#3: [01-Jul-08]

#2: [28-Apr-01]

06-Oct-2001 -- Following a camping trip to Karijini National Park I convinced my wife and daughter to make an out of the way detour north east of Newman to s23e120. On our map the confluence appeared to be particularly close to Marble Bar Road, one of the prerequisites for a two-wheel drive car in this country.

The turn off, just north of the Tropic of Capricorn was sealed for the first 20km, with a wide corrugated unsealed road continuing northwards to Nullagine, Marble Bar (one of the hottest locations in Australia) and Port Hedland. The road was in relatively good condition compared with some of the roads in Karijini and we made good time.

Predictably, the confluence was further from the road than we had time for. A four-wheel drive vehicle would have had little trouble covering the final 1150 m to the desired destination without fear of becoming bogged or incurring mechanical damage due to lack of ground clearance. This may be the justification I need for a four-wheel drive.

We took the standard north, south, east, west and GPS photos and were on our way to Perth and two other possible confluence visits. We intended to access s24e120 via Weelarrana North Road and failing that, Jigalong Mission Road approximately 40 km further south. Both roads were marked as minor roads on our map however there were not any signposts and even the predicted waypoints entered into the GPS were not of any use.

The last confluence to be attempted on this trip was just north of Mt Magnet. The track was located and we tentatively made our way in the direction of s28e118, which was a straight line distance of about 16 km away. Recent rain had unfortunately made sections particularly soft and boggy, completely unsuitable for our vehicle and its trailer. Maybe next time we will beat the rain or have a four-wheel drive……