<guide version="2">
<header access="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 water.dpiw.tas.gov.au - search for "North West Bay Rivulet At Margate". The levels rise and fall quite quickly after rain. At levels higher than 1 cumec 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." acknowledgement="By Peter Woolford and Tony McKenny" guide.action="submit" guide.id="2" guide.page="0" guide.type="header" history="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." intro="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. " name="North West Bay River" rock="Weathered dolerite 15-20m high" sun="Afternoon sun" walk="10-20 min" id="1" camping="" autonumber="false"/>
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<text id="14" class="heading2">Dog Leg Bend</text>
<text id="15" class="heading3">Thylacine Buttress</text>
<text id="16">This is the far left buttress, most of which is broken by a large ledge, with several large blocks delicately perched. At the left of the wall a few routes manage to avoid the large ledge.</text>
<climb id="17" name="Bitsa" number="1." length="20m" grade="24" fa="Grant Rowbottom 2011">Line up the face with 3 bolts just left of corner. At the horizontal crack traverse left 3 metres and use natural gear to swing up lay away holds. The original route finished at grassy ledge.</climb>
<climb id="18" number="2. " name="Dog Fight" length="20m" grade="24" fa="Pete Woolford 2012">Take Bitsa up the line of bolts and then continue up Dreamtime Fox to the grassy ledge past one more bolt to finish up the finger crack corner to lower off.</climb>
<climb id="19" name="Dream Time Fox" number="3." length="20m" grade="22" fa="Pete Woolford 2011">Start in the crack/corner for 5 metres before taking a slightly diagonal leftward line through the overlapping horizontal breaks to some delicate face moves before rock hoping over the grassy ledge and finishing up the finger crack/corner.</climb>
<climb id="20" name="Wile E. Coyote" length="19" number="4." fa="Pete Woolford, Nick Gust March 2012">Dirty black crack at right end of cliff which can get very wet. Best climbed in dry times. Finishes up flake crack and blocky arête. Be careful.</climb>
<text id="21" class="heading3">Lapdog Wall</text>
<text id="22">The next buttress right is a slabby wall about half the height of the rest of the cliffs.</text>
<climb id="23" number="1." name="Puppy Love " length="10m" grade="17" fa="Pete Woolford, Jo Van berkel 2011">Thin black seam at left of wall.</climb>
<climb id="24" number="2." name="Love Poodle" length="8m" grade="17" fa="Pete Woolford, Jo Van berkel 2011">Corner to right of Puppy Love.</climb>
<climb id="25" number="3." name="Paw Jamming" length="8m" grade="17" fa="Pete Woolford, Jo Van berkel 2011">Obvious hand crack. Step right at the top to use the anchors on Stone Age.</climb>
<climb id="26" number="4." name="Stone Age" length="8m" grade="21" extra="Þ" fa="Dave Humphries, Jon Nermut Apr 2012">3 FH up the slab right of Paw Jamming. There is a technical crux at the top where you end up going R and then delicately back L to the anchors.</climb>
<text id="27" class="heading3">Pure Bred Mongrel Buttress</text>
<climb id="28" number="1." name="Pure Bred" length="15m" grade="22" extra="4Þ" fa="Pete Woolford 2011">Thin corner to jug on left arête to then finish up wall left of obvious crack. Alternatively, finish up the crack, excellent but a little easier. 4 bolts to lower off.</climb>
<climb id="29" number="2." name="Mongrel" length="15m" grade="23" extra="5Þ" fa="Pete Woolford 2011">Face climbing up the middle of wall trending left past 4 bolts before stepping right under roof (another bolt) to then gain the pedestal on arête. Protect the last move to the lower off with a mid sized cam if you need to.</climb>
<text id="30" class="heading3">Whippet Wall</text>
<text id="32">The undercut wall with some steep climbs guaranteed to keep you pumping.</text>
<climb id="33" number="1." name="Oddle" length="15m" grade="24" extra="Þ" fa="Grant Rowbottom 2011">Bulging crack at the left of the wall.</climb>
<climb id="34" number="2." name="Underdog" length="15m" grade="23" extra="Þ" fa="Grant Rowbottom 2011">The line with an underclinging block and laybacking section where a block was removed.</climb>
<climb id="54" number="3." name="Hair of the Dog" length="15m" grade="27" extra="Þ" fa="Grant Rowbottom 2011">Bulging line.</climb>
<climb id="35" number="4." name="Mark Your Territory " length="15m" grade="26" extra="Þ" fa="Grant Rowbottom 2011">Next thin line.</climb>
<climb id="36" number="5." name="Jumping Jack Russells" length="12m" grade="24" extra="Þ" fa="Pete Woolford 2011">Right end of wall.</climb>
<text id="37" class="heading3">Doga Buttress</text>
<climb id="38" number="6." name="Upward Dog" length="15m" grade="18" fa="Pete Woolford Duncan Brodie 2008">Follows twin cracks to the left of Downward Dog on trad gear.</climb>
<climb id="39" number="7." name="Downward Dog" length="15m" grade="23" extra="6Þ" fa="Pete Woolford 2011">Technical face climbing past 3 bolts and then continue on the left of the arete past another 3 bolts. Stick to the arête and don’t pike out left for a few moves on Upward dog.</climb>
<climb id="40" number="8." name="Shake n Dog" length="15m" grade="23" extra="Þ" fa="Bec Gorton 2011">The same start as Downward Dog and then stay right of arête above.</climb>
<climb id="41" number="9." name="Dog Vomit" length="15m" grade="14" fa="Simon Mentz Pete Woolford 2008">“Om shanti, shanty, shanty om- translates- Peace, Peace, Peace be to you all, even cats.” There are lines and there are lines - this is one of them. Well done Simon it was a mighty effort. The easy, rightward line of least resistance.</climb>
<text id="42" class="heading3">Brindle Wall</text>
<text id="43">This is the series of bolted walls at the right end of the crag.</text>
<climb id="44" name="Golden Chihuahua " number="1." length="12m" grade="20" extra="5Þ" fa="Jo Van Berkel 2011">Fun! To the right of a short blocky corner. Follow the line of 5 bolts. A mid sized cam protects the last moves if needed.</climb>
<climb id="45" number="2." name="Crazy Rabies" length="12m" grade="23" fa="Pete Woolford, Philby Biggs 2012">Start as for Golden Chihuahua and then diagonally traverse across the whole cliff. A small cam protects past the thin crack and a large cam past the large crack (Doggy Style) before finishing past a bolt.</climb>
<climb id="46" number="3." name="Wag Your Tail " length="12m" grade="24" extra="Þ" fa="Grant Rowbottom 2011">The next line of bolts to the right of Golden Chihuahua and finishing at the same lower off.</climb>
<climb id="48" number="4." name="St Bernard" length="12m" grade="24" extra="Þ" fa="Pete Woolford 2011">Face climb with a little bit of assistance from the thin crack to the left.</climb>
<climb id="47" number="5." name="Doggy Style" length="12m" grade="22" fa="Pete Woolford 2011">The black crack. Don’t be put off. No trench warfare here. Good climbing mostly on the outside of the crack.</climb>
<climb id="49" number="6." name="Snitter" length="16" fa="Pete Woolford, Jo Van Berkel and Linda Van Vliet 2011">The corner crack.</climb>
<text id="50" class="heading3">Barking Buttress</text>
<climb id="51" number="7." name="Yelp" length="10m" grade="16" fa="Duncan Brodie, Pete Woolford 2007">The first route done. The line through the scar where the block used to be, that now sits in the river below. Rumour has it, the first ascendant, who disappeared off the scene, can be found under the block.</climb>
<climb id="52" number="8." name="Snarl" length="10m" grade="18" fa="Pete Woolford, Grant Rowbottom 2011 ">Take care sport climbers. It’s bite is worse than it’s bark! Lightning bolt line at right of cliff.</climb>
<text id="13" class="heading2">Sandfly Crag</text>
<image noPrint="false" src="Sandfly1.jpg" width="700" id="2" legend="true" legendTitle="Sandfly" legendx="10" legendy="10" height="463">
<legend>4</legend>
<legend>5</legend>
</image>
<text class="heading3" guide.action="submit" guide.id="1" guide.page="0" guide.type="text" id="3">Lower Tier</text>
<climb extra="Þ" grade="19" guide.action="submit" guide.id="2" guide.page="0" guide.type="climb" length="15m" name="Frayed Knot" number="1." stars="" id="4" fa="T. McKenny, T. Meldrum. FFA J. McKenny, G. Phillips, 1995">Start at either the L or RH crack. Follow the u-bolts to the top. Rap station, shared with Flesh Grater.</climb>
<climb extra="" grade="17" guide.action="submit" guide.id="3" guide.page="0" guide.type="climb" length="15m" name="Flesh Grater" number="2." stars="" id="5" fa=" T. McKenny, T. Meldrum 1995. FFA G. Phillips, J. McKenny, 1995.">Starts 4m R of Frayed Knot. Follow the crack from fingers to offwidth. Rap station.</climb>
<text class="heading3" guide.action="submit" guide.id="4" guide.page="0" guide.type="text" id="6">Upper Tier</text>
<text class="Discussion" guide.action="submit" guide.id="5" guide.page="0" guide.type="text" id="7">The following three lines all finish at the same point where a large spike can be used as an anchor.</text>
<climb extra="" grade="15" guide.action="submit" guide.id="6" guide.page="0" guide.type="climb" length="9m" name="Sausage Lane" number="" stars="" id="8" fa="P. Schwan, J. Tiller Aug 1995">First line at the LH end of the upper tier. Climb up to vertical ragged crack, then up face to the L of the prominent nose and over the top.</climb>
<climb extra="" grade="16" guide.action="submit" guide.id="7" guide.page="0" guide.type="climb" length="9m" name="V is for Vampire" number="" stars="" id="9" fa="R. Cockerill, P. Schwan, 30 Aug 1995.">Start 2m R of Sausage Lane, directly under the V-shaped crack. Climb up as directly as possible to V-shaped crack via the horizontal break. Continue up to the nose and surmount it on it’s L.</climb>
<climb extra="" grade="12" guide.action="submit" guide.id="8" guide.page="0" guide.type="climb" length="9m" name="Arkward" number="" stars="" id="10" fa="J. Tiller, P. Schwan Aug 1995">Start 2m R of V is for Vampire, in the corner. Climb up the corner using the large flake, then up into an awkward chimney on the R of the nose, finally surmounting the nose on the R.</climb>
<climb extra="" grade="12" guide.action="submit" guide.id="9" guide.page="0" guide.type="climb" length="9m" name="Rainy Day Woman" number="" stars="" id="11" fa="R. Cockerill, J. Tiller 1995">Starts R of the very large gum tree, to the R of an overhang. Follow the obvious line up to a hand crack in a L facing corner. Surmount the initially awkward moves to reach the easy hand crack.</climb>
</guide>
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