Monday morning and we decided to visit Cania Gorge some 36kms north of Monto so Billeee and I jumped into Rod's Pajero and he drove us, we set off early around 8.30am. Billee takes delight in opening his window at roadworks and shouting loudly to the workers calling them layabouts and urging them to get a real job. This doesn't go down too well and we constantly were expecting the traffic controller to get on to his mates ahead with the good news. We were dissolving in laughter but expecting to get pulled over further on.
There is a Big 4 caravan park just before the Gorge and the office is a shop where drinks and ice creams can be bought, just 900mtrs further on is a carpark with picnic facilities and signs advising of the various walks from 8hrs down to 2hrs. I took a photo of the best walk in my opinion, posted below, but was overruled in favout of a similar walk including the 2 caves at the bottom of the pic then on to a lookout. To say the least we were not impressed with the view from the lookout, only part of the gorge was visible between the trees.
I took photos over the gorge on normal mode then brought up the opposite side with the zoom and am impressed with the new Cannon Powershot but the pics give the overall impression. We were not impressed with the other 2 caves that we saw and overall were dissapointed with Cania Gorge. If we had done the 8km walk to the other lookout and visited the other caves our opinion could have changed but we do not recommend visiting Cania Gorge from what we saw. Rod, quite uncharacteristically, resorted to playing up for the camera. Must have been unimpressed with the view and seeking more. John
Back to Monto where I can get Optus coverage for my phone and spent ages listening to voicemails and answering them. The others had time to have lunch but I was too involved with the phone and accessing the internet and emails to enjoy such delights. On our return we passed again the road blocks but instead of thanking our lucky stars that we were not sprung earlier Billeee started off again yelling his messgage whilst we hid below the window not wanting to be associated with him. We now know how Julie feels under the same circumstances.
oldboar said
08:37 PM Apr 4, 2014
Another good report old mate. Rod looks like he'd been on something very different to his normal fare, although an extended period in Billee's company may perhaps that effect, lol. We've just spent a couple of days at Cairns, doing the Kuranda scenic railway / Skyrail round trip. I thoroughly enjoyed the train & attractions at Kuranda village but, to be honest, found the Skyrail somewhat boring except for the drop down off the mountain to Caravonica Lakes. View for that section was amazing but as for the rest, the tops of trees become somewhat repititious. To say that Sandra did not share my enjoyment of the Skyrail could be considered an understatement. Returned to Saunders Beach today so the beachside pic is from the camp area towards Magnetic Island.
I sort of know how you feel, John. When I visited Cania Gorge I was at first disappointed. However, it was on the last day that I realised why. It is very hard to 'step back' from the "features" of the place and this makes taking photos very difficult.
I realised that the walks go up close to everything and creates an impression that you are 'crowded' against the things to see. I would go again and maybe spend longer there to see if I could make better use of different light conditions.
Yep, all a camera does is take an image of the prevailing light. If the light's crook, so is the pic. The camera doesn't see things the same way our eyes do so it pays to think like the camera and shoot accordingly. Right, John?
rockylizard said
09:05 AM Apr 5, 2014
Gday...
Yer rite Gary.
And the "problem" in Cania is it feels like a "crowded" place - the walks are through narrow 'gorges' that probably look more interesting at differing times of the day.
Very difficult to get 'back from a scene' and capture it. Interestingly, not just with a camera either. I felt that I seemingly was always up too close to the 'feature' and looking up rather than 'across to'. It's a bit difficult to express, but it certainly isn't open like other gorges - Carnarvon Gorge or Porcupine Gorge as two examples.
I would go again to Cania, but I would be on walks at 'first light' and spend a whole day on each walk until 'last light' for instance, rather than just doing the walk and struggling to get an interesting photo like I did on my first visit.
I have attached a photo of "Dripping Rock". This feature has a constant dripping of water down the rocks and through the ferns. It looks quite lovely but you get a crick in ya neck looking up to the top. The photo is a "stitched photo" of four shots top to bottom and I was leaning right back over the the railing to get a shot of the top.
Amazing what peeps will do to get a shot. I know a bloke on Red Bubble, a grandfather, who traveled across the Nullarbor and stopped somewhere near vertical cliffs. The edges of the cliffs have a reputation for crumbling but that didn't stop him crawling on his belly (did I mention he has vertigo?) to the edge and pointing his camera straight down for a shot. When I commented on how dangerous it was he said, "Yeah, but I got the shot!" It happens to many of us, though... if we have a camera around our neck, we're inclined to take risks we wouldn't normally.
Vic41 said
04:54 PM Apr 5, 2014
GaryKelly wrote:
Amazing what peeps will do to get a shot. I know a bloke on Red Bubble, a grandfather, who traveled across the Nullarbor and stopped somewhere near vertical cliffs. The edges of the cliffs have a reputation for crumbling but that didn't stop him crawling on his belly (did I mention he has vertigo?) to the edge and pointing his camera straight down for a shot. When I commented on how dangerous it was he said, "Yeah, but I got the shot!" It happens to many of us, though... if we have a camera around our neck, we're inclined to take risks we wouldn't normally.
If that is the cliffs on the GAB Gary, I saw a foreign couple who looked about 50 sitting with their legs dangling over the edges, must have had a death wish. Sometimes the strong winds there come from the north (blowing out to sea) so standing too close to the edge is a risk too even without the crumbling edges.
-- Edited by Vic41 on Sunday 6th of April 2014 10:42:15 AM
GaryKelly said
07:54 AM Apr 6, 2014
Yep, somewhere along the GAB, Vic. Crazy people. I was at Port Lincoln one time on a TV shoot. We hired a local chopper pilot (a woman) to take our cameraman on a flight over the cliffs, heading from the sea towards the rocks and then pulling up at the last minute to fly over the top. Sheesh! She was no chicken either, but flew that damn thing like a 'Nam vet. I was the writer so all I had to do was churn out a script from the safety of our digs back in town. The cameraman was fearless, btw, and the veteran of many a Sydney to Hobart filming with one of those big Sony broadcast cameras.
Vic41 said
10:46 AM Apr 6, 2014
That is something I would like to do Gary, fly over the GAB, I saw it on a doco once, breathtaking.
Glad you had the opportunity to do it. Do you have the article you wrote or a link to it? If so perhaps a separate post on the GAB?
Sorry for the OT Yeo
GaryKelly said
04:32 PM Apr 6, 2014
Sorry to mislead you, Vic. The shoot was for a TV program - not print - and it was back in '89. No links, sorry.
Vic41 said
10:11 PM Apr 6, 2014
No worries Gary, sounded like a great experience !
Monday morning and we decided to visit Cania Gorge some 36kms north of Monto so Billeee and I jumped into Rod's Pajero and he drove us, we set off early around 8.30am. Billee takes delight in opening his window at roadworks and shouting loudly to the workers calling them layabouts and urging them to get a real job. This doesn't go down too well and we constantly were expecting the traffic controller to get on to his mates ahead with the good news. We were dissolving in laughter but expecting to get pulled over further on.
There is a Big 4 caravan park just before the Gorge and the office is a shop where drinks and ice creams can be bought, just 900mtrs further on is a carpark with picnic facilities and signs advising of the various walks from 8hrs down to 2hrs. I took a photo of the best walk in my opinion, posted below, but was overruled in favout of a similar walk including the 2 caves at the bottom of the pic then on to a lookout. To say the least we were not impressed with the view from the lookout, only part of the gorge was visible between the trees.
I took photos over the gorge on normal mode then brought up the opposite side with the zoom and am impressed with the new Cannon Powershot but the pics give the overall impression. We were not impressed with the other 2 caves that we saw and overall were dissapointed with Cania Gorge. If we had done the 8km walk to the other lookout and visited the other caves our opinion could have changed but we do not recommend visiting Cania Gorge from what we saw. Rod, quite uncharacteristically, resorted to playing up for the camera. Must have been unimpressed with the view and seeking more. John
Back to Monto where I can get Optus coverage for my phone and spent ages listening to voicemails and answering them. The others had time to have lunch but I was too involved with the phone and accessing the internet and emails to enjoy such delights. On our return we passed again the road blocks but instead of thanking our lucky stars that we were not sprung earlier Billeee started off again yelling his messgage whilst we hid below the window not wanting to be associated with him. We now know how Julie feels under the same circumstances.
Another good report old mate. Rod looks like he'd been on something very different to his normal fare, although an extended period in Billee's company may perhaps that effect, lol. We've just spent a couple of days at Cairns, doing the Kuranda scenic railway / Skyrail round trip. I thoroughly enjoyed the train & attractions at Kuranda village but, to be honest, found the Skyrail somewhat boring except for the drop down off the mountain to Caravonica Lakes. View for that section was amazing but as for the rest, the tops of trees become somewhat repititious. To say that Sandra did not share my enjoyment of the Skyrail could be considered an understatement. Returned to Saunders Beach today so the beachside pic is from the camp area towards Magnetic Island.
Gday...
I sort of know how you feel, John. When I visited Cania Gorge I was at first disappointed. However, it was on the last day that I realised why. It is very hard to 'step back' from the "features" of the place and this makes taking photos very difficult.
I realised that the walks go up close to everything and creates an impression that you are 'crowded' against the things to see. I would go again and maybe spend longer there to see if I could make better use of different light conditions.
For what it's worth, here's a couple of photos.
Cheers - John
Gday...
Yer rite Gary.
And the "problem" in Cania is it feels like a "crowded" place - the walks are through narrow 'gorges' that probably look more interesting at differing times of the day.
Very difficult to get 'back from a scene' and capture it. Interestingly, not just with a camera either. I felt that I seemingly was always up too close to the 'feature' and looking up rather than 'across to'. It's a bit difficult to express, but it certainly isn't open like other gorges - Carnarvon Gorge or Porcupine Gorge as two examples.
I would go again to Cania, but I would be on walks at 'first light' and spend a whole day on each walk until 'last light' for instance, rather than just doing the walk and struggling to get an interesting photo like I did on my first visit.
I have attached a photo of "Dripping Rock". This feature has a constant dripping of water down the rocks and through the ferns. It looks quite lovely but you get a crick in ya neck looking up to the top. The photo is a "stitched photo" of four shots top to bottom and I was leaning right back over the the railing to get a shot of the top.
Cheers - John
If that is the cliffs on the GAB Gary, I saw a foreign couple who looked about 50 sitting with their legs dangling over the edges, must have had a death wish. Sometimes the strong winds there come from the north (blowing out to sea) so standing too close to the edge is a risk too even without the crumbling edges.
-- Edited by Vic41 on Sunday 6th of April 2014 10:42:15 AM
That is something I would like to do Gary, fly over the GAB, I saw it on a doco once, breathtaking.
Glad you had the opportunity to do it. Do you have the article you wrote or a link to it? If so perhaps a separate post on the GAB?
Sorry for the OT Yeo
No worries Gary, sounded like a great experience !