Kalbarri Abseil

The Z Bend Gorge in Kalbarri National Park cuts sheer through red Tumblagooda sandstone, and this is the outfit with standing permission to run ropes off its walls. A guided day starts at the Z Bend car park, drops into the gorge on foot, then works through three abseils of increasing height — a 4-metre warm-up, a 25-metre wall and a 35-metre descent for those keen to push on — before a lunch stop and swim in the Murchison River below. Instruction is hands-on and paced for first-timers, with no climbing experience required. It's a single-site operation, and a distinctive one: there's no substitute gorge nearby, and the abseiling here is one of the few ways to get properly into the walls of the Murchison Gorges rather than just looking down from the rim. Bookings are confirmed the evening before by phone, gorge conditions permitting.