Sometimes the urge to get out somewhere rugged and untamed is irresistible. So the thought came, unbidden, one Saturday night, let’s go back to one of my favourite wild rivers in Victoria’s central highlands. And there was no turning back!
Getting organised for the trip was pretty easy – I have all the logistics pretty dialled in. So at 5am I was off.
The drive is 2.5 hours past the forest industry towns of Powelltown and Noojee towards the Baw Baw plateau, and into the hills of Victoria’s Central Highlands. Unfortunately, large trees were blocking the access road which meant I was on the mountain bike sooner than I would have liked. Half an hour on the bike, over a very dodgy bridge and I was in the bush.
There are some reasonably well-known falls (that is, they are on most maps) – they’re very nice but I haven’t been able to capture an image to my satisfaction. My aim is further downstream.
There is a walking track from the bridge but almost immediately you need to veer left to follow the river. There is some pink tape but it is very old and missing in many places – this is the only sign I have ever seen of people beyond this point.
Navigating once you inevitably lose the pink tape is a matter of staying at just the right elevation. Too high and you end up having to push through a thick ground cover of ferns – it is thick and grabby and an absolute pain. Too low and you end up climbing up and down depending on the twists and turns of the river.
As you get down lower towards the river, the vegetation opens up. The soil is rich and loamy from the high rainfall and decomposing vegetation. The smell is amazing and primal.
There is mostly tree ferns, some understory bushes and trees, and a top story with fewer Mountain Ash and more Sassafras and Myrtle Beech. However, the going is difficult because on the steep terrain many of the massive Mountain Ash have lost their footing and fallen over. A large tree can provide a significant barrier for 60-80 metres up the hill – quite an obstacle to get around.
This is my third trip to this location, so I know the topography well. I recognise individual trees or rocky outcrops and can start to make informed decisions based on the light or water level rather than just following my nose in hope.
Despite this growing understanding of the topography, every time I have decided to climb down to the river, I have ended up somewhere different. Not that it matters – this whole section of river is a jumble of cascading water through moss covered boulders. I am astounded by its primal beauty, accentuated by the solitude of being alone in this wilderness.
Most of these adventures I do alone and so I am constantly undertaking risk assessments – I am old enough to understand what can go wrong.
On this trip, during the walk in I took a big fall. I was bush bashing down a steepish section, being careful because I suspected the ground would drop off at some point and, as the ground vegetation was above my knees, I couldn’t see my foot placement. Sure enough, my left foot ended up in space, my body pivoted on my right foot and I fell backwards about 2 metres, landing fair and square on my backpack. Luckily neither my camera equipment nor I were damaged.
When I’m in the bush all alone and often out of mobile phone range I always have my Personal Location Beacon which relies on satellite rather than mobile coverage. And I carry adequate clothing to stay warm and dry even if I need to survive immobile overnight while I wait for help.
With camera equipment, survival gear, extra clothes, food and water, I end up carrying a bit of weight. But the payoff is worth it if I can safely get in and out of remote areas.
With the intent of going further downstream, I ended up hitting the river a bit below previous trips (it is hard to tell, the iPhone GPS on the map app is all over the place in these steep locations). I found an amazing waterfall with a drop of a couple of metres – given I found a bit of pink tape on the river edge, this may have been one of the smaller falls below the main waterfall I had heard about.
The river at this point was up to 20 metres across and a jumble of moss-covered boulders, with multiple channels of water limiting access. Almost at every point, the scenery is amazing. There are really two main challenges in this situation.
Firstly, with so much going on, finding a composition that makes sense of the chaos is difficult. Do I go wider to capture the whole scene, or pick out elements of the scene?
The second challenge is the amount of white water in the image. With longer exposures, the white water can lose all its texture or, even worse, blow out. This requires some exposure bracketing to make sure there is texture to blend in.
After a couple of hours making my way downstream, I started for home – it was still a couple of hours before I got back to the car.
This was one of those trips where my immediate reaction to viewing the images on the computer was one of disappointment. I often find that I am too close to the physical and emotional investment in the photography that anything on a screen feels a poor substitute.
Several weeks later, I am now finding some nice images I am motivated to work on. However, there are a couple of learnings to work on next time:
Slow down and take my time – especially in amazing locations, stepping back is important especially in considering the two points below.
Make sure it is clear in my compositions what the subject or subjects are.
Ensure the composition will allow for a sense of depth – visualise the edit and then ensure the foreground or light or atmospheric conditions will create the necessary separation of subject and background.
For me, this kind of photography is so rewarding – exploring wild areas, the physical and emotional challenge and some photography lessons learnt. The unexplored sections of river still beckon. This is a location I will continue to come back to – as I become increasingly familiar with the essence of this area.
It makes you work for your images but the sense of adventure and satisfaction make it all worthwhile.
Beautiful images and wow what an adventure! Great write up mate! 👌
Beautiful images! And a forest very different from forest near me, that i would love to photograph. Thanks for sharing.