When Lisa Millar and the Back Roads crew set out to film along the mighty Snowy River, they knew there could be some logistical hurdles involved.<\/p>\n
“As soon as I got into the water I was immediately reminded that this was not gentle,” Millar said.<\/p>\n
“This is a landscape that can turn on you at any time and that is what was proven to us several times throughout the trip.”<\/p>\n
The week-long trip took Millar and the crew of four from one end of the Snowy to the other.<\/p>\n
Beginning in the mountains of NSW, the group finished their journey in the coastal town of Marlo, Victoria, where the river meets the ocean.<\/p>\n
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The river starts in New South Wales and winds its way to the ocean in Victoria.\u00a0 (ABC: Back Roads)<\/p>\n
It also involved not one, but two trips into the river by Millar.<\/p>\n
“It was an experience that first time – the kayaking – and then when I was in the double [raft], the question was how do you keep equipment dry?”<\/p>\n
“How do you capture these scenes when there’s a good chance you might end up in the water?”<\/p>\n
The crew had to film in a number of spots where getting wet was a real possibility. (ABC)<\/p>\n
The solution required a little out-of-the box thinking.<\/p>\n
“A trick that [sound operators] do is they put the microphone in a condom, because it’s waterproof,” Millar said.<\/p>\n
“I took a photo of it because it was quite funny!”<\/p>\n
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Making sure gear didn’t get wet involved a little creativity. (ABC)<\/p>\n
But the crew’s challenges didn’t end when the kayaking trip did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“There were a lot of times when there were added challenges for the camera crew particularly when you are going into places where you can’t take your own vehicle,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Like when we went down with the buggy.”<\/p>\n
‘Incredibly unpredictable’ Snowy strikes<\/p>\n
Millar said there was one day where the plan was to venture down a track called Betts Creek into a particularly remote area to do a piece to camera by the river.<\/p>\n
While the track starts out in lush tree fern and mountain ash forest, it soon becomes steep and rocky.<\/p>\n
But it’s the red clay sections that, with even the smallest rainfall, bring people unstuck \u2014 as the team found out. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite all the checks and precautions, the Snowy proved it’s not to be messed with.<\/p>\n
“The weather started changing very quickly and the tour guide said we need to get out,” Millar said.<\/p>\n
“I was like, ‘I’m just gonna finish this piece to camera’ and they’re like, ‘We need to get out of here now’.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“As it started to drizzle, the red dirt started to turn into that claggy glue, so there was a real urgency for us to get up and out of there. And that’s when we blew a tyre.<\/p>\n
“Camera operator Stu Heppell and one of the guides began the slow walk uphill to get a phone signal while the rest of us stayed with the buggy, grateful we’d packed snacks and a sense of humour.”<\/p>\n
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Heppell and the tour guide eventually made it far enough up the hill to call for help and another buggy came to the rescue.<\/p>\n
“It was another reminder that the Snowy has the reputation it deserves \u2014 that it can be incredible, but it can also be incredibly unpredictable,” Millar said.<\/p>\n
“Even with all of the processes we put in place \u2026 you’re still reminded of your own vulnerability and your own smallness when you are in that kind of landscape.”<\/p>\n