11-Dec-2006 -- After living in Weipa for nearly four months, we decided to leave and head down to the Sunshine Coast for Christmas. That means attempting eight confluences on the way. The first one was a bit of a concern because we didn't know just how much rain they had received further south but after fording the Mitchell River, all concerns dissipated.

I drove to the closest spot from the confluence and went for it. It was going to be about 6 kilometres each way. After 4 kilometres I was starting to feel a bit tired and weak. I had not had lunch that day. A dumb thing to skip before bush walking. I pressed on anyway. I had come that far I was not going to give up.

With a kilometre to go, the rain set in. Great! It was cooling me down a bit but the jeans I was wearing were very heavy once soaked. Then The hills appeared and I had to walk up and down them for more than half a kilometre. Each one of them seemed like a new Everest. I got there and struggled to get as many zeroes as possible. When I was satisfied I was close enough, I put my GPS down and got my camera about 5 metres away.

I went back to the GPS but couldn't find it in the long grass. Definitely, it wasn't going well. In the end I found it and got out of there. I was so exhausted by the time I got back to the car, I had to let my wife drive but the main thing is that I did get there. If one is well prepared and the weather is nice this confluence can be a fun one to do.