#4: [10-Jan-04]

#5: [10-Jan-04]

#2: [29-May-03] (incomplete)

#1: [16-Jul-01] (incomplete)

03-Jan-2004 -- Accepting the counsel of the group who had previously attempted 32°S 119°E, my brother and I set out early – 5:00 am on 3 Jan 04 – from Bejoording, near Toodyay Western Australia to attempt this confluence.

We had planned to take on a more adventurous confluence in 30°S 120°E, but lack of time, lack of familiarity with its terrain and flora, combined with the fact that it was midsummer in Australia when temperatures can often rise above 45°C meant that we compromised on 32°S 119°E. (We will attempt 30°S 120°E in winter.)

Our trip took us via back roads to Northam, then east on the Great Eastern Highway (route 94) through Meckering, Cunderdin, Tammin to Doodlakine. From Doodlakine we ventured off the Great Eastern Highway south east on a zig zag road to Bruce Rock, then roughly in the same direction on to Narembeen.

From Narembeen we headed due east on Soldiers Road, past “Mount” Walker (a granite rock barely 30 metres high). We then turned off Soldiers Road in a north easterly direction on Reids Road which was a good but rarely used dirt road which ultimately leads to an abandoned mine site near Mt Hampton (refer image).

We drove down Reids Road until we hit the 32nd parallel, and then walked 1.4 km east along the 32nd, through 2 paddocks that were in pasture. Our 8:30 am arrival at the featureless confluence point was witnessed only by an alarmed flock of Merino sheep. The confluence point is at an altitude of 365 metres.

Topographically, the area around the confluence site is flat and open country put to wheat and sheep farming. In agricultural Australia soils types are generally described by reference to the tree species the soil type hosts. The country around the confluence was predominately Salmon Gum and Blackbutt (E. Salmonopholia and E. Dundasii).

After visiting the site we called in at a neighboring farm, and got to chatting with the farmer about the site of a WWII aircraft (a “Vultee Vengeance”) crash, which happens to be about 60 km SE of the confluence. The sole survivor of the aircraft crash, who parachuted before impact, had found his way to the rabbit proof fence and walked along it until he was found within a few km of the farm we visited.