By Peter Woolford and Tony McKenny

Situated on bends in the North West Bay River between Margate and Sandfly are two distinct crags of water washed dolerite. The cliffs rise directly out of the river and are best visited when the river is low. All of the routes are between 8 and 20 metres in height and offer good sustained climbing. The Dog Leg Bend cliffs are west facing and capture the afternoon sun and once you’re done climbing there’s a lovely swimming hole to finish off in.

The Sandfly cliff was discovered and climbed on by Tony McKenny in 1995. Pete Woolford identified the Dog Leg Bend cliffs as having potential while fishing several years ago and managed to convince Duncan Brodie and Simon Mentz to throw themselves at ground up first ascents of some of the obvious lines. Duncan risked it all to produce Yelp which he fell off on his first attempt and was spared serious injury when his only runner held, as he water slid into the wall where the cliff meets the water. This route now has a new look as all the large blocks that Duncan pulled on have been removed. The large block at the bottom of the route, known as Duncan’s throne, was at half height on the climb and only required the gentlest of taps to remove. Simon Mentz came all the way from his beloved Mt Arapiles to see what all the fuss was about and after preaching how he was only interested in major lines of significance, he swapped his footy boots for a pair of friction boots and proceeded to add the completely forgettable Dog Vomit. After a stern word from the gospel of Mentz on what a shit cliff it was and how some rock just wasn’t meant to be climbed on and how he’d be really disappointed if he finds out we’ve been back there, the cliff was left to rest for a few years. It wasn’t until Grant Rowbottom moved to the area, that activity once again started. Accepting that the obvious lines were pretty ordinary we decided to start top roping the faces and arêtes. This lead to the purchase of new rotary hammer drills, a lot of cleaning, track work and a whole swag of quality sport routes with lower offs and a sprinkling of good trad routes.

Both crags are accessed from Sandfly Road (C622). For Dog Leg Bend turn onto the road just before Margate. Drive 200m past Nandroya Vineyard (which is on the right) and park near the chain gate on the R, beside the vinyard sign. If coming from Sandfly look out for the vineyard signage on your left. There is enough room to park a few cars on the roadside with out blocking the gate or obscuring the vineyard sign. Jump the gate and follow the road to the river and head left up the river for 20 minutes. If the water is low it’s a pleasant rock hop up the middle of the river or if it’s up there’s a very rough track on the left of the river - generally following the bank but at one point you have to scramble up. You can get a graph of the water flow online at http://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/water/water-data/river-flow-plots-(sites-m-z) - then scroll down to "North West Bay Rivulet At Margate". The levels rise and fall quite quickly after rain. At levels higher than 1 cumec (86.4 ML/day) the water will be flowing over the weir and the walk will be more difficult. The kayakers get excited at 50 cumecs. Please note that the land either side of the access road is privately owned by John Rees from Nandroya wines and he’s allowed us access so do the right thing and pay a visit to the cellar door after your climb and purchase a bottle or two.
For the Sandfly Crag, drive a few km or so to near where the road meets the Hounville Highway and park at the Recreation Grounds. Follow the well made track that starts beside the Old Fire Brigade's shed, until it ends at the crag on the river. It's a pleasant 15 minute walk.