21-May-2000 -- With the demise of Selective Availability
less than a month previously,
I decided to take myself, a disposable camera, my Garmin GPS12, and
some spare batteries to Athy to try and bag the confluence at 53 N 7 W.
Arriving in the town in the afternoon, I parked at the side of a road
out of town that was going in the direction of the confluence. My GPS
was showing about a kilometer to go. I had no idea how far a kilometer
would take me to walk, so I re-started the car and drove further on.
Within a minute, and only just outside the town, I was at an
intersection which I suspected was just south of the confluence.
Quickly, I took a right turn, and parked up the road between two
houses. I turned my G12 back on and found I was within 100 metres
or so of my goal! Getting out and walking around, I was soon
disappointed to find that my G12 was pointing into someone's back
garden.
I found a gate into a field a bit north of the confluence, which
allowed me to walk around by the back of the house in question. There
was no doubt about it - the confluence was in the back garden.
I returned to the road and took some photos of the house. I should
have taken more photos of the general area, but I was disappointed
that I was not going to see the magical 53.00000 7.00000 on my GPS.
The closest I could get without trespassing was 20 metres or so.
I finally developed the roll of film from my disposable camera on 25
Sept after taking some photos of a new ("Virtual") GPS Stash for the
www.geocaching.com site.