You can gauge the popularity of an attraction by the size of the car park associated with it. MacKenzie Falls, in the Grampians near Halls Gap, has a BIG car park. Even so, on my first attempt to visit it, we drove around for a few minutes before abandoning our search for a vacant spot. It wasn't just the lack of parking that turned us away though. We could have persisted and found somewhere to dump the car, but nothing detracts from the natural beauty of a spot more than hordes of tourists. Naturally, I don’t count myself as a tourist – I’m only there for the sake of art.
Returning at 7:00 AM the next morning we were greeted by the wonderful sight of an empty car park. MacKenzie Falls is no Niagara, but it is Victoria’s biggest waterfall and flows year round. From the comfort of the viewing platform at the top, you can gaze into the gorge which is more than 100 metres deep. But that wasn't what we’d come for. A steep, well made track leads you past several cascades, the biggest and last of which is pictured here. The trip down was pleasant enough, but it’s the return climb which gets you. Well worth the effort, although I wasn't so sure at the time.
Tech Talk
I managed to forget to pack even a polarizer for this trip. It would have been nice to be able to get a slower shutter speed on these shots to get more of that “milky” flowing water effect. It’s an effect which may have been done to death, but that’s only so because it’s quite pleasing.
However, even at 1/6 of a second or so, there’s enough blur in the fast moving water to give a sense of motion while leaving enough sharpness to hint at the power of the cascade. In any case, the second shot was taken with my 7-14mm, which can’t use filters due to its large and protruding front element.