Queenscliff Pool is located at the northern most end of the beach stretching from Manly to Queenscliff. The wormhole is a tunnel that goes from the Manly side of Queenscliff headland and comes out on a rock ledge sort of in the middle of the headland. It was built in 1908 by fishermen wanting to access the rocky ledges on the headland without having to clamber over the rocks. The lagoon is a small stretch of water that is linked to the sea by Manly Creek and surrounded by parkland.
It’s a challenging photographic location in December because the pool is in shadow even with the sun in its southerly most position. At the same time, the sun is hidden from the wormhole ‘exit’ (i.e. the freshwater side). As a winter shoot and the sun in its northerly position the pool is still in shadow, but the sun would be visible from the wormhole exit at sunrise. With the sun more southerly the Lagon and parkland can provide some interesting shadows through the trees with morning exercisers and dog walkers as well as reflections in the water. With hindsight a shoot in winter may have been a better choice all things considered. Another shoot planned!
I decided to tackle the location over two days, a Tuesday and a Saturday, in December, thinking the pool would be in the best light, albeit in shadow, and on a weekday morning as well as a weekend morning; my reasoning being that there would be a different level of activity around the Pool and Lagoon on each day and, during the week, fewer people about. I was also concerned about getting to the wormhole pre-dawn and negotiating the rocks in the dark as well as the possibility of ‘unfriendlies’ in and around the tunnel (that wasn’t to be the case on both days I visited). There was considerably more activity around the lagoon on the weekday (a Tuesday) with teams of joggers and dog walkers, and a lot less on the Saturday.
Parking is an issue in the area (and all of Manly!). Along the beach front it is timed from 7am and fees apply after 7am. In Cameron Avenue parking is free but with a 2-hour limit from 8am which is plenty of time to do the shoot and have a coffee afterwards. The Corner on Queensie is recommended for coffee and breakfast, and parking in Cameron Avenue will put you right near it with only a 30 second walk to the beach.
On both mornings the tide at sunrise was about 1.5m with a high tide of 1.9m around 7:50am. Access to the wormhole is somewhat tide independent but I would not advise it in stormy conditions or a large swell as the entrance faces to the southeast. Another consideration is the pool’s southeast corner often has waves splashing over it even in mild conditions and while not dangerous it would be a gear wetting situation!
On both days, with first light around 5:08 and sunrise about 5:30am, I parked in Cameron Avenue at about 4:30am to allow time to get ready and walk to the wormhole for first light. With Rock shoes on, even though the rocks to the wormhole are dry as they are above high tide, and head torch, tripod, filters and 16-35mm and 24-105 lenses I set of for the wormhole first, planning to shoot at the pool on the way back and then the lagoon once the sun was up a little to get the shadows through the trees and reflections on the water. The first morning’s conditions proved to be not so good for the wormhole and pool with cloudless skies but there was some nice mist/ haze in the Lagoon. The second morning was grey and overcast so not so good for the Lagoon but some nice soft light at the pool. The wormhole was somewhat disappointing on both mornings. It needs the sun more northerly with good cloud formations but is probably not an engaging location at any time, for me at least!
