02-Jul-2001 -- Since my brother caught the Confluence Point one degree to the south of this one, I decided that I should get one as well.

After looking through the available Confluences in the western part of Sweden I settled for 58N 13E which is about 67 km northeast of Göteborg where I live.

I and Henrik set out to catch this last Confluence in southern Sweden on a lovely Monday morning. Using Henrik's Mother's car we drove through a vacation-empty countryside to the small community of Grude on the Skara plain.

Using the excellent maps found on Lantmateriet's homepage, we had no problems whatsoever in finding our way to the Confluence. We parked the car 150 m from a house that lies about 400 m from the Confluence. We walked along a road and while trying to wave away all the flies that for some reason hade taken a fancy to us and especially Henrik's hair-wax we probably made quite a sight for the few inhabitants. (Brand: American Crew, if you wonder where all the flies come from).

After about 300 m on the road we decided to head straight north into the dense pine forest using a magnetic compass to point out the direction. The flies were still following us but now the cobwebs and small dry branches and twigs added to the excitement. Occasionally we would come to a clearing and get at least a 3-sat position confirming that we were on the right bearing. About 250 m from the road the land turned into a more swamplike character, but fortunately it was quite dry.

Finally, the trees grew a little less dense and I got an 8 meter accuracy on my eTrex enabling me to actually start looking for the Confluence Point. After some time of criss-crossing through the swamp I got a position, not all zeroes but all nines and decided that this is the Confluence Point at 58 degrees North, 13 degrees East.

The flies were beginning to get really annoying so we decided to take the obligatory snapshots and head back to the car. We came back on the road about 40 m from where we had left it and walked briskly back to the car in a vain belief that the flies would go away which they of course wouldn't. Feeling happy that we had been successful in our attempt we decided to go for lunch in Borås and then head home.

All the best, Anders and Henrik