We tried our best to visit another new climbing area for us today. To be fair, the guidebook does hint around that fact that it might be best approached in a 4×4 vehicle, but I’d had a tip off my my friend Stu, who had visited last year that the road was ‘do-able’ in a car. Full of confidence, we set off to what the book calls ‘a forgotten area’ in search of the ‘Canyon’.

Ten minutes or so and only 2 kilometres into the the 8km ride, we pulled over at this view point to give us and the car a short respite. So far the road had been ‘do-able’, but some storms had certainly washed out sections that we had to creep over slowly.

Further up the road, things looked a little worse, but to be honest, even if it had been fine, we decided that we didn’t really fancy another 20 minutes or so of dusty bone shaking stone and gravel. At the next available point, we turned the car around and breathed a sigh of relief as we bumped back down towards the north coast ferry port.

But all was not lost, as it meant we came across another tortoise crossing the road!

Down at the coast, we followed an equally gripping track, that bounced us right onto the bridge after crossing a dubious looking bridge! The poor car! In the end, we pulled into a shady layby and continued on foot towards a little cove that we’d identified as having good snorkelling potential.

Our walk took us along the north coast shore, past old farms and a cool old windmill. The farms, fields and animals all looked like they’d seen better days, but were still being worked.

After a few kilometres on foot, we came across what we were looking for! A secluded beach!

A small path led the whole way there, but between the bushed that lined the sides, were thick cobwebs and waiting spiders. The person out front had to walk with a stick to prevent getting trapped by them! It was worth the explore though as the cove was idyllic.

There was no one to be seen, but somewhat alarmingly, we did pass the washed up remains of several life rafts and a couple of life jackets (among a huge amount of plastic bottle tops and many, many single shoes, flip flops and crocs).

While snorkelling in the bay, we saw lots of colourful fish and even a few divers gas bottles which must have fallen of a boat? The underwater geology was just as incredible, with strange eroded bands of rock. The weather is certainly getting warmer as we had two long snorkels and several other quick swims just to cool down.

Eventually, we needed to get out of the sun, so began the trek back to find the car. We were glad that we had pulled over earlier as we passed a car that had got stuck in the sand!

There is a marina on the north coast, so we stopped for a brief look around. Being out of season, meant that the cool looking bars and cafes were all closed. We were happy to make the short drive home for our own refreshments on our patio after a shower.

No climbing today, but plenty of exploring and brilliant to be in and out of the sea.