met throughout our holiday. They are far too many to mention by name. Thank you for making us feel so welcome and for all your help.