Trentham Falls (drone)

Описание: Location: Trentham Falls (Coliban River)
Trentham, Victoria
(some 75 km north-west of central Melbourne)
Google Maps: https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/...

Note: The walking track down to the river and base of the falls has been closed since 2015. There is a viewing area near the top, a short distance from the car park.

The 32 metre-high falls are said to be the longest single-drop falls in Victoria. Their geology is interesting and similar to some of the other waterfalls in the Dalesford-Macedon area: Five million years ago the old Coliban River flowed through a gully which was completely filled by a lava flow following a nearby volcanic eruption. The lava cooled slowly and as it solidified, contractions caused vertical cracking, creating the column structures we can see. The falls and present-day river are caused by erosion of the basalt (volcanic rock). Water gets into the fractured basalt, the ancient river gravels wash out, undercutting the basalt above, leading to cave-in, and so on.
The erosive process is on-going - which means that within the next million years or so the falls will likely have wound their way the 1.4 km upstream to where Trentham Falls Road crosses the river. We can only hope that at some point prior to that occurring, Parks Victoria will get around to constructing a safe access path down to the base of the falls.

You wouldn't know it from watching the video, but this was a stressful flight. My drone has three systems to hold its position in space: A barometer (elevation), downward vision sensors (elevation & horizontal positioning below 10 metres) and GPS (horizontal positioning). When flying low over water I turn off the downward vision sensors, as reflective surfaces can give false readings and cause the drone to move unexpectedly. And in this location, while down low in the gully, it wasn't possible to secure a GPS lock. Hence, my drone was effectively adrift on the breeze, a situation that I don't normally experience.
Air movement increased as I approached the falls, and within the amphitheatre once I stopped moving forward, all my focus was directed into maintaining position. I couldn't think about what I wanted to film, lost my nerve and ascended to near the top of the falls where the drone picked up the satellites and returned to stable flight. One pass, one battery used, and I'd had enough.
With hindsight I should have taken a second flight - turned on the downward vision positioning system and descended into the amphitheatre from above, rather than along the river. I would have been able to get all the remaining shots I wanted.

Date: May 3, 2022
Drone: DJI Phantom 4 Pro
Source video: 4K/30fps/100Mbps *
Music: Artist - James Horner
Track - Becoming One of The People (2009), from the sound track to Avatar - truncated

I flew my Avata here in May, 2024:    • Trentham Falls  

For a better quality viewing, watch YouTube video in the highest resolution you can stream - irrespective of your screen resolution. Reduced compression on YouTube's higher resolution versions (eg. 2.7K & 4K) results in clearer images.