Rodney Campbell's Blog

Regans Pool lies downstream of Kermits Pool in Hancock Gorge. Formerly known as Plunge Pool, Regans Pool was renamed in honour of SES volunteer James Martin Regan, 36, who drowned as he undertook the second rescue of a British tourist in one day in April, 2004.

Cascades

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 32 mm, 5 sec at f/11, ISO 100

After the first tourist had been successfully winched to safety after falling 50m into a gorge, an emergency call came to a team including Mr Regan to go to the aid of a second tourist who had had also fallen at a spot called Plunge Pool. It was as this second tourist was being helped into a stretcher that the flood struck and a massive wall of water entered the gorge without warning.

At the end of Kermits Pool there are warning signs caution against going any further into this Class 6 section without ropes, harnesses and an experienced guide.

This is the view from the top of this section looking down the cascades to the lovely pools below. It’s actually just a little (perhaps a few metres) past the warning signs and the chain across the gorge.

It was a perfect spot for a few carefully composed (and even more carefully placed) selfies. When doing these on tripod selfies I pretty much always take shots without me as well as ones with me.

Pro Tip: Check your gear is all in working order before you head into a once in a lifetime location!.

This was the first time I was using my new Overboard Dry Bag backpack. As such I was moving select items from my normal camera backpack into this dry bag for this day trip. I couldn’t (and didn’t want to) take all of my usual gear that I’d normally take in my camera bag. I usually pack my bag the night before so in this case I just took the bare essentials:

– My Sirui N2204 Tripod with Really Right Stuff BH-40 PC-LR ballhead and clamp
– My Nikon D750 camera
– Nikon 16-35/4 ultrawide lens
– Nikon 24-70/2.8 midrange lens
– Lee Filter Holder, Heliopan 105mm CPL plus a few (GND/ND) filters
– Phottix Aion Wireless Timer and Shutter Release

It’s this last that I failed to check the night before. The batteries in my remote had gone flat and the spare rechargable AAA’s that I normally keep in my camera bag were still there and not with me when I discovered the remote didn’t work once I was already on location. So for this whole morning session I was forced to use the camera’s built in (2 or more second) self timer instead – sigh!. It was more cumbersome (especially for these selfies where I had to go back and forth between each shot), but it was a workable solution.

It’s a spectacular spot and I really would have liked to go further and shoot in the areas below. The smoothly rounded rocks are very slippery and whilst I’m a bit of a mountain goat with excellent balance, even I wasn’t willing to risk going any further, let alone attempt the descent down this precipitous slide to the pool below.

Regans Drop

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 27 mm, 1 sec at f/11, ISO 800

For those keen to explore these extreme areas, professionally guided tours are available through West Oz Active. Something for me to consider next time I’m here (if I’m ever fortunate enough to have that chance again :)).

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