Coops and I versus the Volcano

Earlier this year my dive buddy and good friend Coops and I went  over to Mt. Gambier way to do a dive in Lake Bullen Merri.  It was a bit choppy and very, very silty.  As such I didn't get down too deep but it was a good experience nonetheless.  We have spoken of it many times since and decided to go back and have another go.

Lake Bullen Merri lies some 2kms south of Camperdown, Victoria and is the remnants of a once volatile volcano.  It wasn't the fiery, dante type volcano that one normally associates with this, but is what is known as a "Maar crater"  This is a  result of an explosion when hot lava or magma on its way to the surface, comes in contact with groundwater, known as a "phreatomagmatic eruption".  The reuslt today is a clover shaped waterfilled lake approximately 3.2kms x 2.8 kms.  At it's deepest point it is 67 metres deep with an average of 40m.  It is now a popular spot for campers, fishos and family get togethers.

                                    
                                                                    Lake Bullen Merri

We left home in the cold, wet pre-dawn hours a little after 0600 and headed off into the misty blackness that was typical of a Melbourne autumn.  The trip was pretty uneventful with a fair amount of rain for most of the way but drying out for the latter part, turning into a relatively nice day.  We stopped at the Golden Arches in Colac for a so-called breakfast and was surprised at how busy it was.  Maybe there isn't a lot to do on a Saturday morning for Colacians........

From there is was a short stop to the lake and a quick drive down the dirt road to what appears to be some sort of jetty.  The main family area is on the opposite side of the lake.  There were a few older guys camping (which apparently is prohibited here but doesn't seem to bother anyone) and another two or three fishing, hoping to catch that big one, of which there are apparently some in the water.

Coops checking out the entrance site

We downed a coffee and geared up, taking our time and making sure everything was in order and it all worked properly.  Coops had his rebreather with him and I had my twin tanks - I was making sure i had plenty of air with me.

There was very little wind and as such the water was quite flat.  As there is no current in a lake, with no chop on top it was set to be a nice dive.  The water was a bit chilly being some 10 - 11 degrees, which really woke us up.  Once the cold water hits you, you know it is for real now.

We descended quite easily, being fresh water, we were a little over weighted but that's not always a bad thing, although here it could prove detrimental.  As this is a crater, the walls slope down quite steeply and if not careful (and over-weighted) it could be very easy to find yourself literally 'out of your depth".  We swam down the slope at about a 45 degree angle so that the very fine silt we stirred up didn't follow us down - it went straight down as we swam away from it.  This is a trick Coops taught me from our last attempt here.  ( he has dived a few volcanoes in his time)

Within a few minutes, as is the norm with us, we lost each other in the gloom.  The water was a deep forest green which got a lot darker the deeper we went and very quickly.  It was very difficult to read guages, even with the powerful C-Lite 8 torch I was carrying.  Despite it's high power, the beam only broke the darkness for some 70cm, enough to see a little of scenery which consisted primarily of silt, lava rock, silt, cans and bottles and more silt.  I had no idea where Coops was but i assumed he was ok, so i continued on with my descent. 

I reached a depth of nearly 27 metres at which point it was totally dark and almost impossible to see anything.  What i did find fascinating was the images that the silt created in the torchlight.  At one point, i thought i saw Coops, seeing this human type shape in the light.  I swam towards it but realised that it really wasn't anything, it was just the dark area between silt on either side.  The torch had lit up the silt but the empty space between it appeared as a person.  If you are easily spooked by ghosts, then this is probably not the place to be on your own................

I considered going deeper but as i couldn't see anything now, there really was no point so i decided to slowly head back up.  I wasn't quite sure which way was up so i blew some bubbles out onto my torch to see which way they went - simple really...

I turned around and put my hand on what turned out to be the top part of a skull (read the part before about ghosts..).  It had a full set of teeth and a longish snout so I figured it wasn't human (in a small town would I  have told anyone if it was...?)  I was bringing it back up but it crumbled in my hand, literally.  It had been down there for a long time.

I spent some 57 minutes down there, most of it in almost total darkness and on my own, but knowing Coops was out there somewhere.   It was a very interesting dive and extremely character building.  After this, i can dive anywere.

Coops and I came to the surface almost at the same time.  He had reached 33 metres or so and claims to have seen a couple of fairly large fish but well we all know those sorts of stories...

We dried off and got changed, meeting a couple of the locals who were a bit suspicious of what we were up to -  strangers in town and all that.  We cooked some sausages on the little stove downed with another coffee then headed off to look for other exciting places to conquer on another day.

We went looking for a few places that Coops was keen on seeing but we couldn't find them.  What we did notice around the Camperdown area was the amount of dry walled fences.  There was literally kilometre aftere kilometre of drywall, in all directions - and each rock was carried and put in by hand!!  And it still stands strong today, a testiment to the patience and craftmanship of the earlier workers.

                                             A fine example of kilometres of dry walled fencing

close up of some of the drywall fencing - all done by hand

After deciding we couldn't find the places we were after, we bit the bullet and went to the Tourist Information place in Colac (Camperdown's was closed).  The ladies there were quite amazed when we told them what we had been up to and gave us details of a few other places around the area that have whetted our apetites for more adventure.    A good day was had by all.

Easter dive at Ewen's Ponds, Mt. Gambier, S.A.

Ewen's Ponds Mt.Gambier.    dive number 293 with Steve ("Two Tanks") Cooper

Ewan Ponds is popular with divers and snorkelers alike due to its ease of access from Mt. Gambier and its crystal clear waters, which can allow up to 50m visibility, no current and no surge.  It was this calling that made Coops and I take the 6 hour trek on Good Friday to see what it was all about.

We left home  on Good Friday, just before 6 am with the car already packed the night before and headed west through the grey, drizzly pre-dawn Melbourne sky in hopes of something more like paradise further west.  The trip was uneventful, as we all like it, and after one or two coffee stops we arrived at Port MacDonnell, some 25kms south of Mt Gambier.  Trying to book a camping site for one night over Easter is no mean feat, especially when everyone is fully booked out but the kind hearted chap at the Foreshore Caravan Park remembered our previous email and set us up on some spare grass in the corner of the park. 

Paradise indeed, just need the barbie and the Cab Sav

No better site could one have-   just us, two tents, the rolling surf behind us and the stars above.  Paradise indeed.  We set up camp and organised ourselves then headed off to Ewan’s Ponds, some 20 minutes away.

Ewen's Ponds are a series of three limestone sinkholes in Eight Mile Creek, south of Mt. Gambier.  The origonal inhabitants of the land were Aborigines of the "Boandik" tribe, part of the larger "Bunganditj" clan.  The first European identified with the area was Thomas Ewen, who discovered the ponds when his dog chased a kangeroo into one of them.  The land surrounding the ponds was gradually cleared for agriculture and late a drainage system was built to draw water from the ponds for soldier settlement after World War2.  The land is now part of a protetected area.

 Each pond is a basin-shaped limestone “doline”  (a shallow funnel shaped depression formed by solution of limestone) with the first being some 11 metres deep and connected to the others by shallow watercourses called "races".  The beds are covered with a fine silt layer and the floor of the third pond also contains a natural shallow cave.

Ewen's  Pond number one

We geared up and went to the small jetty they have set up there and dropped in.  The water was crystal clear and a little deceiving as it looked deeper than it really was.  We hit the bottom as we went in and I found the rocks a little slippery, almost going over.  Coops was a little underweighted so he went off to get some more weights, then we dropped the keys into the pond, then the extra weights....... why do things like this happen when other people are watching?  “Yes, we have done this before...”

As the ponds are fresh water, which is less buoyant than salt water, you don’t need as much weight to sink effectively, but as we didn’t do a proper weight check, we just kind of “guesstimated” it, which as always, turned out to be a bad mistake.  We pushed off from the jetty and immediately went under.  The sight was amazing, clear water like I have never seen before and instantly I could see straight to the bottom some 11 metres down.  Visibility was easily 40 to 50 metres in all directions.  We swam down the rather steep walls to the bottom, hitting it rather hard as we were obviously over-weighted.  The ponds have a very silty bottom some 300-400mmm thick under which is limestone rock.  The silt is primarily made up of rotting and decomposed vegetation and swirls upwards in great clouds when it is disturbed.  Fortunately it doesn’t take too long to settle.  It is also for this reason that the number of divers in the ponds at any one time is limited to six.

vegetation forms on the floor of the first pond

Swimming around above the bottom, had the distinct feeling of being on a film set.  The background, some distance away, had that “painted backdrop” look one sees on old films.  The silt on the bottom took on varied and strange shapes.  The methane given off by the decomposition process is trapped beneath the layers of vegetation and with some added pressure, it pushed the top layer outwards to form strange egg shaped forms - exactly like the eggs in the film “Alien”, but with no nasty critters.  Occasionally, a burst of bubbles would rise from the bottom and a small piece of vegetation would rise to the surface, swirling and twisting as it rose.  This happened almost constantly at differing parts of the pond.

vegetation and a stream of bubbles rise to the surface

"Alien" egg shaped forms on the floor

In the centre of the pond was a large mound, rising some 5-6 metres upwards.  How or why it was there I don’t know at this stage but it was very distinct and easy to swim around.  We didn’t see any forms of fish or animal life in the first pond

We had to surface a couple of times to get our bearings and to try and locate the narrow channel which led to the second pond.  Even from the surface it wasn’t easy to see amongst the very dense reeds around the pond but we had studied the map beforehand and had an idea of where to go.

We went over to the channel or “race” as it is known which was only two metres or so deep and had a very slight current running which helped us move through comfortably.  The current is due to water seeping into the pond from deep underground.  As the pond fills, the water overflows via the water race, into the second pond  which is also fed by underground springs, hence the current into the third pond is stronger again.  The water finally flows out into the “8 Mile Creek”.

cruising through the first water race to Pond 2

The channel was full of reeds and short water weeds, all pointing forward with the constant current.  It was a short and easy 50 metre swim to the second pond which came into view with a bluish haze but still with superb visibility.  As we approached the end of the race, it dropped off quite quickly to some 6 metres and swimming over the edge and down to the bottom is as close to flying as I think I will ever get.

As with the first pond, there was no life to be seen and being a little smaller and circular in shape, it was easy to sit in the middle and see the entire pond from wall to wall.   There was also a few areas where water could actually be seen churning up through the bottom.  The chalky limestone powder on the bottom constantly swirled as the water pushed in.

water bubbles in through the rocks amid the limstone

Again we surfaced to get our bearings and it was at this stage I became a little concerned, it was getting late in the day and some stormy weather had passed over as the sky had a yellow light to it.  I didn’t fancy getting stuck in the middle of a reed covered pond out in the middle of nowhere if the sun went down.   We soon located the next race and dropped down and headed for it.

The current was slightly stronger as it took us through, which seemed to take ages.  It is 125 metres long and thick with reeds , underwater grasses and tee-trees.

The third pond was by far the best, schools of fish, fresh water crays bigger than any dinner plate (fortunately for them, this is a no-take zone).  There are a couple of overhangs, or shallow caves which we went into as far as we could but other than a rather large cray, there was nothing else in there.  Again on the floor were several areas where water could be seen swirling in through the porous limestone.

At the side of the central area, there is a fissure in the floor, which is only big enough to get your arm in but is several metres long.  i couldnt see anything in it just more wet rocks but was certainly interesting. 

fissure in the floor

We swam around for a short time then headed up the sheer wall to the exit ladder onto the small jetty.  Getting through the ladder with twins on was no mean feat and looked somewhat comical as I twisted through on my hands and knees.

The only trouble with a swim like this is the long walk back, some 200-300 metres and fully kitted up, it makes for an interesting trip –and a few choice words.

just a great place to be

Great dive and I would have been happy to have driven the entire 400 kms or so just to have done that one dive.  To dive in a pond in the middle of nowhere, to see rocks and life forms I’ve never seen before, springs bubbling up through the bottom, to slither through channels like a fat snake, push curtains of reeds aside to sneak though – and of course, crystal clear water with visibility the likes of which I have never imagined.  Truly it was worth the trip just for that.

But we did more...................  a volcanic crater beckoned........

Diving the ex-HMAS Canberra 25th Feb 2011

Dive on the  wreck of Ex-H.M.A.S. Canberra “FFG-02” 25^th Feb 2011                

Dive time 50 minutes,  maximum depth 30.8 metres,   dive number 290

The lead up to this dive was filled with both excitement and some nervousness.  Excited because I love shipwrecks and I have dived the “HMAS Hobart” in Adelaide and that was pretty awesome but this one is closer to home.  Nervous because I always am a little (which I consider a good thing) and I had some issues the last time I attempted this site with an over- tight wetsuit and ear-clearing problems which caused me to abort the dive within the first 10 minutes of hitting the bottom.

“H.M.A.S Canberra”

HISTORY

The “H.M.A.S Canberra” was a long range escort frigate and the second ship to bear that name, the first being heavily damaged and sunk off Savo Island in August 1942.  This one was built by Todd Pacific Shipyard Corporation, Seattle, USA, launched in December 1978 and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy on 21^st March 1981.  She was powered by gas turbines and could be underway from a cold start in 30 minutes.  She displaced 4200 tonnes, 138.1 metres in length and 14.3 metres across the beam and with twin gas turbine engines coupled to a single prop, she was capable of 30 knots.  She had the capability to perform a number of roles including air defence, anti-submarine, surveillance, reconnaissance and interdiction.  She was also capable of simultaneously countering threats from the air, surface and sub-surface.

She was eventually decommissioned on the 12^th December 2005 and in the following year it was decided to strip the ship and sink it as an artificial reef and dive site.  After much deliberation, planning and so forth, this was finally achieved on 4^th October 2009.  The site was open to the diving public a month or so later.  For a full video of the sinking, see   http://www.hmascanberra.com.au/

“HMAS Canberra” about to go down

Sat 25^th Feb 2011

Our charter boat was to leave Portsea pier at 1030 hrs on a glorious Saturday - sun shining, 25 degrees, dead flat water and no wind.  It was the makings of a good day.  There was a group of 7 of us, 3 who were diving together, Coops, Chris and myself.  We have dived together many times before and know each other’s limits and interests.  I was a little apprehensive about the dive in general due to problems last time, which was over a year ago and not having done a boat dive since.  Both my dive buddies knew this and were prepared to take things easy.  I knew though that as soon as I hit the water, I would be fine as indeed was the case.

I was planning to use a single tank, primarily as I was too lazy to climb up onto the boat with twins but seeing as my off-siders had twins and the plan was for a longer dive, twins were the go.  I had mine filled with a 36% oxygen mix, (as opposed to “normal” air having 21%.  This in simple terms means I am breathing less nitrogen.  On the surface, nitrogen is inert, it doesn’t do anything but at depth, the body absorbs it and limits the time you can spend below.  With more oxygen, it means you are breathing less nitrogen and therefore can stay down longer.  The down side is that oxygen becomes toxic at depth and therefore you are limited as to how deep you can go.)  With the mix I had, I could stay down the bottom for some 40 minutes or so and with plenty of air, it wasn’t a problem

As we were all ready, the boat left early and it was a pleasant, cruise out through the heads to the dive site with the exception of the notorious Rip which as usual, beat us around a little.

The Rip can look deceptively calm but I wouldn’t want to be in there

 The dive site has yellow mooring buoys all around it so you can easily see the shape of the wreck and the public one is on the port side towards the aft part of the ship.  The mooring line is anchored to the seabed (not the wreck as I thought last time).  We geared up, checked everything, checked each others gear and then rolled off the side of the boat one by one.  The sea was dead flat and with no current so it was an easy swim to the yellow buoy.  Once there, we all checked that each other was ok then dropped one at a time down the line.  The sea was a beautiful deep green colour and the shot line disappeared into the milky green with an almost dreamy feel. 

                                                          Chris dropping down the shot line

                                               
The shape of the ship comes into view

We dropped slowly to about 12 metres then left the line and swam the 10 or so metres through a green void until the fuzzy silhouette of the ship came into view.    We had reached the railing on the deck at the helipad, which is at the rear of the ship.  The plan was to get here go up onto the top of the structure and then go down the funnel down to the bottom into the boiler room.  We went up onto the upper deck and found the boiler funnel easily – it was the big round hole.....

                                                Coops looking into the black void of the funnel

We looked inside but could only see a couple of metres into the blackness, even the high powered dive torch failed to show up anything down the bottom.  Coops went in first, head first of course but I followed feet first.  If there was no way out I knew I wouldn’t be able to turn around and I didn’t want to try to come up feet first.  I dropped down watching Chris come down after me, some silt falling off the walls as we descended, murking up the water a little.  The torch cut through the darkness but I still couldn’t see the bottom..  but as can be seen there is plenty of room, well a bit anyway.

                                                              

       Chris coming down the funnel after me

Eventually I did get to see the bottom  and there was a hole big enough to get through.  This led to the boiler room at the bottom of the ship.  We swam inside there, through the engine room and the workshop area. There were plenty of rooms on either side to go and explore but it was best to keep relatively close together inside for the time being. 

Most of the rooms had sunlight penetrating them from holes cut in the side but a few were in total darkness and it was an eerie feeling being inside one and turning the light off... 

       

Remains of an engine block                           remains of a generator

We swam out of one of the penetration holes in the side, up the hull to the deck then along to the ship to the bridge

                                           Coops making an exit

                           Swimming alongside the hull            Coops at the plaque in the bridge

Coops was already inside looking at the plaque - which I didn’t get to read – I tried a few times to squeeze through the front windows but obviously these weren’t designed with divers in mind and I couldn’t fit, so I had to use traditional methods and go through the door.  I went in, did the mandatory “sitting in the captain’s chair” and had a look around at what was left in there.  I am sure they had more instrumentation in its heyday.  I had to do the usual thing of turning knobs and switches, picking up the telephones and all the things you do in such situations.

After we finished playing in there, we went out and swam along the top of the ship, past the aerial masts, the funnel and eventually back onto the helideck where we swam out back onto the mooring line.  We slowly cruised up the line stopping at 5 metres to do a compulsory 5 minute decompression stop (this allows some of the absorbed nitrogen to dissipate out of your system hence preventing possible “decompression illness”  or the bends)

           Time to leave the ship and head back to the boat – now where is that shot line?

After that it was a leisurely swim to the surface and back to the boat where it wasn’t too hard to get back in with the twins after all.

Awesome and surreal are the only words I can think of to describe this.  Swimming inside a rather large vessel, thinking of the crew who served on her, what they did, how spic and span it all would have been in its day.  A great dive, some great stuff to see and great people to dive with.

Really was pretty awesome.