27-Jul-2001 -- Whilst visiting the in-laws in Mourilyan in North Queensland, my father-in-law and I headed off towards Tully for a visit to the nearest confluence. Alex had a good maritime map of the area and we were pretty much able to pin-point the location of the confluence before we left home.

We followed the Bruce Highway south through Tully and turned off the highway at the road to Tully Heads. A truck was behind us as we approached the confluence so we didn't slow down. It appeared that the confluence was going to be surrounded by unhavested sugar cane and that we would not be able to get within a couple of hundred metres of it.

After a quick visit to Tully Heads, we drove back towards the confluence and were able to slow down as we neared the closest point to it on the main road. There was a large farm machinery shed due north of the confluence, and we then noticed a little track beside the shed leading through the cane directly towards the confluence!

The track missed the exact confluence by only a few metres. The cane had been havested on the opposite side of the track but hadn't where the confluence is, so we were not able to get to the exact position. Being close to Tully River (and hence snakes!), any attempt to push through the final ten or so metres in the dense sugar cane would have been very foolhardy. If only we had been there a few weeks later...

For our next holidays at the in-laws we plan to visit more of the confluences in North Queensland.