A short clifftop loop at the tiny town of Elliston serves up sculptures, vertigo and some of the most spectacular sea cliffs in South Australia.
A small town, an enormous coast
Elliston is barely a dot on the map of the west coast, but it guards one of the most spectacular stretches of sea cliff in South Australia. The Great Ocean Tourist Drive, a 12-kilometre clifftop loop around Anxious Bay, is the way to see it.
Art on the edge
What sets the drive apart is its sculptures — a quirky, evolving collection installed along the clifftops, the most famous a giant figure of a surfer carving down a wave, perched above a sheer drop. They turn a scenic drive into something stranger and more memorable.
Anxious Bay
The name is no accident. The swell here is enormous, rolling in unimpeded from the Southern Ocean to detonate against the cliffs and offshore reefs. Big-wave surfers know breaks like Blackfellows for their power. From the lookouts, you watch lines of white water marching in from a horizon with nothing between you and Antarctica.
When to go
Sunset is the time. The low light catches the cliff faces and the spray, the sculptures throw long shadows, and the whole coast glows. Bring a windproof jacket — there is rarely a still day at Anxious Bay — and take your time at each lookout.
