Acoustic Terrors

Tired and sore footed, I emptied my shoes and socks of sand from Checkmate, while we looked at the high tide coming into Batcave, making our entry there impossible. We decided to have a look at a few places close by, then head for a Dsanktuary entrance in the hopes tide would not foil us there also.

It did, and not wanting to end the night early, we decided to go see what was new in Aquacave. The lack of sand grinding my toes to mush had greatly improved my mood and I was keen to get back in here and take some photos I missed previously.

The first thing we noticed was that there was a new roof on the downstream side. We hopped down into the new detention basin and headed up one of the big box channels.

On the way down, I had to snap this little guy, enjoying the cool water stream past him.

Upon arrival at the other end we found it roofed also. All except for the side portion which was still open to the sky and had a steel ladder in place for the workers.

It was going to be a large area and looked really interesting. Water was streaming down into the enclosure from upstream making a bit of noise.

From here we headed back up the new boxes and took the left box before climbing back up into Aquacave proper, just to see where it went. We walked a ways and it turned a few times before what look to be a dead end. As we approached, it got muddy and there was a distinct waft of fresh in the air as it was disturbed from under out feet. Everything from far upstream looked to pile in here and go down a small rcp. After some muttering of disgust we turned and headed back promptly, leaving the unpleasantness behind us.

We made our way down stream to the junction and took some shots here and there, before moving on. Next visit I would like to see where this side channel goes and what exciting things it may have hidden.

We tramped further down the drain and headed towards the rock blasted section, which I was looking forward to attempting to capture with a camera, rather than a phone.

On the way we saw a few eels including this little baby one, which also warranted a quick flash.

When we arrived at the rock, we set to snapping away for a bit, playing with lights and testing things out.

I really love this part of the tunnel, it doesn't look at all what I would imagine the inside of a drain being.

The rock has great blues and yellows to it which I tried to capture.

Some more running about with lights and colours...

and then some ridiculous running around with lights and colours...

Having had my fill of dashing to and from and making silly photos, I suggested to Aydun that we try do a wool burn in here. I had crafted a sling out of some heavy wire and telephone cable and brought the requisite spies along, but never used them earlier in checkmate.

Neither of us having ever tried this, there were a plethora of jokes about human immolation and the great photos it may make.

After the first fizzer, my second attempt took and it spun up a nice little display for us.

Aydun then spun one up (first go!) and I manned his camera. Finally a chance to play with his new G12 ;)

I then spun another up, trying my best to make a good shower and Aydun did another, before we went further down the tunnel. At this point, it was dead quiet down here and we were both happily snapping away at the incoming tide which had retarded our progress some what.

Just then, a thunderous roar could be heard coming from upstream. Aydun and I looked at each other, expressions only confirming loss of hope the other may have a clue the sounds could be. The trouble was we both knew what the sound was, water, lots of water slashing and gushing from up stream.

Rationally I knew it couldn't be too dangerous because of the size of the tunnel and the volume of water necessary to fill it. It wasn't going to happen with air conditioner condenser dumping or hydrant testing or even swimming pool draining. The only thing possible could be rain, and I knew without a doubt it was not rain. So while I knew we should expect water at our knees in absolute worst case, that did nothing to steady them. I hurriedly sealed my camera in some mr happy ziplock backs and offered Aydun one and we swore and cursed what the devil it may be as we rushed up the tunnel, still no sign of approaching tidal wave.

As we arrived back at the junction, a flood of relief and bathed me as I saw the paltry flow of water coming out of the side channel and falling half a meter to the main drain. I laughed as we walked past, feet not even getting wet, and swore at the accursed drain acoustics that had sent us into such a flurry. We headed out at that point and made it back to the exit in short order.

Our plans for 3 hopefully 4 drains dashed, we made two long explores and had a great time. My only regret, and a predictable one, was that I didn't take more time getting shots I was happy with.