The sign reads “steep climb”. I’m edging my way closer to the cliff edge and still struggling to see any path down to the promised natural rock swimming hole filled with crystal clear water. I look around to make sure it’s only my “Geraldton special” dog Mallee who sees what I’m about to do next.
With vertigo kicking in, I drop onto my bum and perform some kind of inside-out crab walk (imagine that scene from The Exorcist) to the very edge of the cliff and that’s where I spot it . . .
A steep climb alright! More like something only a qualified rope technician should wrangle. A weather-rusted heavy duty chain falls down the cliff and links to some reo-bar fashioned into a ladder, resting on a near vertical drop. Yeah, nah.
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion. Luckily I have the excuse that I have just had surgery putting a number of bones and tendons back into place on my hand after an early mishap on my journey around Australia. But the questionable occupational health and safety aspects is part of the wildness of this private coastal road — one I am prepared to say is one of the best I’ve driven in Australia.
Whalers Way runs about 15km around the very southern tip of South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula and is situated on private land. The limestone track is suitable for 2WD and unlocks some of the most rugged, breathtaking and unique coastline in the country, if not the world. Earlier I dropped into the Por.