07-Apr-2000 -- Australia's remote and very sparsely populated Northern Territory has only a few roads, spread far apart. Because of this, most of its degree confluences will be difficult to reach without off-road vehicles. Fortunately, however, [-23,134] - the confluence immediately to the northeast of Alice Springs - is an easy hike from a paved road (the "Plenty Highway"). To reach this confluence, I took the Stuart Highway north from Alice Springs, crossed the Tropic of Capricorn (latitude -23.442028; see photo 6), then later turned right (eastwards) onto the Plenty Highway. At its closest point, this highway passes just 2.6 km north of the confluence. At this point I parked and started hiking south to the confluence.

The area here is open range land within a large cattle station. The 2.6 km hike began through thinly spaced bush, then crossed a flat flood plain, then entered another region of thinly spaced bush. (At this point I startled a large goanna, which unfortunately ran away before I could photograph it.) 400 metres from the confluence, I crossed the (dry) Edwards Creek (see photo 5). After crossing the creek, I passed through an undulating rocky area, with the confluence just beyond.

Much of the Northern Territory is very flat, but - as you can see from the photos - this particular confluence has some interesting looking hills nearby (e.g., photo 1).