Rock Island Bend, Franklin River.

[shauntho]

Hi all,
Just finished watching "Wildness", a documentary about the great wilderness photographers Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis. Of particular interest to me is the famous photo taken by Dombrovskis of "Rock Island Bend". I absolutely love this photo and its significance in saving the Gordon River, and would love to go there myself one day. However, I'm not a particularly strong kayak-er. Does anyone know exactly where on the Franklin River Rock Island Bend is? And is it accessible by foot? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Shaun.

[tastrax]

Rock Island bend is at the top of a set of rapids known as Newlands Cascade and not really accessible by foot (to the average walker!). You could do a shortened commercial Franklin River trip downstream of Mt McCall. That would get you to Rock Island Bend pretty quickly. Some commercial companies do the shorter tours (I think). The short tour is not as speccy as the full downriver trip but if its just Rock Island Bend that you want to see/photograph then it might be an option. PS the lower part of the river still has plenty of traps for experienced rafters/paddlers. Don't underestimate the skill level required.

Attached file shows Rock Island Bend in Google Earth - You can spot the Mt McCall road to the north. 4WD road and permit required (I think) to access the road and then a long walk down the old haulageway to get your gear to the river.

Rock Island Bend.kmz

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http://www.worldexpeditions.com/au/inde ... ips&id=285 - commercial tour

[shauntho]

Cheers, Thanks Tastrax, awesome info. I'm surprised the Mt McCall rd is so close (within 6km anyway).... hmmmm, wonder if I could hike downriver from the haulegeway?

[tastrax]

Cheers, Thanks Tastrax, awesome info. I'm surprised the Mt McCall rd is so close (within 6km anyway).... hmmmm, wonder if I could hike downriver from the haulegeway?

I can assure you NO! It would be the longest, toughest 6kms you have ever travelled I reckon and that would probably mean that you wouldn't enjoy Rock Island Bend when you got there...especially as you would then have to turn around and walk back to McCall (with all that camera gear)!

Save your pennies and do the full river trip - well worth it and you can get even more speccy photos

[shauntho]

HAHA, thanks Tastrax, I'll take your word for it!

[Timeman]

I would like to say thank you as well to tastrax for the information here it has been a huge help.. Im planning on going around the 26th Feb 2012.. I will keep you up to date if you like on my adventures

I am a hard core bush walker, so I am at this stage confident on walking this harsh 6k with that said I am still not sure as tastrax says it is not or would not be easy.

Here is a photo you may like guys I took this a few weeks ago I live in Wollongong NSW this is call Belmore Falls Robinson NSW, the falls tumble dizzily 78 metres down to the floor and then again another 50m quite stunning.

[shauntho]

Awesome shot Timeman! I love it. Definitely keep us up to date on your adventures, I'd be really keen to know how you went (and if it's even possible!!) I look forward to a trip report... and make sure you get a great photo while you're there to show us!

[Son of a Beach]

I was there just last week. It was a rather emotional moment for me, as I'd had the famous photo of Rock Island Bend (Peter Dombrovski) on my wall ever since I was a kid, and until recently had never thought I'd see it for myself.

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Having just rafted past the Macall Track (clearly visible from the river) and Rock Island Bend, and having had to cut a camp site from the scrub between the two (but on the other side of the river) when the river flooded, I would not recommend trying to walk from one to the other. It would be a very long, hard, difficult and demoralising walk in, and then out again, bashing through thick scrub in some places, and very steep gorge sides in other places.

Having said that, if you do make it, there is a good camp site beside the Pig Trough rapid at Rock Island Bend, although it is very cold - that camp site (where we had lunch) appears to have it's own microclimate in that part of the rain forest that is much colder than the air nearby.

[Son of a Beach]

Here's where the Macall Track meets the Franklin River. If you look carefully, just above the large rock face, you can see the long wooden staircase ascending through the forest.

The blue above the rock is a large tarp which appeared to be covering a large commercial group's raft. Perhaps ready for their next trip, or yet to be picked up from their last trip. They also appeared to leave a lot of other bits and pieces further to the right in the forest, (visible from the river a bit further along) but we didn't look closely at them. Looked like it might have been eskis or packing boxes of some kind. A bit of a mess, to be honest.

[tasadam]

Agree about the scrub there, and yes, you need a permit to go in the Mt McCall track if proceeding beyond the Kelly Basin track turnoff (a locked gate, the permit comes with a key). You'll need a clean 4WD too (they inspect it). Done form the Parks office in Queenstown.
This post has a photo of the Franklin River looking upstream from the Mt McCall track.

Here are some more images of the Mt McCall area -

Sign at the end of the 4WD track, referring to the track to the river.

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The terrain of the area

D2C_0012.JPG (74.75 KiB) Viewed 7807 times

Looking downstream

D2C_0105.JPG (87.67 KiB) Viewed 7807 times

Downstream again

D2C_0107.JPG (97.24 KiB) Viewed 7807 times

[NickD]

I'd heavily recommend the full trip. It's not just about the photo and the island, but its about the magnificent journey there!! By the time you reach Rock Island your on about day 5 or 6 of your journey and have been truly immersed into another world. That area around the Pig's Trough/Rock Island is probably the most beautiful but the river has soooo many spots that rival with their own majesty and grandeur.

[Son of a Beach]

If anyone reading this decides to raft it, you should make sure you have experienced rafters in your team. If you can afford it, use a commercial tour, as they are very familiar with the river and the dangers (which are many). We did it privately (in individual rafts), but had one very experienced person on the team. Without that person, there would likely have been several disasters along the way (there were a few near misses as it was). It is a very dangerous trip to undertake for inexperienced rafters, several of whom have died there (at least one body was never able to be recovered, even though they knew the person came acropper right under Big Fall).

[Timeman]

Thank you all that replied I really appreciated it, Valuable information indeed..

Cheers to shauntho for the like of photos..

Son of a Beach & tasadam Your info I have taken on to the fullest, I have to thank you a lot for guiding me..

Im very into photography ( action sports for over 10 years ) and Landscape.. Just so you know All my skills are used to take photos..

Para gliding,Ab sailing,Rock Climbing,Surfing,Motocross, all the good things in life..

I am the same as Son of a beach Iv had this photo on my wall ( A1 ) since a kid.. Im now 46 Iv never taken to much notice of it as I loved this image
the day I saw it, Now the past 2 years I get to do landscape,wilderness photography ( Australian tourism and other media )

So after many years of studying photography and its forms I hope to come back with a interesting selection of images

Sample of other images by me. (Cokin Filters - Canon 7D - Lens: 17-40L F4 - ball trigger tripod ) Rain forest South Coast - Mt Kembla NSW Australia



This one will show you just how hard some places are and the magnitude of them that is me right hand corner Taken by a photography buddy Belmore Falls NSW that is a 80m drop next to me the water was so cold and would knock you out if you got under it



The places we find



Well I hope you like the photos.. and I hope to share some very nice ones in the next few months.. I do not leave for another 5 weeks so still have time to
take any info on board.. again a huge thank you to all of you for helping ! I live in NSW so if anyone is close send me a PM.

Cheers from Noel