Deep in the Blowhole
- Dulan Rajapaksha
- Mar 3, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 4, 2020
Hunting for the perfect snap. It was too late when I realized it was a deadly TRAP
It was a lovely day in east coast of Victoria, Australia. The blowhole was situated at the very southern end of the Mornington peninsula, close to a small suburban town known as Blairgowrie. I started the journey from urban Endeavour Hills towards the said location around early morning. The drive was at least one and half hours through the typical Australian terrain. I had my trusted companion #nikond5600 along with #nikkor10mmwideangle and the nifty fifty #nikkor50mm for the job.
”It was a major panic moment when you see a massive wave coming to smash you in a matter of seconds and seeing no escape route but humongous wall of rocks all around you. Potentially a deadly encounter but yet strangely enough, you can only hear your inner voice mumbling, this camera is going to be ruined...”
It was a long walk from the usual tourist lookout to get to the blowhole. Low tide had made the sharp red reef of rocks come up making a rough but steady path towards the destination. The reef of rocks lying under my feet made huge differences in its structure, every hundred meters. It becomes smooth and steady, making it easy to walk on it; and then it becomes rough with a massive collection of different layers where I could not decide the safest place to set the foot on; then there were dead ends and drops where I had to jump down good two meters from the reef to the fresh sand. Yet I kept going till I reach this magnificent location.
It was mid afternoon when I get to witness how big these rock formations are.The bottom of the whole structure was about 12 meters below the ground level. It was a naturally made enormous trench which opens into the ocean from one side and closed off from the other. The width of the opening which leads sea water to gush into the blowhole, was roughly 5 meters, which kept narrowing towards the closed end of this rocky trench.
Interesting Fact - Where the right, top most structural piece is on this picture, is the actual ground level.
All the beautiful coral and rock layers were visible through bluish sea water thanks to the low tide. To experience this natural beauty up close, I decided to climb down to the trench from its closed off end.
I patiently waited at the very end of the trench with my back against the thick rock and crouching on another couple of rocks to avoid stepping into one of the water filled pits in the bottom. The total goal was to capture the crashing of wave with a considerable amount of collision power into the rocks. The theory was that it was low tide and waves are not going to be strong enough to race into the trench to activate the blowhole, which ultimately makes me comfortable knowing that there is no chance of drowning by a 9 meter tall body of water. Witnessed a fair amount of waves being uselessly on photogenic and bashing their almost non existing power onto the rock walls.
Then I heard it. The noise of a massive wave far away from the trench. Had my camera on one hand and legs firmly fixed, quicker shutter speed set, and there it was. A tiny wave. The disappointment...
But even before I could finish feeling my disappointment, the wave transitioned from mini to an average.
And then from average to a massive.
The bigger the wave grew, bigger my level of excitement went. Finally I was going to capture a decent wave crashing into the rock walls. But I was wrong
At this point, I have come to the conclusion that I am going to be drenched with a massive wave which could potentially could keep rising. But I kept clicking and capturing it all second by second, which ultimately resulted capturing exactly what I wanted to capture.
As a photographer, there is no joy in the photography field like capturing exactly what you meant to capture.
Water went over the head without a question and the camera and lens got fully soaked in corrosive salt water. Fortunately, I managed to climb up with bruises and scratches as the water level kept rising.
What is so special about this place for a photographer ?
This is the perfect place to capture a massive body of water smashing into very detailed rock structures, making a breathtaking splash. That is only if the photographer is into freezing the moments in nature. If the photographer is stupid enough to climb down to the very bottom of the blowhole in low tide, a splendid photograph is guaranteed. But it should never be attempted in either of the tides.
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