15-Jan-2018 -- I was especially interested in visiting this Degree Confluence Point, as it lies within a nature reserve. (Most of the Australian Degree Confluence Points that I’ve visited so far have been in farm land.) Also, its last visit was almost 11 years ago - by the Langmans and Midwinters. With very hot weather (over 40 degrees C) forecast for the Adelaide area later in the week, I made sure that this interior point was one of the first that I visited.
After almost 11 years, there had been several changes since the Langman/Midwinters’ visit. First, it is no longer necessary to collect a key from the Waikere information centre to enter the Gluepot Reserve. Now, you can just drive there directly. Second, there are now only three gates - not four - that you need to pass through. Because of this, the Langman/Midwinters’ instructions are now a bit misleading. I have updated the instructions below. Finally, the Langman/Midwinters visited the point soon after a major fire had ravaged the area. I’m pleased to report that now - almost 11 years later - the evidence of the fire has been completely erased; there is now no sign of a fire having been in this area. It’s clear that fire is a natural part of the environment here.
For future visitors, here are updated instructions for reaching the point, after you drive northwards along the dirt road towards the Gluepot Reserve:
- Just past the 3rd gate, at 34.01907°S 139.96448°E, 3.91 km (‘as the crow flies’) from the point, make a sharp right turn.
- At 34.01089°S 139.98941°E, 1.56 km from the point, turn left.
- At 34.00773°S 139.99300°E, 1.08 km from the point, turn right.
This final dirt road takes you almost to the point. (In my case, the road was starting to get a bit sketchy for my 2WD rental car, so I parked about 300 m away (next to a corral), and hiked the rest of the way.)
I was surprised to find a hub cap - from a Holden (an Australian car; a subsidiary of General Motors) - very close to the point. This is almost certainly not a coincidence - but I was surprised that none of the previous visitors mentioned it.
Here is a remote-controlled aerial video of this confluence point.