Western Australia

Wilyabrup is by far the largest climbing crag in the Margaret River region. Most of the routes on this stretch of red granite are trad routes but there are also a fair amount of bolted routes scattered around. Although the crag lies three hours drive south from Perth, the majestic views of the coast and the fantastic roar of the crashing waves down below makes the long drive more than worthwhile. You can even head

Serpentine National Park is located at the foot of the Darling Scarp to the south-east of Perth. The Serpentine River that runs down the slopes has carved out a valley of polished granite that ends at the well-known Serpentine Falls. The waterfall is not very impressive (especially during the dry season) and by itself does not warrant the fairly steep park entry fees (AUD12 per car), but I feel that the park and the trails

Mountain Quarry is located in Greenmount National Park and is one of the most well-developed outdoor sports climbing crags within Perth's vicinity. There are numerous bolted routes spread out over several walls. There are also a few trad routes located here. There is a combination-locked gate that leads from the carpark into the quarry. The code for the combination lock can be obtained from the Department of

The group set off at 08:30 the next morning, heading northwards and crossing the river back and forth by hopping across rock fields. On one occasion (approximately 2 kilometres in), we had to trackback a little and rock hop across to a small peninsular in the middle of the river. The bush became very dense here and we were forced to bush bash for a while trying to find a point where the rocks continued to the other

The group had decided to split into two groups of two to tackle this particular section of the gorge - one group was to continue along the Z-Bend section of the gorge with floatpacks (as there was no way to continue walking along the ledges along this section), whereas the other group was to walk to the next food drop and rejoin the other two at 4-Ways. I decided to take the 'dry route' and head inland

It was a beautiful morning when we broke camp, with clear skies, and an absolutely still, mirror-like river. It felt a little chilly at first since the river still lay deep in the gorge's shadow, but I didn't really notice it too much with the delightful twittering and the chirping of the birds that surrounded me. The Sun left the gorge basking in its warm radiance as it rose higher in the sky, dispelling any chills that still remained