Climbing at Point Perpendicular, on the South Coast of NSW, was a glaring omission on my climbing résumé until recently. Over the years, I have climbed a lot in Eastern Australia and I have climbed in most of the major climbing areas in Australia. However, I'd never done any climbing at Point Perpendicular. In my defence, it was not through a lack of trying...
On my first attempt to climb at Point Perpendicular, I got as far as the Lighthouse carpark. Upon arriving with my friend Jarrod, the excitement was high. Unfortunately, the weather was also excited – so excited, in fact, that it wet itself... all day.
My second attempt went a little better. For starters, we actually got out of the car. We even got as far as putting on harnesses, racking up and setting up our abseil rope.
But when we attempted to throw the abseil rope over the edge, the wind was so strong that it flung the rope back over our heads. The full 50-metre rope was swept into the scrub behind us. We took this as a sign that it was too windy to climb that day.
On my third attempt, I didn’t even make it past the entry gate. The road was closed (even though we had been told the day before that the road would be open).
You see, one additional complication when it comes to climbing at Point Perpendicular is the access. Much of the peninsula is a navy bombing range, called Beecroft Weapons Range. Because of this, there's no access to large sections of the peninsula (think unexploded bombs!). This means, for climbers, that the access road to the climbing is often closed (regardless of whether or not the range is being used). So, when is it open? The road is almost always open during NSW school holidays, and is also open most weekends. The rest of the time, it's often closed. So, it's a good idea to bear this in mind if you're planning a trip to Point Perpendicular and you live far away.
I live in Melbourne, yet despite my three failed attempts to climb at Point Perpendicular, I've salvaged my trip by climbing at other crags nearby. The sport climbing Mecca Nowra is only 45 minutes away from Point Perp, luckily.
So, it was with great excitement that in June/July this year, a plan was hatched to head up to Point Perp with my wife Nina and our good friends Mac and Chelsea Brunckhorst and their daughter Erica. A beach house was booked, the car was packed and 10+ hours of driving later (via one of the most vile hotel rooms imaginable – a story for another time), we arrived.
Point Perpendicular: Crag Description
Point Perpendicular is Jervis Bay's northern headland and in itself is a striking natural feature. At the end of a lovely drive through coastal heathland, it also features a delightful, historic lighthouse and associated buildings. Located a two-hour drive south of Sydney (or 45 minutes from Nowra), it offers some of the best seacliff climbing in Australia.
The rock type is a generally solid sandstone with vertical face climbing, cracks and corner climbing the predominant styles.
Being a seacliff, almost all the climbs are accessed from above, via abseiling into various ledge systems and then climbing back out. This means that you either have to be confident about getting to the top of your chosen climb, or be prepared to jumar back up your rap line if you can’t do the climb.
Due to this access method, the lack of many friendly, lower graded climbs and the inherently scary nature of seacliff climbing, this is not a great place for beginner climbers. However, for competent climbers who are ready for the challenge, Point Perp provides an ideal location for some of the most unforgettable climbs one can experience.