14th September 2021

Usually by about 5pm in Barron Gorge the Hydro plant is releasing water and the river rises and it looks very much like above. Not so of late.

Other than the fact that the weather was very overcast when I took this photo on the 9th of September, the other obvious point is that the water is much lower. The Hydro plant must be shut down so no water is being released from there. The water flow is dependant on what is released from Kuranda at the moment.

Usually between 5pm and 6pm the water rise as you can see from this shot at sunset back in May. During this period another thing also usually happens.

Late August and early September the kayakers were still coming down the river near sunset riding the high water level. They are absent at the moment.

Whilst the absence of water stops the kayakers from doing the thing they love it allows me to do what I love from some different locations.

That lower water level allows me to be in spots on/in the river at sunset that would normally be under water. The circled area in the photo to the right is the spot where I have my tripod set up waiting for sunset above.

Whenever you go into Barron you need to have a marker that you constantly check for rising water or you may get stuck.

I wrote back in February this year of being stuck in Barron Gorge when I thought I knew the time and amounts the water levels would change …….. I was wrong.

Previous post: Getting stuck on and under rocks

So whilst I am next to that large rock in an area that is usually under water I am checking every 5 minutes or so a little rock that is extruding from the water by about 3 inches. If that goes under water I need to make a move before I need to swim out.

The previous day I took this photo. That little bit of success tempted me to come back the next day. I also did not know for how long the Hydro plant would be shut down so I wanted to access that spot whilst I could.

When I arrived at the Gorge on the 11th at about 5pm it looked terrible. You soon learn however that if you sit and wait at places often enough that things can change very quickly. Often that change can go as quickly as it came. This light above lasted for about 3 minutes.

It does not matter how many times I visit Barron Gorge, things are always different.