#2: [26-Nov-14]

13-Jan-2001 -- Mike and I had met up at s31 e117 and, as it was still early, I didn't have too much trouble to convince Mike to keep heading east another degree. The maps showed this spot as being virtually on the road, so I hadn't worried about printing off a more detailed IntraGIS map.

From Perth, we had driven out north-east through Toodyay, Goomalling and Dowerin, then through Wyalkatchem, Trayning and Kununoppin. I'm impressed with my borrowed Garmin eMap - every town we passed through was included on its inbuilt map - even Cowcowing Lake and Yelbeni got a mention! This time of the year, the paddocks are golden for miles and the sky is an immense, cloudless, blue canopy - just beautiful. After heavy autumn and winter rains, however, much of the flat land out here is inundated, and the frequent floodways and gauging sticks are a reminder.

Just after Kununoppin, we turned north to Mukinbudin. The confluence is just under halfway between the two towns, about 160 metres north of the road. Although we had driven through badly salt-affected areas, and some remnant scrub, we ended up in another paddock. The pics are almost identical to s31e117 - the land is perhaps a little flatter. I took the last few pictures, then tried to rewind the film and discovered that it hadn't wound on properly! Aaaarrgghh! No evidence of either confluence from my camera, so I was very relieved that Mike's pictures came out.

There were few cars on the road - I guess summer is a quiet time in the wheatbelt. As we were getting ready to turn back to Perth (and a long, cold drink!) a police van passed us. I couldn't help wondering what he would have thought if he'd been a few minutes earlier and seen us wandering around in the middle of nowhere.