17-Aug-2002 -- This was my second confluence visit I've done during my bike trip around Australia.
I didn't have a detailed map of the area, but the confluence looked to be about 5km off the highway. I left Croydon in the late afternoon and had a very nice ride into the night. I kept riding until I glanced down at my GPS and saw I had crossed the 142°E meridian. I headed north off the highway just to try and get an idea of how long it would take to get to the confluence. With my headlamp on I meandered though the bush, not really looking down at my GPS. After about 20 minutes of going through the brush, a car drove by me. It was then that I discovered that I had been heading east along the highway, doh!
After I got back on the highway I realized I wasn't even close to the 142°E meridian. I guess a GPS is no good if you don't read the numbers correctly. I biked on down the highway a little farther and saw a dirt road heading north! This road wasn't on my map at all, but looked like it went to a cattle station. This was good, because I don't think I would have bothered with the confluence if I had to go on a six mile hike through the brush.
I followed the dirt road until I started reaching the 18°S latitude, then started taking a cow path to the west. The cows had beaten a lot of the area down so it wasn't as brushy as the last area. After 20 minutes of meandering through the area in the dark, I reached the confluence...and decided to put my tent door right on the 18°S 142°E confluence.
Woke up the next morning and the confluence had moved a couple of metres and that is the one that I photographed.